Weekend Sports Notes

Basketball Games Cancelled

PHOTO: Allen Ramsey, DWCPhoto.com. Highlands junior Spence Macke (13) gets off a shot in a recent Junior Varsity game.

The Highlands Bluebirds basketball teams had games either cancelled or rescheduled Friday and Saturday.

The Highland girls (12-6 overall) had the Louisville Assumption Rockets (6-10) out of Region 7 on the schedule for a home game Friday. It was cancelled because of excessive snow.

Highlands faces Covington Holy Cross (10-6) on Tuesday in a 9th Region game at 7:30 p.m.

The Highlands boys (8-8) had the Dayton Greendevils (3-12) at home for a 36th District game. The teams rescheduled it for Jan. 18 in Fort Thomas.

The Highlands Archery teams had two tournaments cancelled. The teams were to play in the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday and the St. Henry Tournament on Saturday.

Football Class Drafts Released:

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association released the draft alignments Thursday for the 2019 through 2022 seasons based on the average number of boys in high school between the 2014-15 and 2017-2018 school years.

The numbers place the Highlands Bluebirds down in Class 4A where they spent the 2011 through 2014 seasons and won the 4A state championship three times and finished runner-up in 2013. The average number of boys for Highlands in that period is 486.3.

Highlands elected to play up to Class 5A for the 2015 to 2018 seasons. The Bluebirds found themselves in District 5 with Covington Catholic, Dixie Heights and Grant County for that classification period.

But a huge problem developed after the 2016 season when the KHSAA allowed Grant County to drop out of district action leaving a three-team District 5. Not only did the three teams have to scramble to fill their schedules, but the void left a bye in the Class 5A playoffs for District 3 champion South Oldham. The Dragons were the only team in the biggest five classes to earn a bye.

KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett said no plans were made to fill that playoff void or to do the same in 2018 when the District 6 winner could also be awarded a bye despite six 5A teams not making the playoffs. But the board decided to add tougher rules regarding dropping out of district action mid-alignment after hearing concerns from members.