Summer Recap of the 7th grade

When you think of 7th grade AAU in Nothern KY there is one team that comes to mind, NK Tarheels.  James Pouncy has the monopoly on the good 7th graders in this area.  The core of this team has been around for several years now finishing 8th, 6th and 6th at AAU nationals.  The Tarheels are led by Cole Vonhandorf.  Cole does everything but sell popcorn at the games.  Cole will suit back up for Blessed Sacrament this winter.  To bad Covington Catholic doesn't let players play up.  Cameron Racke, very athletic kid that plays the 1 thru 4 spots for the Tarheels. Cameron is a great defender, he is usually called one to shut down the other teams top scorer.  We will see Cameron on the Simon Kenton JV team this winter.  Sean Mcneil is known as a great shooter, and he is.  But this summer Sean brought some defense to the table with that jumper.  Sean will be using his talents at Ockerman this year as he is leaving Walton.  Ockerman is the defending 7th grade middle school champions.  The rich just got richer.  JC Hawkins another sharp shooter for the Tarheels.  He has a very solid overall game with a great IQ and passing skills.  I am hearing that he will be taking that talent to the Simon Kenton freshman team this winter.

The Tarheels are not the only 7th grade team that had a good summer.  The Shinning Stars coached by Thomas Moore's Ryan Hamm made their rounds on the AAU tournament scene this summer.  They are led by a pair of Austins,  Austin Neff and Austin Crawford.  Neff is a tough nosed kid with a smooth jumper.  Crawford is a scoring PG that can do a lot of things off the bounce.  The Stars took a big hit when they lost Sean Mcneil and Justin Drees to the Tarheels.  The Legends had a solid summer too playing in several tournaments in the NKY and Cincinnati area.  They are led by Jarred Webster of Grey Middle school. Webster has nice size and can knock down jumpers.

Some of the other top players in this class I seen this summer where Hunter Meyer of the Tarheels. A slashing PG who plays for Turkeyfoot Middle School.  Brent Angel of the Tarheels, strong, athletic kid.  Looks like he is still learning the game but he still can dominate a game with his strength. He and Webster will be a tough duo this winter at Grey.   It looks like the class of 2017 will be well represented in the NK area.  Good luck to all the kids in this class.

Summer Recap 8th grade

At the 8th grade level two teams really stood out to me  The Timberwolves and Legends.  Both teams had great summers winning almost every tournament they played in but somehow managed to steer clear of each other all summer. If they played each other during the summer I must have missed it.  Maybe we could get a shirts and skins game together. Both teams fell a little short of the medal round in Orlando at AAU D2 nationals but both still had very solid summers.  For the Twolves Ben Weyer and Trent McGoveny had great summers.  I don't expect to see either one of them on a freshman team this winter.  Both should be solid contributors at the JV level.  For the Legends Jacob Smith gets better every time I see him.  He just gets things done on both ends of the floor.  Jacob will be pairing up with Weyer at Newport Catholic this winter. Andrew Arnold is another Legends player that made major improvements this summer to his all around game.  I seen Andrew playing with the Holmes varsity team this summer in some scrimmages. Andrew has a great motor to go with great size and speed.
At the Adidas tournament in Indy, Todd Downs put together a squad that included Thad Moss, Ethan Snapp and Carson Williams.  They made a nice run to get to that final four of the gold division.  This team  would compete against any team in the state with their size and solid guard play. I didn't get to see Moss play a lot this summer as he bounced between Down's team and the Celtics.  But I heard from several coaches that he has grown up both physically and mentally.  Can't wait to see him on the football field this fall.  Carson Williams is the best 8th grader in the state for what I have seen this summer.  His size, speed and jumping ability just overwhelms kids at his age.  Carson competed in the Fab Frosh Camp in Georgia were he finished in the top 20 of the camp.  Carson will be center of attention in Owen County for the next four years.
Rounding out the top players would be Ethan Snapp who played for about anybody that would give him a jersey.  I seen him with at least three different teams this summer.  But regardless of uniform color he was doing the same thing, scoring.  Ethan scores in a varieties of ways from off the bounce to the jumper.  The kid will pull the trigger.  Brady Walker for Crons, heady PG that is strong and gets to the rim and finishes.  At Twenhofel, Walker was true PG that look to distribute the ball, this summer in both AAU and the Scott freshman league he looked to get  his shot off.  Austin Sweeney for NK Bulldogs, a slasher with a good first step.  He impressed me with how easy the game seems to come to him.  Covington Catholic is getting a good one here. 

I know I have not mentioned a lot of very good players but some I didn't get to see.  I wanted to see Markel McClendon play but we were never in the same gym  He started out the season with the Legends and I was told he went to play with The Ville.  Overall I believe the class of 2016 group in NKY is very solid.  Good luck to them all.

Timberwolves and Legends compete in Orlando

The NK Timberworlves and NK Legends traveled this week to Orlando to compete in the D2 AAU Nationals.  In their opening games both Northern Kentucky teams brought home a win.  The Timberwolves opened up play with a 49-22 win over Bowie Magic.  And the Legends destroyed S. Oviedo Hornets by a score of 69-15.  Both teams continue play tomorrow.  I hope to speak with both coaches and get some game details.

