By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Scotty Draud, the newly crowned career scoring leader in 9th Region boys basketball, has signed a letter of intent with Kentucky Wesleyan College, which competes at the NCAA Division II level.
The Beechwood senior guard averaged 24.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and nearly four assists per game this season. He finished his five-year varsity career with 3,128 total points to surpass the previous 9th Region record of 3,045 set by 2014 Dixie Heights graduate Brandon Hatton, who was also recruited by Kentucky Wesleyan.
Scotty Draud set a 9th Region career scoring record with 3,128 points.
“Kentucky Wesleyan College is the best fit for me to continue my athletic and academic careers on so many different levels,” Draud said in a press release from the team.
“Coach (Drew) Cooper’s experience, style of play, and reputation is exactly what I am looking for in a college basketball coach and program. Wesleyan is also an outstanding academic school with a good business program, which will help to establish my future for life after basketball.”
Wesleyan finished last season with a 10-6 record and 9-5 mark in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The only local player on the roster was Highlands grad Ben Sisson, a sophomore forward.
“Scotty competes,” coach Cooper said of his team’s new addition. “He takes charges, he scores, he is a fine passer and has great instincts.”
Beechwood won 20 or more games each of the last three seasons with Draud as the team’s scoring leader. As a sophomore, he led the Tigers to the 9th Region championship game for the first time since 1949.
“He has led a school with very little tradition in basketball to unprecedented heights, said Beechwood coach Erik Goetz. “Most importantly, Scotty is a lifelong gym rat who has put a tremendous amount of work into his individual game. In addition to his personal drive, Scotty has really become a great teammate and team leader.”
Local wrestlers win six weight classes at state tournament
Eight local wrestlers made it to the championship finals of the state tournament on Saturday and six of them ended the season with a victory in matches held at George Rogers Clark High School.
For the second consecutive year, Walton-Verona senior Spencer Moore won the 120-pound weight class to complete a perfect season. He pinned Trayce Eckman of Union County in 50 seconds in the title match to post his 75th consecutive victory over the last two seasons.
Spencer Moore
Ryle junior Cole Thomas won his third consecutive state title by pinning George Farrree of Louisville Trinity in 3:43 in the 126-pound final. Thomas, who had a 38-0 record this season, won the 120 and 106 titles the last two years. After finishing 48-1 as a freshman, he has won 92 consecutive matches.
This year’s list of state champions also included Walton-Verona junior Isaac Thornton (132), Campbell County senior Thomas Ketchen-Carter (160), Ryle junior Noah Duke (170) and Simon Kenton senior Dakota Brooksbank (220).
Thornton and Duke were both undefeated this season. In the state finals, Ketchen-Carter and Brooksbank defeated the wrestlers they lost to at last week’s sectional tournament.
Union County won the state team title with 244 points. Ryle took second place with 216. Here are results of the seven weight class state finals that involved eight local wrestlers:
120 — Spencer Moore (Walton-Verona) over Trayce Eckman (Union County), 0:50.
126 — Cole Thomas (Ryle) over George Farree (Trinity), 3:43
132 — Isaac Thornton (Walton-Verona) over Eli Peyton (Paducah Tilghman), 7-1
152 – Payne Carr (Union County) over Carter Messerly (Ryle), 16-7
160 — Thomas Ketchen-Carter (Campbell County) over Cole Nance (Anderson County), 1:21
170 — Noah Duke (Ryle) over Dalton Russelburg (Union County), 0:36
220 — Dakota Brooksbank (Simon Kenton) over Gabe Savage (Ryle), 4-1
Crittendon voted girls 9th Region Player of Year by coaches
Brie Crittendon, the leading scorer and playmaker on the Ryle girls basketball team, was voted 9th Region Player of the Year by local coaches.
The senior guard, who accepted a scholarship offer from Eastern Kentucky University, is averaging 14 points and three assists for the 22-2 Raiders, who were voted No. 2 in the final Associated Press media poll.
Brie Crittendon
Crittendon was also voted the region’s top senior player by the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches, which makes her a nominee for Miss Kentucky Basketball.
The other first-team players on the All-9th Region team selected by local coaches are Dixie Heights senior guard Sydney Lockard, Cooper sophomore forward Whitney Lind, Newport Central Catholic junior guard Rylee Turner, Ludlow junior center Jenna Lillard and Notre Dame junior guard Lacey Bradshaw.
The second team includes Abby Holtman and Quinn Eubank of Ryle, Kelsey Listerman of Highlands, Madelyn Lawson of Dixie Heights and Grace Bezold of Holy Cross.
The third-team nominees are Julia Hunt of Holy Cross, Annie Heck of NewCath, Macie Feldman of Notre Dame, Laci Reinhart of Dixie Heights and Rory O’Hara of Highlands.
Local bowlers sweep girls team, singles state championships
Northern Kentucky bowlers won both the girls team and singles championships at the state tournament last Tuesday in Louisville
Cooper won all four of its matches in the 16-team bracket to claim its first state title. The Jaguars knocked off defending state champion Campbell County in the semifinals and then won a five-game match against Pleasure Ridge Park in the championship final.
The Cooper roster included seniors Ranelle Ulanday and Jenna Elgowsky, junior Jade Combs, sophomores Breana Brandt and Annette Nichols, freshman Zoe England and eighth-graders Alexis Tignor and Ashlee Bolton.
Three of the four bowlers in the girls singles step-ladder finals were local bowlers and Highlands senior Amy Bach defeated Ulanday of Cooper, 239-163, to become her team’s first state champion.
Bach defeated Campbell County senior Kylie Hitt, 265-180, to reach the championship final against Ulanday, who earned the top seed with the highest pin total in the qualifying rounds.
None of the local teams or bowlers who qualified for the boys state tournament made it to the finals.
Meanwhile, the Campbell County boys team lost in the 10th Region title game. They are also located in Northern Kentucky.