By sports reporter Terry Boehmker, NKyTribune
Walton-Verona’s surprising 64-57 victory against Cooper on Saturday featured a net total of 62 points from the top two scorers in Northern Kentucky boys high school basketball this season.
Aaron Gutman, a senior at Walton-Verona, led the team in scoring with 32 points, followed by Andy Johnson, a senior at Cooper, with 30. Johnson had a scoring average of 23.6 after the game, followed by Gutman at 23.5.
Cooper’s 10-game winning streak came to an end, and it was his first home loss of the season. Walton-Verona outscored the Jaguars, who have the highest RPI in the 9th Region, by shooting 60.5 percent (23 of 58) from the floor overall and 52.9 percent (9 of 17) from 3-point range.
Gutman scored 73.3 percent on 11 of 15 field goal attempts. He converted 7 of 14 free throws, made 3 of 5 treys, and made 8 of 10 two-point efforts. Johnson made 8 of 11 twos, 2 of 8 threes, and 8 of 14 free throws while shooting 52.6 percent (10 of 19).
In games over the weekend, eight additional local players scored 25 points or more. Ryle senior Landon Lorms’ 39-point effort in an 89-65 victory over St. Henry topped that list.
Lorms made 13 of 22 field goals, including 5 of 10 3-pointers and 8 of 10 free throws, to set his team’s single-game scoring record. With four games left until the playoffs, he had a season scoring average of 21.7 going into this week.
Conner senior Chase Huff scored 35 points, Scott junior Aaron Hampton scored 31, Calvary Christian junior Collin Duty scored 31, Newport Central Catholic senior Ian Mann scored 27, Calvary Christian sophomore Peyton Morris scored 27, Heritage Academy junior Landon Reinhart scored 25, and Highlands junior Vinnie Listerman scored 25.
The majority of Mann’s 27 points in Saturday’s 66-63 victory over Holy Cross came from 16 of 19 free throws. He is currently among the state leaders in that area, shooting 85.8 percent (127 of 148) from the line this season.
Caroline Eaglin, a senior guard from NewCath, leads the Northern Kentucky girls basketball league in scoring with an average of 22.3 points, which is in the top 10 statewide. She broke her school’s career scoring record in January and concluded the previous two seasons with the highest scoring average among local girls.
CovCath bowling team second in state tournament
On Monday at Kingpin Lanes in Jeffersontown, the Covington Catholic bowling team defeated Louisville Trinity 3-0 in the championship final after winning three games in the boys state competition.
To get to the state championship for the first time, CovCath upset No. 7 Franklin County, No. 2 Central Hardin, and No. 14 Owensboro Apollo after finishing 10th in the qualifying round used to seed the 16-team bracket. For the second time in three years, Trinity took home the championship trophy.
On Monday, Trinity’s Joseph Adams took home the boys’ state singles championship. Maddox Kuryla of Boone County and Tyler Blume of Simon Kenton, who finished sixth and seventh, respectively, were the top Northern Kentucky finishers.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association has postponed the state bowling tournaments for girls on Tuesday and adapted and unified teams on Wednesday due to the forecasted snowfall in and around the Jeffersontown area.
Basketball state tournament draws set for Friday
The first-round pairings for the Kentucky boys’ and girls’ state basketball tournaments will be decided by draws that will be broadcast on khsaa.tv at 1 p.m. on Friday.
Rupp Arena in Lexington will host both state tournaments. The UK Healthcare boys’ tournament is scheduled for March 26–29, while the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop girls’ tournament is scheduled for March 12–15. Due to the NCAA men’s tournament games being hosted at Rupp Arena on March 20 and 22, the tournaments were unable to take place in consecutive weeks this year.
Teams from Northern Kentucky in the 9th, 8th, and 10th Regions will be vying for spots in the state tournament when the high school basketball postseason playoffs start on February 24.