Timberwolves win Hoosier Shootout

Coach Stapleton called it a "All In" tournament win for the Timberwolves as they went 6-0 in route to winning the Hoosier Shootout.  Stapleton said a different player would step up at  different moments in every game.  Trent McGovney went down in the opening game of bracket play with hurt ankle.  Hunter Wood had to step up and fill that lead guard roll with McGovney watching from the sidelines.  Newcomer Siah Holifield of West Jessamine turned in a very solid performance and may have been the weekend MVP for the TWolves, with his defensive energy and ability to score the ball.  Ben Weyer of Highlands continued his solid summer dominating inside but also stepping away from the basket to knock down the three ball.  I hear that Bluebirds are losing out to Newport Central Catholic for Ben's services this fall.  Big knock to the Bluebirds basketball program to lose the talent that Ben brings to the table.  The Timberwolves will travel to  Orlando to compete in the AAU D2 National Tournament next week. They will compete against 138 different teams from across the country in the week long tournament at Disney World.

Cole Vonhandorf

Cole Vonhandorf, a incoming 8th grader for Blessed Sacrament, has had a fantastic summer for the NK Tarheels.  After hearing what he accomplished in Memphis at AAU Nationals, which included a 31 points per game average.  I thought I would take time to write about what Coach Charles Hawkins calls "The best 7th grader in the state of Kentucky."  The first time I seen Cole was in the 6th grade championship game of the NKMSAA against Woodland, where Cole scored 30 plus points in that game to lead his team to the championship.  This summer Cole has led the Tarheels to the KY D2 State Championship, GRBA KY State Championship, and 6th place at AAU Nationals.  In the games I have had the privilege to watch Cole play, he scores in bunches and from all angles.  Cole is about 6 ft tall and about 155lbs, a very good frame for a kid that is 13 years old.  Strength and speed are his allies that he uses to get to the rim.  And once he gets there he usually finishes.  He has great range on that left handed jumper and the confidence to pull the trigger and any time.  I think the thing that sets him apart from other kids that match his athleticism is his eagerness to compete. 

NK Tarheels/KY Select finish 6th at AAU Nationals in Memphis

The NK Tarheels/KY Select 7^th grade finished in 6^th place at the AAU D2 Nationals for the second year in a row.  They defeated the Illinois Lightning 75-32 to open pool play.  Cole Vonhandorf had 18, Justin Drees 17 and JC Hawkins with 11. They  lost on a last second shot with 0.7 seconds on the clock to the South Fulton Panthers 60-62. The Tarheels were up 1 with 0.7 second left when the Panthers threw in a hail Mary from about 25 feet.  Vonhandorf had 18, Sean Mcneil had 17 and Cameron Racke had 15. In their last pool game against the Columbus Mustangs they won 71-35.  This game was never close as they jumped out to a 21-0 lead and kept their foot on the gas. Vonhandorf had 24, and Mcneil with 15. The Tarheels would finish pool play at  2-1  and win the 1 seed in their pool.

Bracket play began with a win over Hartford City Dream Team 78-57. Vonhandorf had 34, Mcneil with 15 and Drees with 12. They then defeated the SW Little Rock Bulls 84-69. Vonhandorf had 44, Racke with 13 and Brent Angel with 10.  They would lose to Georgia United 70-58.  The Georgia United team would go on to win the D2 National Championship.  Vonhandorf had 32. They then defeated Lakeland Fire 73-46. Vonhandorf had 38 and Drees had 10. The Tarheels would lose a heart breaker in the 5^th/6^th place game to Team Wigg from Alabama 87-80.  Vonhandorf led in scoring again with his second 40 point performance of the tournament, he had 41.   

Vonhandorf averaged a staggering 31 points a game for the 8 games The Tarheels played in Memphis.  He scored every way possible from taking to the basket and knocking down the three ball.  Coach Charles Hawkins said "Cole has a motor that doesn’t stop and rest of the team feeds off his energy.  Cole was clearly in my opinion the best player in the tournament."  That is a pretty big accomplishment seeing there were 96 teams in D2. Coach Hawkins went on to say "This was a team effort.  Cole may have led us in scoring but the defensive play from players like Dante Hendrix and Hunter Meyer and the rebounding of Justin Drees and Brent Angel where just as important. Our scoring was pretty balanced after Cole would get his 30 points with Mcneil, Racke, Drees and Hawkins all chipping in" 

The Tarheel/KY Select roster with school attending:

Gannon Huff-Beechwood

Cole Vonhandorf-Blessed Sacrament

JC Hawkins-Summit View

Dante Hendrix-Ockerman

Devin McClendon-Holy Cross

Hunter Meyer-Turkeyfoot

Sean Mcneil-Ockerman

Brent Angel-Grey

Justin Drees-Sunman Dearborn

Cameron Racke-Twenhofel