By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Ben Franzen will begin his boys basketball head coaching career at Bishop Brossart next season after a successful run on the junior varsity and freshman levels at other high schools.
Franzen was named Brossart’s head coach on Wednesday. He succeeds Scott Code, who compiled a 25-30 record over the last two seasons with the Mustangs. A team meeting with the new coach has been scheduled for Friday.
Ben Franzen
“I’m excited to have this opportunity to contribute in the growth of faith and hard work for the young men at Bishop Brossart,” Franzen said in the school’s press release. “Strengthening these two aspects in their lives will lead to success both on and off the court.”
Franzen coached the junior varsity team at Covington Catholic the last six years. He guided the Colonels to back-to-back perfect seasons (47-0 overall record) and consecutive Northern Kentucky tournament championships in 2017 and 2018. He was also an assistant coach on CovCath varsity teams that won four 9th Region championships and the 2018 state title with him on the staff.
Prior to arriving at CovCath, Franzen spent three years as the freshmen coach at Highlands and guided the Bluebirds to the 2015 Northern Kentucky tournament final.
Franzen is a 2009 graduate of Campbell County High School, where he lettered in both basketball and baseball. He’s now a 5th grade teacher at Crossroads Elementary School in Cold Spring. He and his wife, Melody, and their two children are members of St. Joseph Parish in Cold Spring.
Brossart posted a 12-19 record this past season and qualified for the 10th Region tournament as the 37th District runner-up. The only senior on that team was center David Govan, who finished with team-high averages of 14.9 points and 6.5 rebounds.
Even though the rest of Brossart’s players will be returning, Code stepped down as head coach last month due to family obligations.
“Coach Code led our program for the past two seasons and had to deal with all the challenges of the COVID pandemic,” said Brossart principal Chris Holtz. “We thank him for his guidance and hard work and wish him and his family the very best.”
Beechwood had four players named to state all-tournament team
Beechwood baseball players Mitchell Berger and Brice Estep made impressive showings in the All “A” Classic state tournament at Eastern Kentucky University, where both of the juniors will be continuing their careers.
In his team’s three games at EKU, Berger batted .454 (5 for 11) with a home run, two doubles and five RBI. He was also the winning pitcher in a 2-1 semifinal victory over Danville, giving up one run on four hits in six innings.
Beechwood baseball players named to the All “A” Classic state all-tournament team were, left to right, Mitchell Berger, Brice Estep, Sam Cottengim and Landon Johnson.
Estep, who was behind the plate in all three games, batted .500 (5 for 10) with four RBI. In the opening round on Saturday, he had a home run, double and single during a 16-2 five-inning win over Walton-Verona.
Berger and Estep were named to the state all-tournament team along with Beechwood teammates Landon Johnson and Sam Cottengim.
Cottengim was the winning pitcher against Walton-Verona and batted .444 (4 for 9) with two doubles and four RBI in three games.
Beechwood’s season record is 21-3 after a 1-0 victory over Covington Catholic in a 35th District seeding game on Wednesday. The winning pitcher was junior Matt Kappes, who had eight strikeouts and gave up just five hits in seven innings.
Simon Kenton basketball player makes commitment with Midway
Sereniti Webb, the leading scorer and rebounder for Simon Kenton girls basketball this season, has made a commitment with Midway University in Kentucky, a team that played in the first round of the NAIA national tournament last March.
Sereniti Webb
After missing her junior season due to injury, Webb averaged 16.5 points and 9.9 rebounds in her senior season. The 6-foot power forward was named to the 8th Region all-star team, the Northern Kentucky Division I all-star team and she was among the seniors invited to the Kentucky All-Stars tryout.
Webb completed her four-year varsity career with 1,053 points and 686 rebounds. The Pioneers had a 63-30 record in the three seasons that she was in the starting lineup.
Webb will be joining a Midway team that posted a 26-8 record last season after an 86-50 loss to Indiana Wesleyan in the opening round of the NAIA playoffs. Two of the freshmen on the roster were Walton-Verona graduate Emma Gutman and Campbell County graduate Jalyn Jackson, who averaged 11 points per game.
