By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Grant Profitt and Mya Meredith, the leading scorers on the Scott boys and girls basketball teams, were both named 10th Region Player of the Year by the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches (KABC).
Coaches in each of the state’s 16 regions select seniors for the awards and those players become nominees for Mr. and Miss Kentucky Basketball that will be announced in April.
Grant Profitt of Scott High School.
Scott and Marshall County are the only schools that had Player of the Year award-winners in both boys and girls basketball this year. Profitt is averaging 18.4 points for the Scott boys team and Meredith is averaging 20.4 points for the girls team.
The 9th Region Player of the Year awards went to guards Sam Vinson of Highlands and Brie Crittendon of Ryle. Simon Kenton guard Kelly Niece was named the top player in 8th Region boys basketball.
On Friday, Niece set a team record with 47 points in a win over Owen County and finished the regular season with a 30.95 scoring average. That moved him into the top spot on the state’s list of leading scorers this season, replacing North Laurel sophomore Reed Shepherd, who has a 30.91 average.
The KABC also selected a Coach of the Year in each region. The 9th Region awards went to Cooper girls coach Justin Holthaus and Conner boys coach Matt Otte. Steve Brown of Scott was named the top girls coach in the 10th Region.
After finishing last season with a 3-25 record, the Scott girls made a strong comeback this season and will take a 15-7 record into this week’s 37th District playoffs.
CovCath basketball team honors former player’s impact on program
Before its final home game of the season on Friday, Covington Catholic’s basketball team honored Jimmy Cooper, a former player who passed away on March 7 after a long battle with COVID-19.
Cooper was a junior point guard on the 1966-67 CovCath team that set a new course for the highly successful program. Prior to that season, the Colonels had a spotty 6-6 record in 9th Region tournament games, but they won their first region title and made it to the championship game of the 1967 state tournament.
Jimmy Cooper
CovCath came within one shot of winning the state championship game against Earlington that year. In the final seconds, Earlington got a stick-back basket off a missed shot to come away with a 54-53 victory.
The Colonels won the 9th Region title the following season, but they were upset by Glasgow, 74-70, in the first round of the 1968 state tournament.
In Cooper’s two seasons as floor leader, CovCath won 55 of 66 games. He averaged 9.8 points and 3.9 assists as a junior and 11.3 points and 5.7 assists as a senior. He finished his senior season with 177 assists, including a team record 18 assists in a win over Carr Creek.
Cooper, who was also an assistant coach at several local high schools, was inducted into the Northern Kentucky Athletic Directors Hall of Fame and the CovCath Athletic Hall of Fame.
State champion wrestlers win Region 6 titles to remain undefeated
Two local wrestlers who were undefeated state champions last season were among the 14 weight-class winners in the Region 6 tournament on Saturday at Ryle High School.
Walton-Verona senior Spencer Moore took the gold medal in the 120-pound weight class and Ryle junior Cole Thomas won the 126-pound title to remain undefeated once again this season.
Spencer Moore
In the next round of post-season competition, the top four finishers in each weight class from Region 6 and Region 5 will be seeded in brackets for a sectional tournament and the two finalists in each class will advance to the state tournament.
Ryle had seven wrestlers make it to the Region 6 finals and won the team title with 267.5 points followed by Campbell County with 237.5. Ryle’s other weight-class winners were Carter Masserly (152) and Noah Duke (170).
Walton-Verona wrestlers had a 4-0 record in the region finals. The Bearcats’ other region champions were T.J. Meyer (106), Isaac Thornton (132) and Brandon Gibson (195).
Simon Kenton had three seniors – Eric Johnson (138), Dakota Brooksbank (220) and Ian Hughes (285) – finish on top in their brackets. The two winners from Campbell County were Mason Orth (113) and Thomas Ketchen-Carter (160).
Conner senior Sam Grandstaff (145) and Covington Catholic freshman Willie Rodriguez (182) were the region’s other gold-medal winners.
Football coaches announce finalists for “That’s My Boy” Award
Four finalists for the Brian Williams “That’s My Boy” Award have been selected by the Northern Kentucky Football Coaches Association for the 2020 season.
The award goes to the top student-athlete in football each season based on a rating system that awards points for achievements in football, academics and extra curricular activities.
The four senior finalists are Newport Central Catholic lineman Jack Greene, Conner place kicker Nicholas Keller, Ryle running back Mathias Cusick and Covington Catholic lineman Ben Dickhaus.
The award-winner is usually announced at the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the National Football Federation banquet in February. That event was postponed until April 22 due to pandemic precautions.
The award is named in honor of former CovCath football player Brian Williams, who lost his life in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on New York City.
