Season Preview: Off the Radar Regional Title Contenders
We’re inching closer and closer to October 15th and the start of the high school basketball season in Kentucky. In the meantime, we’ll start to look ahead to some teams and players who can make an impact this season. Today…
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Continue ReadingWe’re inching closer and closer to October 15th and the start of the high school basketball season in Kentucky. In the meantime, we’ll start to look ahead to some teams and players who can make an impact this season. Today we’ll look at teams who can contend for a regional championship this season even though they’re considered “off the radar”.
Louisville Trinity (7th Region) – Male is a massive favorite in the 7th this year and Ballard is likely right behind them. The 2019 state champions don’t return much experience but the thing about Trinity is that they guard the heck out of teams and make them play at their pace and try to score in the half court. They say defense wins championships and it brought the Rocks a state title in 2019. The could be a surprising contender to get back to Rupp in March.
Bullitt East (6th Region) – Fern Creek has the names, Butler has the depth and J-Town has all the transfers but Bullitt East quietly returns most of their core from last season and has one of the best go-to scorers in the region in Zak Perdew. Coach Jason Couch has had a great career and in year 4 at the helm for the Chargers, he’s got the Chargers in position to win the 6th.
Taylor County (5th Region) – Most would assume that Taylor County will be down this season after losing Trevon Smith but if this summer is any indication, Coach Irvin will have the Cardinals right back in the mix this year. Nick Knifley was impressive this summer and the up and down system they’re running favors the smaller, quicker team they have. If Kybrin Smith and Zach Martin end up playing (they didn’t this summer), then Taylor could compete with John Hardin for most talent in the region.
Dunbar (11th Region) – They have great size on the inside and lots of depth but they currently lack the type of go to scorer most teams need to get to Rupp Arena in March. They competed with Henry Clay when they went head to head in June and if they can find a consistent scorer, the Bulldogs could be in the mix to win the 11th by the time March rolls around.
Harlan County (13th Region) – Taylor Spurlock has become a nice wing scorer who can really shoot the ball and 8th grader Trent Noah has all the makings of a STUD at the point guard spot. They spent the summer playing some good competition outside the region and looked capable of hanging with some quality opponents. If Noah can develop over the course of the season, Harlan County can be in a position to compete by February.
Montgomery County (10th Region) – The 10th has the look of being wide open for the first time in a couple of seasons. Scott will be way down, Campbell County is reloading and GRC will rely on a youth movement. Bourbon is likely the favorite right now but if Montgomery County’s two big transfers can combine to hold down the front court and Hagan Harrison can develop his game to be a steady hand at either guard spot, Coach Wright can make a run to Rupp in year one.