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Prep Sports Notebook: Two high schools hosting girls basketball scrimmage games on Saturday


By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

Two local high schools will host girls basketball scrimmage games between teams from Kentucky and Ohio on Saturday as tune-ups for the 2019-20 season that begins in three weeks.

Ryle, the defending Kentucky state champion, has eight interstate matchups on the Battle of the Borders schedule. Several NCAA Division I recruits will be taking part in those scrimmages, including Ryle senior Maddie Scherr.

Ryle senior guard Maddie Scherr was named Gatorade Player of the Year in Kentucky last season.

After being named the most valuable player in the state tournament last March, Scherr accepted a scholarship from the University of Oregon, one of the Final Four teams in the 2019 NCAA Division I tournament. Oregon will start this season as the nation’s top-ranked team.

Scherr was named Gatorade Player of the Year in Kentucky as a junior. The 5-foot-11 point guard averaged 15.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 3.3 steals and 1.5 blocks in 38 games. Ryle’s other returning starters are junior guard Brie Crittendon and senior guard Jaiden Douthitt from last year’s 33-5 team.

Beechwood will host the Cross Border Tip-Off that has 10 games between Kentucky and Ohio teams. In five of those games, local teams will be playing under new head coaches.

The list of new coaches includes Aaron Stamm at Ludlow, Joe Hornback at Newport, Allisa Brown at Holmes, Todd Smart at St. Henry and Steve Brown at Scott.

One of the players to watch in the scrimmage games at Beechwood is Scott junior Mya Meredith. She was voted second-team all-state last season after averaging 25.2 points and 8.0 rebounds for the Eagles. The 5-foot-10 swing player has received scholarship offers from several Division I college programs, according to posts on her Twitter account.

Here are the pairings for scrimmage games at both schools on Saturday:

BATTLE OF THE BORDERS 
(hosted by Ryle High School)
9:30 a.m. — Highlands vs. Loveland; 11 a.m. — Notre Dame vs. Princeton; 12:30 p.m. — Conner vs. Wyoming (at Gray Middle School) and Owensboro Catholic vs. Mercy McAuley (at Ryle High School); 2 p.m. — Pulaski Southwestern vs. Pickerington  Central; 3:30 p.m. — Ryle vs. Roger Bacon; 5 p.m. — Boone County vs. Mason County; 6:30 p.m. — Dixie Heights vs. Sycamore.

CROSS BORDER TIP-OFF
(at Beechwood High School)
8 a.m. — Ludlow vs. Mariemont; 9:15 a.m. — Beechwood vs. Taylor; 10:30 a.m. — Bracken County vs. Seven Hills;  11:45 a.m. — Lloyd vs. Madeira; 1 p.m. — Pikeville vs. Summit Country Day; 2:15 p.m. — Newport vs. Batavia; 3:30 p.m. — Holmes vs. Clark Montessori; 4:45 p.m. — Greenup County vs. Deer Park; 6 p.m. — St. Henry vs. Clermont Northeastern; 7:15 p.m. — Scott vs. Seton.

Notre Dame finishes in final four of state volleyball tournament

Grace Ward and Kenley Way were the Notre Dame volleyball players named to the state all-tournament team after the Pandas lost to nationally ranked and eventual state champion Louisville Assumption in the semifinals on Saturday.

In the nine sets that Notre Dame played during the state tournament, Ward had 97 assists and 19 digs as the team’s setter while Way contributed 19 kills as an outside hitter. Ward finished the season among the state leaders in assists with 1,315 in 125 sets.

Notre Dame finished the season with a 30-12 record that included seven loses to out-of-state opponents. Ward and Way were among four seniors on this year’s 9th Region championship team.

Campbell County won the 10th Region title to earn a berth in the state tournament. In the opening round, the Camels lost a five-set match to Owensboro Catholic and ended the season with a 20-16 record. The team leaders in kills, assists, blocks and digs will all be back next year for the Camels.

Football officials wore decals to honor Stan Steidel at playoff games

At high school football playoff games last Friday, Northern Kentucky officials wore decals with the letter “S” on the front of their striped shirts to honor Stan Steidel, who died in an automobile accident earlier that week.

Steidel was a football and basketball coach at Dayton High School and later served as assigning secretary for local officials. The person who replaced him in that position was Matt Young, a former official who is rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newport.

Young conducted funeral services for Steidel on Sunday in the Dayton gym. A large crowd passed through the gym to pay their last respects to Steidel and his family. As director of the All “A” Classic small school state tournaments and a former member of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, Steidel was well known all across the state.


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