Conference races are beginning to shape up in Cincinnati while Northern Kentucky is wrapping up the All "A" Tournament in Richmond, Kentucky. There are plenty of storylines circulating the prep basketball landscape in Greater Cincinnati.
Here's everything you need to know from the high school hardwood on both sides of the river.
A FITTING 400: Oak Hills head coach Mike Price is stickler for defense. The Highlanders have owned a top 3 scoring defense in the conference in each of the last four seasons. So it was only fitting that Price, now in his 27th year along the Oak Hills sidelines, collected his 400th career victory Friday night with one of the best defensive outings of his lengthy stint.
Oak Hills forced 19 turnovers, tallied nine steals and held Middletown to just 23.5 percent from the field (8-for-34) as Oak Hills rolled to a 50-24 victory. It was the ninth time since 2005 that Price's club had allowed under 30 points and it was the third consecutive year they kept Middletown south of that mark. The blowout snapped a brief two-game skid and moved the Highlanders into a three-way tie for second place in the Greater Miami Conference.
ANOTHER GMC UPSET: Two weeks after upsetting Lakota East 65-62, Hamilton pulled off another seismic win to shake up the GMC, edging Mason 52-51 Friday night at home. Senior guard D'Marco Howard led the charge, going 8-for-13 from the field for a game-high 22 points to move the Big Blue to 9-6 overall.
Mason's second-straight conference loss gives Lakota East a two-game cushion as the Thunderhawks aim for their first outright league title since 2011.
Over the last 10 days, Lakota East has topped Oak Hills and Mason by double digits, lost a competitive game to Moeller after leading at halftime, and Friday night handled Princeton 57-48 behind Bash Wieland's game-high 26 points.
TOP-HEAVY CMAC: The top three clubs in the Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference took care of business Friday night against the bottom trio. D'Arris Dean, fresh off a buzzer-beater against Western Hills, went for 22 points as Aiken beat Woodward, 76-64.
Hughes got 30 points from freshman Paul McMillan IV in a 80-58 dismantling of Shroder and Taft had no trouble blowing past Western Hills, 80-59. Those three clubs each have 12 wins. Hughes holds the upper hand with a half-game lead over the Senators.
TWENTY-SIX STRAIGHT: Moeller has had its way with plenty of its foes over its recent run to back-to-back state championship games. That run extends mightily against GCL-South rival St. Xavier. The Crusaders have now won 26 straight against over the Bombers after a 62-37 win Friday night. The streak goes back to Feb. 17, 2006, when St. X beat Moeller, 64-53.
Moeller, bidding to become Cincinnati's first back-to-back Division I state champion, has won 34 straight games, has not lost a conference game since Feb. 2016 and has not bowed to a fellow Buckeye State program since a 39-38 loss to Massillon Jackson in the 2017 D-I final.
BITTNER DELIVERS: Elder forward Michael Bittner, the GCL-South's leading passer in football, knocked down a go-ahead three-pointer with 12 second remaining to lift the Panthers to a 49-47 road victory over La Salle Friday night.
It was a second-straight big win for Elder, which upset Oak Hills 45-31 on Tuesday night to snap a four-game losing streak.
ALL "A" UPDATE: Walton-Verona handled Knot County Central Friday night 65-32 to move to the All "A" Tournament Final Four Saturday at 6 p.m. against Lexington Christian Academy. Newport fell to University Heights. On the girls side, Holy Cross and Walton-Verona moved to the semifinals with double-digit wins. Holy Cross blew past Metcalfe County 70-47 and the Lady Bearcats soared over Bethlehem, 52-40.
CONNER TAKES OVER THE TOP: Conner girls are the new number one in the Associated Press state poll after beating defending Eighth Region Simon Kenton last week. Conner is 20-1 and has won 17 straight games since losing to Ryle on Dec. 7. Ryle is ranked third. Ryle, 18-3 overall, has lost two of its last three to defending Ohio state champion Mt. Notre Dame and to Sacred Heart.
BLUEBIRDS KEEP ROLLING: Highlands is 20-4 and has won five in a row after routing Bellevue 94-41 and Newport on Friday. Against Bellevue, Highlands set a school record with 20 made 3-pointers, one off the state record. Zoie Barth had 31 points and senior Chloe Jansen posted a career-high 19. Barth had seven 3-pointers in 10 attempts. Jansen made four treys, as did Maggie Hinegardner. Meghan Walz hit three triples, and Piper Macke and Rylee Thomas hit one apiece.
STATE CHAMPS SIDELINED: The continuing controversy over a confrontation involving Covington Catholic students in Washington, D.C. has cost the CovCath basketball team two games this week.
Threats made to the school were cited in canceling two CovCath home games last week, against Campbell County Jan. 22 and vs. Holmes Jan. 25. The Campbell game, which was going to be a battle of two defending regional champions, is not likely to be made up. The Holmes game is a 35th District seeding matchup and will be rescheduled at some point.
CAMELS CLIMBING: Campbell County improved to 15-4 with a 65-32 win over Paris Friday night. The Camels have won seven of eight, with the loss coming to Walton-Verona. Campbell has three 10th Region games next week, with home games against Harrison County Monday and Bracken County Tuesday, then a showdown with Scott Friday, Feb. 1 in Taylor Mill.
PIONEERS POURING IN THE POINTS: Simon Kenton boys team has won five in a row to improve to 16-4 overall. The Pioneers have averaged 88 points per game in the streak, capped by a 103-81 win over Boone County Jan. 22. Kelly Niece averages 24 points per game for SK and Jeremy Davis 15. Davis has 62 3-pointers and Niece 41.
TIGERS ROAR: Beechwood improved to 18-3 with a 99-69 win over Dohn Friday. Scotty Draud posted 27 points and senior point guard CJ Brannen had a triple double. Beechwood has won three straight since its heartbreaking loss to Newport in the All “A” tournament.
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