Nylon news: Which Greater Cincinnati basketball teams enjoyed a good week?

It was another exhilarating week of action in Greater Cincinnati high school gyms. Not only were there district and league matchups, but many teams competed in showcases in various locations throughout Ohio and Kentucky.

Despite the cold weather, the action doesn't stop as the postseason draws ever nearer. Here's what happened on the hardwood from Jan. 8-14.

Vote: Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky high school athlete of the week, Jan. 15.

Kentucky schools go 3-1 at Hardwood Holiday Classic

The second day of the LaRosa's Holiday Hardwood Classic at Xavier University's Cintas Center featured five total games, four of which saw teams from the Bluegrass take the court.

Cooper started the day by dismantling CHCA 79-63 thanks to shooting 76.9 percent from behind the three-point line. Shaun Pouncy led the Cougars with 16 points and punctuated the win with an alley-oop dunk in the fourth quarter.

Great Crossing came back from an arm's length deficit in the first half to defeat Princeton, 79-74. Warhawks center and highly-recruited junior Malachi Moreno went down with a knee ailment less than one minute into the game but returned in the second quarter. He finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. Vince Dawson, Jeremiah Godfrey and Junius Burrell all finished in double figures. The Warhawks are now 17-1.

Covington Catholic almost squandered an 11-point halftime lead against Lakota East but pulled out a 60-59 win. Athens McGillis, Brady Hussey and Cash Harney all scored in double figures. Hussey made two free throws with 20 seconds left to give the Colonels a one-point lead. Junior Trey Perry paced the Thunderhawks with 25 points.

The lone loss came from Highlands, which fell 55-32 to Moeller. The Crusaders, who are one of the top-ranked teams in Ohio, raced out to a 17-4 first-quarter lead and never looked back.

CMAC leaders make headlines

The Red Division of the Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference is as competitive as it has ever been entering Tuesday night’s slate of league games.

Aiken is atop the division at 3-1 and 9-4 overall after recent wins over league foes Western Hills and Taft. The Falcons play at Hughes, Woodward and Withrow over the next seven days.

The Falcons have prospered from the arrival of junior guard Jaiden Arnold, a transfer from Princeton who is getting Division I interest. Arnold is averaging 16.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.9 steals.

James Burnett Jr. is averaging 15.9 points and 4.6 rebounds. Tayvon Smith posts 8.1 points and 7.4 boards. They have helped lift a Falcons team that was 7-15 last year.

More: Withrow standout Chris Henry Jr. and siblings leave Cincinnati

Aiken has not won a league title in the CMAC since 2016.

Western Hills, Woodward and Taft are all 3-2 in the league. Taft plays the other two teams this week at home. Western Hills hosts Withrow (1-3) on Tuesday. The Tigers are coming off a win over Woodward without standout starters Chris Henry Jr. and his brother Demarcus, who left the school last week.

West High, 17-8 last season, has not won a league title in the current CMAC alignment. The Mustangs have five players averaging eight points or more, led by Antwan Hinton at 13.8 per game. Following him are Bassirou Kante, Tez Getnet, Omarion Beckley and Seydou Keita.

Beckley averages 8.6 points, 12.6 rebounds, 5.3 steals and 2.8 blocks. Kante and Getnet have hit 25 or more 3-pointers, more than two per game.

In the Blue Division, Gamble Montessori is looking for its first league title in four seasons. The Gators are 10-2 overall and 8-0 in league play. Leading Gamble is Taron Patterson with 21.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.0 steals.

Goshen is good

Goshen is off to a 13-1 start this season and 4-0 in the American Division of the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference. The Warriors are looking for their first league title since 2017 and first outright championship since 2011.

Caden Zeinner leads the Warriors with 21.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 steals. He has a team-high 30 3-pointers.

Conner Moore averages 11.5 points and 4.2 rebounds.

Conner beat second-place Batavia 71-63 Jan. 3 and this week plays Wilmington (3-9, 2-2) and New Richmond (5-7, 2-2).

Outstanding achievements

Addy Garrett, Ludlow: She scored a career-high 32 points in a 62-55 win over Lloyd Memorial. Garrett is scoring 15.5 points per game this season and takes over as the top scorer after her sister, Mylee, led the Panthers last season.

Sophia Gibson, Notre Dame: The junior center had quite the week as she recorded her 500th career rebound as part of a 13-rebound performance against Simon Kenton. She then scored a career-high 28 points in a 32-point win over Great Crossing.

Taylor Hill, St. Henry: Hill scored her 500th career point earlier this season against Bracken County, then secured her 500th career rebound against Bellevue.

