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Prep Sports Notebook: Highlands leads local contingent of high-scoring boys basketball teams


By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

Northern Kentucky boys basketball teams currently have four of the state’s top six scoring averages with the Highlands Bluebirds leading the state at 87.1 points per game during their 10-1 start.

This week, Highlands played three games in the Mason County Invitational without senior guard Will Herald, who is averaging a team-high 22 points. The Bluebirds lost their first game of the season, 69-60, to Lexington Henry Clay in the opening round and then outscored Augusta, 91-53, and Fleming County, 104-76, in the consolation bracket.

Brayden Moeves is one of four Highlands players with a double-figure scoring average. (Photo by Allen Ramsey, dwcphoto.com)

Highlands has now surpassed the 90-point mark five times and reached triple figures in three of those games. Last season, the Bluebirds reached 100 points only once.

The team’s leading scorer in all three tournament games this week was junior guard Brayden Moeves, who lifted his average to 16.1. He made 14 of 24 3-pointers during the tournament and is now shooting 50.6 percent (39 of 77) from long range.

In the win over Fleming County, Moeves made 7 of 9 3-point attempts and Highlands set a Northern Kentucky single-game record with 21 treys.

Moeves now ranks among the state’s best 3-point shooters along with Herald who has made 50 percent (33 of 66). As a team, the high-flying Bluebirds are shooting 44.1 percent (130 or 295) from behind the arc and 51.7 percent (339 of 656) from the field overall.

The other local teams among the state’s points-per-game leaders are Walton-Verona (82.7), Holy Cross (79.5) and Covington Catholic (78.8).

Walton-Verona (8-3) won high-scoring shootouts against Evangel Christian, 102-100, and Scott, 107-104, earlier in the season. Both of those games went into overtime and the 211 points in the second one is the second highest total in a game between two Northern Kentucky teams.

Holy Cross (6-2) has scored 636 points in eight games with one player accounting for 44 percent of that total. Senior guard Jacob Meyer has netted 278 points for a 34.3 average that’s best in the state. He has scored 33 points or more in seven of his team’s eight games.

CovCath (8-0) adopted a more uptempo style of play than previous years when the Colonels had better size and it’s worked out well. They are shooting 49.9 percent (236 of 473) from the field and have the state’s highest free throw percentage at 83.3 (100 of 120).

The local teams averaging 70 points or more per game include Brossart (73.9), Campbell County (73.1), Ludlow (72.5), Newport Central Catholic (71.2) and Scott (70.2).

Ludlow senior guard Jaxson Rice has a 30.6 scoring average that’s tied for fourth in the state. He has produced 42 percent of the 725 total points for the 8-2 Panthers, who have won their last seven games under new head coach Aaron Stamm.

Simon Kenton football player voted first-team all-state by coaches

Simon Kenton offensive lineman Aba Selm was the only Northern Kentucky football player voted first-team all-state in a postseason coaches poll conducted by the Louisville Courier Journal newspaper.

Aba Selm

The 6-foot-4, 293-pound junior was a tackle in Simon Kenton’s offensive lineup that averaged 434 yards and 39.1 points per game during the Pioneers’ 8-3 season. As a starter on the defensive line, he made 21 solo and 15 assisted tackles with two quarterback sacks.

Selm has received scholarship offers from Kentucky, Purdue and Eastern Kentucky with more likely to come if recruiters talk to Simon Kenton coach Roy Lucas Jr.

“Aba is very strong and athletic, fast and agile for his size,” Lucas said. “He can play any of the positions across both offensive and defensive lines.”

Two members of the Beechwood team that won the Class 2A state championship also impressed many of the 113 coaches who cast all-state ballots. Antonio Mitchell was named second-team all state at defensive back and Mitchell Berger was named third-team all-state at running back.

Boone County grad selected for induction by LaRosa Hall of Fame

Boone County graduate Sydney Moss, who was named 2012 Miss Kentucky Basketball, is one of five former athletes to be inducted into the Buddy LaRosa High School Sports Hall of Fame this summer.

Sydney Moss

Moss scored 2,997 points and snagged 1,607 rebounds during her three-year varsity career at Boone County. The Rebels reached the 9th Region finals each of those years and won the 2010 and 2012 championships to advance to the state tournament.

In the first round of the 2012 state tournament, Boone County lost to Louisville Dunbar, 72-70, in overtime. Moss had 41 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in her final high school game and was she named Miss Kentucky Basketball after the season.

After starting her college career at the University of Florida, Moss transferred to Thomas More College and was named NCAA Division III Player of the Year three consecutive seasons. She was an assistant coach on the Thomas More team that won the 2022 Division III national championship and joined the coaching staff at Wilmington University last summer.


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