By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic tennis players are two wins away from sweeping all three boys state championships this season.
CovCath won its first two matches in the boys state team tournament on Tuesday to advance to the semifinals. If the Colonels win two matches on Wednesday, they’ll add that state championship trophy to the ones they took in both singles and doubles competition last week.
The team semifinal matches at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday at the University of Kentucky tennis complex are CovCath vs. North Oldham and Owensboro Catholic vs. Lexington Dunbar.
The winners will face off in the championship final at 1:30 p.m.
CovCath won last year’s inaugural boys state team tournament and opened this week’s playoffs with a 3-1 win over Louisville St. Xavier on Tuesday.
The Colonels followed that with a 3-0 win over Central Hardin in the quarterfinals to reach the final four once again.
In both of those victories, senior Alex Yeager, sophomore Blake Hussey and senior Kalei Christensen won singles matches. Last week, Hussey and Christensen won CovCath’s third consecutive state doubles title and Yeager became the team’s first singles state champion since 2013.
Notre Dame lost to Greenwood, 3-0, in the quarterfinal round of the girls state team tournament on Tuesday. After winning the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches, Greenwood closed out the match with a win in No. 1 doubles.
Notre Dame defeated Johnson Central, 3-0, in an opening round match with victories by Lila Harris and Grace Summer at No. 1 doubles, Taylor Maynard and Eva Tully at No. 3 doubles and Malia Christensen at No. 3 singles.
New coach looks to extend Cooper’s region title run
Christian Stefanopoulos Prohaska will return to Northern Kentucky high school basketball as head coach of the Cooper girls team that won the last four 9th Region championships.
Prohaska was a junior point guard on the Highlands team that won the 2000 9th Region title. She transferred to Boone County for her senior season and helped the Rebels reach the 2001 region final.
After finishing her playing career at Thomas More College, she spent 14 years as an assistant coach on the NCAA Division I level with Morehead State, Bucknell, Kentucky, Seton Hall and Xavier.
“It’s a special opportunity to lead a program with a proud tradition of success in the community I call home,” Prohaska said in a media release from Cooper. “I’m excited to build on that legacy, compete for championships and invest in the growth of our players both on and off the court.”
Prohask was hired to replace Justin Holthaus, who stepped down as Cooper girls basketball coach to take charge of the boys program. Over the past five seasons, his girls teams compiled a 128-30 record, won an unprecedented four consecutive 9th Region championships and made it to the state tournament semifinals twice.
Four of the five starters on Cooper’s 26-6 region championship team last season were underclassmen, including point guard Addyson Brissey and swing player Haylee Noel, who had team-high averages of 16.4 points and 7.5 rebounds.
The team’s returning talent and experience gives Prohaska a strong base to start her head coaching career.
“Her presence will no doubt continue to build and energize our program leaving a lasting impression on our student-athletes,” Cooper athletic director Randy Borchers said in the media release.”
Ludlow names new girls head basketball coach
The Ludlow girls basketball team has a new head coach for the third time in four years with Justin Wade taking charge of the program for the 2025-26 season.
Wade, who has coached on the school system’s middle school level for several years, was hired to replace Ryan Bowman, who resigned after guiding the Panthers varsity team to an 11-19 record in his first season. Blake Clary was Ludlow’s head coach the previous two years.
Ludlow had only one senior on last year’s varsity roster. The leading scorer was junior guard Addy Garrett with an 18.2 average. Junior forward Kiley Huff averaged 7.8 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds.
“Coach Wade is excited to inherit a team with great potential,” according to a media release from the school. “He is looking forward to pushing and challenging each player.”