[toussaints]

Ninth Region
Site: Bank of Kentucky Center, Northern Kentucky University.

Schedule: Wednesday’s first-round games: Cooper (15-14) vs. Dixie Heights (20-10), 6 p.m.; Newport Central Catholic (20-8) vs. Covington Catholic (17-13), 7:30 p.m.
Thursday’s first-round games: Holmes (23-6) vs. Boone County (24-7), 6 p.m.; Lloyd (15-15) vs. Highlands (10-18), 7:30 p.m.
Saturday’s semifinals: Wednesday’s winners, 1 p.m.; Thursday’s winners, 2:30 p.m.
Sunday’s championship: Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.

Litkenhous Ratings: 1. Dixie Heights 87.1. 2. Covington Catholic 84.1. 3. Holmes 83.1. 4. Newport Central Catholic 82.2. 5. Boone County 81.1. 6. Cooper 73.1. 7. Highlands 67.8. 8. Lloyd 66.3.

What to expect: Friday’s upsets by Cooper over Boone County and Lloyd over Dixie have made this a highly unpredictable tournament. Defending champion Dixie Heights is 32-3 over the last two years against Ninth Region opponents, but it has lost two of its last three games against Ninth Region foes. It beat first-round foe Cooper 59-48 on Feb. 14, and also beat both possible semifinal opponents – NewCath 79-72 on Dec. 8, and CovCath 73-59 on Feb. 10.

The NewCath-CovCath and Holmes-Boone County first-round matchups could just as easily have been championship matches if the district tournaments had gone differently. NewCath beat CovCath in the regular season 63-53 on Jan. 13, and Boone County beat Holmes 61-51 on Feb. 7. Lloyd and Highlands are the two lowest-rated teams in the tournament, but one of the two will reach the semifinal round. Lloyd beat Highlands on Feb. 10.

nky.com hoops regional preview