Which Greater Cincinnati high school basketball teams opened the new year on a high note?

The first week of 2024 provided great theater on the hardwood in Greater Cincinnati. The girls All "A" regional tournaments were played in Northern Kentucky, while conference rivals battled in Ohio.

As fans continue to enjoy the local action, they can now find their favorite team in the statewide polls in Ohio and Kentucky.

High school hoops: See which Southwest Ohio teams are ranked in first AP basketball polls

Here's what stuck out from last week's games across Greater Cincinnati.

Several girls conference races were impacted by last week's action

In the Cincinnati Hills League, Taylor defeated Indian Hill 49-44 to cause a tie for first between the Yellowjackets and Indians. Taylor now owns a three-game winning streak over Indian Hill after beating the Indians twice last season. Mariemont (7-4, 4-2 CHL) and Wyoming (6-5, 3-2 CHL) are both within a game and a half of first place.

Mason beat Lakota East, 55-47 on Jan. 3 to leapfrog the Thunderhawks in the standings. Both schools, plus Lakota West, are chasing Princeton, which has a 6-0 league record. The Vikings will face East and West in back-to-back games on Jan. 19 and 23 before playing Mason on Feb. 3. The Comets have won at least a share of the Greater Miami Conference in each of the past three seasons. This year's title could come down to the final games on Feb. 10.

In the Southern Buckeye Conference, Batavia, Goshen and Western Brown are all tied atop the American division with a 3-1 record. Each school has played each other once already. The Bulldogs beat Western Brown but lost to Goshen. The Warriors' league loss came against Western Brown. All three will play each other a second time as part of a double round-robin. Batavia has never won the division, while Goshen and Western Brown have had a hand in each of the last four division titles.

Holy Cross three-peats in All 'A' Ninth Region tournament

The Indians had no problem in the regional portion of the small-school state tournament, beating Bellevue, Beechwood and Newport Central Catholic by a combined 105 points. Holy Cross used a pair of 12-0 runs to pull away from NCC in the title game, winning 67-48. Miyah Wimzie was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and five different players scored in double figures throughout the tournament.

Holy Cross will now play in the All "A" state tournament beginning on Jan. 25 at Corbin Arena. The tournament is typically held at Eastern Kentucky University's Alumni Coliseum, but it is undergoing renovations during the season. Their opponent will be the champion of the Seventh Region; that tournament runs from Jan. 11 to 13. Whitefield Academy is the two-time defending champion.

Boone County boys basketball is making noise

Boone County has been one of the biggest surprise teams in Northern Kentucky this season. The Rebels are 11-3 and 1-0 in the 33^rd District heading into a home game against Conner (3-10, 0-1) Friday night. This is after winning only five games last season.

Boone has not had a winning season since going 16-12 in the 2017-18 season six years ago.

The Rebels have gone 5-1 against the Ninth Region, with the loss being by 13, 73-60, to defending regional champion Newport, which is one of the closest wins Newport has had against Ninth Region foes this year.

Boone has been potent on offense, averaging 75 points per game with four senior players in double figures: Senior Mason Hall averages 19.2 points with 36 made 3-pointers. Senior Maddox Jones averages 16.4 points and nine rebounds. Senior Thomas Williams averages 14.1 points with 17 threes, and senior Elijah Bodkin averages 13.2 points with 17 threes.

After playing Conner, Boone hosts Beechwood Jan. 17 then plays at Cooper in district play Jan. 19.

Holy Cross still winning without Jacob Meyer

Holy Cross suffered a lot of graduation losses after going 21-8 last season. The Indians lost their two top scorers including Jacob Meyer, the Coastal Carolina star freshman who averaged 37 points per game and set the Ninth Region’s all-time scoring record while with Holy Cross.

This year’s Indians haven’t slowed down on the scoreboard, going 9-4 so far this season. They have three players in double figures: Sophomore Nate Rominger at 17.2 points per game, sophomore Luke Arlinghaus at 14.9 points per game and junior William McElheney at 10.8. Arlinghaus has 28 made 3-pointers, more than two per game. Rominger and McElheney average nearly nine rebounds per game.

