2017-18 Season Preview: 2nd Region
October 15th is a holiday in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. High school basketball season is officially underway in the Bluegrass state. The excitement that comes with a new season will soon be replaced by the grind of the season but every school in the state starts the season with the same goal. Everyone wants to get to Rupp Arena in March. In our season preview series, we break down the favorites to make it to the KHSAA state tournament out of each region. Our previews continue with the second region, where Hopkinsville will try to overcome challenges from Christian County, UHA and others on the road back to Rupp.
The Favorite and Defending Champion: Hopkinsville (28-7 last season, 6 seniors graduated)
Best Case Scenario: Senior Stephen “Shorty” Cager, Junior James Nicholas and freshman Alijah Watts lead a younger than usual Hoptown team back to Rupp, Coach Haworth replaces the losses of CJ Henagan, Don Parker, Josiah Patton and junior transfer Jalen Johnson. Cager is player of the year in the region and the Tigers make a deep run at Rupp Arena with a chance to win it all, depending on the draw.
Worst Case Scenario: The loss of leading scorer Johnson and glue guy Henagan are too much to bear. The younger players aren’t ready to contribute yet and the Tigers lose to Christian County or UHA in the district and don’t even qualify for the regional tournament.
Contender: University Heights Academy (13-15, 1 senior graduated)
Best Case Scenario: KyKy Tandy, TaQuan Hollowell, KJ Crump, Drew McGowan and Malik Lovan combine to form one of the most entertaining and high scoring teams in the state. Their offensive ability carries them to the regional championship and a birth at Rupp Arena. They also compete for the All A State title along the way.
Worst Case Scenario: The Blazers don’t play any defense and can’t outscore many teams. The ball doesn’t move and the chemistry suffers as a result. UHA falls in the district semifinals and don’t make the regional tournament.
Contender: Christian County (27-8 last season, 5 seniors graduated)
Bet Case Scenario: De’Torrion Ware and Cory Trice step up to fill the void left by the graduation of Jaylen Sebree and Taivey Mason. The Colonels survive the district and wind up facing Hopkinsville in the district and regional title games. Eventually getting to Rupp Arena.
Worst Case Scenario: The younger Colonels cannot rise to fill the gap left by graduation. They are outgunned by UHA and cannot handle the trademark Hoptown press. They lose in the district semifinals and do not advance to the regional tournament.
The Dark Horse: Madisonville-North Hopkins (15-15 last season, 3 seniors graduated)
Best Case Scenario: Christian Fields, Kenny White and Ksuan Casey provide the Maroons with size and post play that no one else in the region can match. Cade Cunningham makes enough perimeter jumpers to keep the defense honest. They grind teams out in the half court with defense and make a surprising run to the regional title game after a 20 win regular season.
Worst Case Scenario: Neither of their sophomore bigs make the jump necessary to propel the team to 20+ wins. Their guards struggle to make shots and space the floor. The Maroons still advance to the regional tournament but that’s it.
The Unkown: Henderson County (22-10, 1 senior graduated; 3 juniors lost to transfer)
Best Case Scenario: Tyler Smithhart coaches his butt off and a very young and unproven Henderson team makes wins their district over Webster County and moves on to the regional tournament, where they upset one of the favorites before falling in the title game.
Worst Case Scenario: Losing Taye Calloway and DJ Mitchell (disciplinary reasons) and DeAngelo Ware (transfer back to Evansville) along with the graduation of Rob Dawson is too much to overcome. The Colonels limp to a sub .500 record and lose the district title to Webster County and are knocked out of the region in the first round.