Rylie Homan, Edgewood: The senior already holds the school record for career steals, but she decided to add another record to her name when she broke the career assists record in a win over Ross. In each of her four years, Homan has averaged more than three assists per game; she is averaging 4.6 dimes through 12 games this year.

Taylen Kinney, Newport: Kinney scored his 1,000th career point in a Ninth Region All "A" semifinal win over Newport Central Catholic. The sophomore, who has over 20 Division I offers, is currently scoring 19.9 points per game on 49.8 percent shooting from the field.

Keira Kirk, New Richmond: She established a new career-high in points when she poured in 22 against Bethel-Tate. As a senior, she is averaging 9.8 points per game, almost doubling her average of five points per game from her junior year.

Reagan Licata, Seven Hills: Licata recorded her first career triple-double in a win over Reading. What made it even more special was that she did it with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks, whereas most triple-doubles are accomplished with points, rebounds and assists. The junior leads the Stingers with 15.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.9 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game.

Bryn Martin, Springboro: Martin scored her 1,000th career point as part of a 15-point performance in a win over Fairmont. She currently has Division I offers from Dayton, Harvard, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Xavier.

Caden Miller, Covington Catholic: Miller, one of the best forwards in Northern Kentucky, set a new school record for blocks in a game when he recorded nine against Lakota East. His final block turned out to be the game-winner as he swatted a Thunderhawks' layup with two seconds left.

Taylor Schmidt, West Clermont: Schmidt became the Wolves' all-time leader in career steals when she recorded her 138th heist in a win over Turpin. The senior's career-high for a single game came on Dec. 7, 2023, against Anderson when she pilfered six passes.

E.J. Walker, Lloyd Memorial: He scored his 1,000th career point in a win over Simon Kenton. Walker, like Kinney, has over 20 Division I offers, most of them coming from Power 5 programs.

Wins of the week

Lakota West 65, Toledo Central Catholic 56 (girls): The Firebirds extended their win streak to four games with a win at the Classic in the Country in Berlin, Ohio. West outscored Central Catholic 18-4 in the second quarter to flip the game in their favor. Sophomore Katie Fox led West with 28 points and 12 rebounds while Caroline Bayliff and Lily Johnson both scored 13 points. The Firebirds extended their win streak to five by defeating Toledo Notre Dame on Saturday.

Newport 62, Holy Cross 43 (boys): The Wildcats won their first Ninth Region All "A" championship since 2019 as they defeated the Indians in a rematch of the 2023 final. Freshman Griffin Starks led Newport with 18 points and six rebounds. Seniors Jabari Covington and DeShaun Jackson contributed 16 and 13 points respectively. Point guard Taylen Kinney suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter but should return in time for the All "A" state tournament, which begins on Jan. 25.

Notre Dame 49, Simon Kenton 44: An 18-5 deficit after eight minutes left things looking bleak for the Pandas. But Kes Murphy rallied his team. Notre Dame outscored Simon Kenton in each of the final three quarters. Led by Sophia Gibson, Addie Lawrie and Emma Holtzapfel, the Pandas forced turnovers on six straight defensive possessions in the fourth quarter and scored the final 11 points of the game to pull out the win.

Ryle 57, Cooper 52 (boys): The boys 33rd District standing received quite the shakeup on Friday night as Ryle won a back-and-forth battle with the defending district champs. Cooper led by one at halftime before the Raiders took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter. With the game tied at 49, two Evan Smith baskets helped the Raiders pull away for good.

Both teams now sit at 1-1 in the district standings. Boone County is 2-0 after a thrilling 84-82 win over Conner. The seeds for the district tournament will be finalized this Friday when Ryle travels to Conner and Cooper hosts Boone County.

St. Xavier 54, La Salle 53: It was another classic GCL-South Friday night as the Lancers hosted the Bombers. After each quarter, the margin was only one point as the advantage swung back and forth between St. X and La Salle. The difference was Jacob Wassler's tip-in at the buzzer, the final two points of his game-high 23. Donovan Waleskowski scored 15 points for the Bombers while Brady O'Conner (19 points) and Drae Vasser (15 points) led the Lancers.

Just how tough is the GCL-South? Moeller beat Elder on Friday night, 48-34, thanks to holding the Panthers scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Western Brown 65, Lynchburg Clay 63 (girls): Western Brown held a 32-25 halftime advantage in this non-league game and did just enough to hang on for the win. Four of the Broncos' six players that stepped on the court scored in double figures. Alyssa Campbell, Olivia Fischer, Hadley Jones and Madilyn Ruby combined for 56 points and 24 steals. The Broncos have nine days off before they face Goshen on Jan. 22 for first place in the SBAAC-American Division.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: High school basketball: Greater Cincinnati recap from Jan. 8-14