Holy Cross has one senior on this year’s roster and a new head coach in former Holmes standout Ricardo Johnson.

Holy Cross will go into the Ninth Region All “A” Classic this week at Bellevue, which Newport is favored to win.

Sycamore leads wild Greater Miami Conference

Sycamore enters the second week of 2024 leading the Greater Miami Conference with a 5-1 record, and 8-1 overall. Five teams, half of the league’s roster, are 4-2 as the league will reach the halfway point of the league schedule this weekend. The 10 GMC teams play each other twice for 16 league contests.

The five teams tied for second are Hamilton, Lakota East, Lakota West, Middletown and Princeton.

Sycamore will have a chance to take control of the race at the halfway point, playing at Middletown Tuesday and at Lakota East Friday.

Hamilton hosts Lakota East Tuesday and plays at Lakota West Friday. Princeton plays Oak Hills and Fairfield this week.

Fairfield has won the last three league titles, sharing it with Sycamore for two seasons. Lakota East won the last two championships before that.

Wyoming stays unbeaten with win over Indian Hill

Wyoming made a statement Friday, beating Indian Hill 46-36 at home to remain unbeaten at 7-0 and first place in the Cincinnati Hills League at 5-0. IH is tied for second in the league at 4-1. Wyoming, last year’s champion, hopes to win two in a row this season.

Kellen Wiley led Wyoming with 18 points and five assists. Devin Evans posted 12 points, and Darren Gray had eight plus six rebounds in the defensive struggle. Wyoming limited Indian Hill to 36 percent shooting.

Wyoming hosts Finneytown on Tuesday and plays at Madeira Friday as CHL play continues.

Standout performances

Marissa Green and Katie Bucher, Highlands: The duo powered the Bluebirds to a win over Boyd County. Green recorded her third career triple-double with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 11 blocks. Bucher, only a sophomore, notched her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. After a 1-4 start, Highlands is now on a four-game winning streak and has an 8-5 record.

Katie Haitz, Ryle: Haitz earned her 200th win as the Raiders took down Dixie Heights on Jan. 5. Now in her ninth season as a head coach, she has led Ryle to five 33rd District championships, three Ninth Region championships and the 2019 state championship.

Josh Tyson, Lakota West: The freshman scored a career-high 21 points, including shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range as the Firebirds won their rivalry game against Lakota East.

Wins of the week

Cooper 74, Mount Notre Dame 55: The Jaguars have faced several state championship contenders through the first half of the season, but their victory over the Cougars was arguably their best performance of the year. Cooper held a 26-10 advantage after the first quarter and never looked back. While the Jaguars established a season-high for team scoring, Logan Palmer scored the most points of any Jaguar this season when she poured in 31 points. As they have done all year, the Jaguars played exceptional defense. Zelie Hoover was the only Cougar in double figures with 11 points. MND only turned the ball over 10 times but also had 13 assists on just 21 made baskets.

Lebanon 54, Winton Woods 46 (girls): Thanks to a two-win week, Lebanon now leads the Eastern Cincinnati Conference with 11 wins. Its victory over Winton Woods means there are now five teams within a game of first place in the conference (Kings, Milford and West Clermont are the other three). Lebanon's Braylyn Mattox and Winton Woods' Daniah Trammell went toe-to-toe, the former scoring 21 points and pulling down 18 rebounds while the latter had 22 points and 18 rebounds. The difference in this game was shooting. Lebanon shot above 40 percent from the field for the sixth time this season while holding Winton Woods to 29.8 percent from the field.

New Miami 35, Lockland 32 (girls): Sophomore Brooke Sandlin made her first three-pointer of the year as time expired to give the Vikings their first conference win of the year and snap a four-game losing streak.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: High school basketball: Greater Cincinnati roundball roundup, Jan 2-7