Monday, February 26, 2001
CovCath, Boone Co. No. 1 in final N.Ky. polls
Both achieved 20-win seasons
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Neither first-year Covington Catholic coach Mike Listerman nor Boone County's 16-year girls coach Nell Fookes were ready to predict 20 victories in the preseason.
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FINAL BOYS POLL
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1. CovCath (10) 100
2. NewCath 89
3. Scott 78
4. Conner 68
5. Simon Kenton 64
6. Highlands 48
7. Dixie Heights 44
8. Campbell Co. 25
9. St. Henry 17
10. Holy Cross 13
Others: Boone County 4, Holmes 2.
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FINAL GIRLS POLL
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1. Boone Co. (8) 80
2. Bishop Brossart 70
3. NewCath 66
4. Notre Dame 64
5. Holmes 47
6. Highlands 41
7. Newport 20
8. Dixie Heights 17
9. Holy Cross 13
10. Campbell Co. 10
Calvary Christian 7, Scott 4, Villa Madonna 3, Conner 3, Pendleton Co. 1.
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“I never sat down and totaled it up but I thought we should be in the upper teens,” Listerman said. “Certainly we had the ball bounce our way a lot,but we also put ourselves in position to have it go our way.”
Covington Catholic finished with a 20-5 record to emerge as The Kentucky Enquirer's boys poll champion.
Boone County was equally impressive, compiling a 23-4 record to claim the girls poll title.
Covington Catholic's only loss to a Northern Kentucky team was to Dixie Heights. Boone County did not lose to an area opponent.
One of those fortunatebounces for Covington Cath olic came Tuesday when the Colonels edged poll runner-up Newport Central Catholic with a last second put-back off an air ball.
“In my preseason analysis, I predicted Brian Lewin was the player to watch if he stayed healthy,” said Listerman. “He was every bit and even more than we expected. He was our leading scorer (13.6 ppg),but Greg Hiltz (10.2) and Adam Quast (7.2 off bench) also played important roles.”
Another key to the Colo nels' success was balance and depth. The bench contributed more than 20 points a game.
The addition of point guard Christian Stefanopoulos, a transfer from Highlands, helped improve an already talented Boone County squad.
“This allowed us to move Ciara (Henderson) to No.2 guard,” Fookes said. “She didn't have the pressure of bringing the ball up and it helped the offense.”
The Loyola-Chicago bound Henderson averaged 19.9 points to lead Boone County. Stefanopoulos averaged 12.5 a game and Chrissy Isaac 8.5.
“I'm not much into polls or honors,” Fookes said. “I won't go running in tomorrow to tell them, but the girls will know it. We must remain focused because any of five or six teams could beat us in the tournament.”
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CovCath, Boone Co. No. 1 in final N.Ky. polls
