By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The new head coach of the Campbell County boys basketball program is Brent Sowder, a long-time assistant who led the Camels junior varsity team to a 21-8 record last season.
Brent Sowder was coach of the Campbell County junior varsity team that posted a 21-8 record last season.
“It’s beyond a honor and a privilege to take this position,” Sowder posted on Twitter. “I’m indebted to so many people. Coach (Chad) Simms who got me started at Pendleton County and Coach (Aric) Russell who brought me into Campbell County.”
Sowder, who joined Campbell County’s coaching staff in 2014, was hired to replace Russell, who resigned as head coach after 13 seasons.
The Camels compiled a 284-134 record and won four 10th Region championships under Russell. Sowder was an assistant on the 2015, 2018 and 2019 teams that won region titles.
Last season, Campbell County’s junior varsity team got off to an 0-5 start and then won 21 of its last 24 games under Sowder. The Camels made it to the championship game of the Northern Kentucky jayvee playoffs.
The players on that team will help Sowder fill vacancies in the varsity lineup for next season. The Camels will be losing three seniors to graduation, including leading scorers Aydan Hamilton and Jake Gross.
Ryle, Simon Kenton archery teams earn berths in state tournament
Ryle and Simon Kenton posted the top team scores in the Region 6 boys and girls archery tournaments last week to qualify for the Kentucky state championships on April 18 in Bowling Green.
Ryle won the Region 6 boys team title and Simon Kenton was second. The order was reversed in the girls tournament with Simon Kenton placing first over Ryle. The top three scorers not on those teams earned individual berths in the state championships.
The highest individual score in Region 6 boys was 295 by Jack Albertson, a seventh-grader on the Ryle team. The next three scorers were individual state qualifiers Thane Hudson of Conner (292), Xander Moore of Boone County (290) and Alex Graman of Beechwood (290).
Covington Latin junior Monica Juelg was the Region 6 girls champion with a 289 score that was one point better than Conner junior Alexis Hunt. The next three finishers were Lauren Westermeyer of Simon Kenton (287), Gwen Hamon of Ryle (286) and Annebelle Cline of Boone County (286).
The first and only local team that won a state championship in archery was the Simon Kenton girls in 2018. Last year, Simon Kenton placed fourth in boys and Dixie Heights was 13th in girls.
Newport girls basketball coach stepping down after three seasons
Beau Menefee has resigned as head coach of the Newport girls basketball team after his teams compiled a 37-32 record over the last three seasons.
Beau Menefee
“With my kids being younger and coaching their teams. I just don’t have time anymore,” said Menefee, who had a team meeting with the players on Friday. He plans to continue teaching at Newport.
The Wildcats had a winless season in 2018-19 and won only two games in 2019-20 before Menefee took charge of the program. He started his head coaching career at Campbell County, where he compiled a 110-53 record in five seasons.
“They were 10-17 the year before,” he said of the Camels. “That’s what I really am proud of is going in and turning things around. And it’s not just the winning percentage, but the kids’ attitudes too.”
Newport finished 11-15 last season with double-figure scorer Elixis Litton (13.8) as the only senior on the roster. The team’s top returning players are juniors Kaylen Perry, who averaged 11.7 points in 22 games, and DeAyjah White, who averaged 14 points and 13.1 rebounds in 13 games.
Scott, Newport grads on college teams that made playoff runs
Two former Northern Kentucky boys basketball players — Jake Ohmer of Scott and Me’Kell Burries on Newport — were on college teams that made runs at national titles during March.
Ohmer was a senior guard on the Georgetown College team that reached the semifinals of the NAIA Championship Tournament. He was voted to the all-tournament team after scoring 70 points in three games and finished the season with a team-high 17.3 average.
After beginning his college career at Western Kentucky, Ohmer sat out two seasons before using his final year of eligibility at Georgetown. He wasn’t allowed to play until mid-December and then helped the Tigers (30-6) reach the NAIA semifinals for the 16th time in program history.
Burries was a redshirt sophomore on the Lincoln Memorial University team that made it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Division II men’s playoffs. He was a double-figure scorer off the bench in his team’s last three playoff games and averaged 12.1 points on the season.
Burries started 21 games before becoming a reliable sixth man off the bench for the Railsplitters (30-5). He ended up shooting 47.9 percent from the field overall, 39.3 percent from 3-point range and 83.8 percent at the line.
