Discuss.

Madison Central, who had been on top of the rankings for most of the year, has to replace Mr. Basketball Jake Feldhaus, Luke Asher and Will Richardson, so they should take a step back.  Same for Bryan Station who loses over 40 points per game between Taeshawn Adams and Amari Owens.  Frederick Douglass loses 3 of their 4 leading scorers as well as head coach Murray Garvin.  Lexington Catholic returns 4 of their 6 leading scorers from from their regional semi-final team. 

In addition to Frederick Douglass, there are already coaching vacancies at Lexington Christian and Scott County that could affect rosters.  Do you see the regional favorite coming from the teams listed below or will someone like Tates Creek, Henry Clay or Lafayette jump into the picture?   

• Tyreek Anthony (Fort Campbell)
• Leek Ateny (Danville Christian)
• Keriawn Berry (North Hardin)
• Anthony Blaackar (Lloyd Memorial)
• Donovan Bradshaw (Covington Catholic)
• Reece Davidson (North Laurel)
• Tylin George (Adair County)
• Jeremiah Jackson (St. Xavier)
• Jaden Johnson (Trinity)
• Damian Jung (Eastern)
• Athens McGillis (Covington Catholic)
• Andrew Sparrow (Anderson County)
• Jacob Spurlock (Boyd County)
• Jackson Stephan (Henry Clay)
• Jayden Washington (Christian Academy— Louisville)

This offseason will be VERY interesting. Always the requisite rumors and moves, and job openings. Here's a few things I look to be of the most interest:

1.) Montgomery County Job: With Coach High not taking the job after filling in, who do the Indians call as a new chief? Does this affect the Sears family and their decision to stay in Mt. Sterling? Does Jason Mays rumored taking of the LCA job cause any MoCo players to get religion?

2.) Mason County Job: Brian Kirk's departure is now official. Who do the Royals look to return to prominence? Jason Hinson? Allen Feldhuas Jr? Keaton Belcher? Jordan Gilbert?

There's a few other news items worth discussing, but those are the big two. Bracken is looking for a new head coach, and if the rumor mill holds true at least one 38th district team will too.

What are your thoughts?

- Who will be the head coach at Mercer County? Can that person resurrect the Titan program to it's previous greatness?

- The never-ending ebb and flow of transfers impacting rosters can be expected to make waves as always.

- Will DCA be able to continue building it's dynasty?

- Is Somerset Christian on their way to becoming a team that is regularly competitive or will they recede like Trinity Christian?

Even with DCA ending up on top, this has been a region that has been filled with parity. There is no reason to think that stops.

The Commonwealth was represented by Taylen Kinney of Newport and OTE.  The #1 player, Tyran Stokes was from Louisville but never played in the Commonwealth.

Several of the players are still uncommitted. 

Hazard loses 14th Region POTY Seth Caudill plus several other key contributors. 

Powell County loses a lot including Bryson Edwards but unless he decides to transfer, they return Connor Morguson. 

What jobs will be open?

What teams will see new players?

The past two seasons the title has stayed in Perry County, will that be the case this season or will someone will cut down the nets?

Jenkins is open as Coach Winston Lee stepped down to spend time with family. 

Lots of rumors swirling around Estill County with Coach Hall mulling retirement. 

Head Coach: Jamie Kachmarik (Toledo St. Francis)
Asst. Coach: Matt Rooks (Wyoming)

Carlyle Billingsley (Wyoming) 6'8 Forward
Jordan Bowens (Reynoldsburg) 6'6 Forward
Jakhi Calloway (Bishop Hartley) 6'0 Guard
Carson Davis (Meigs) 6'8 Forward
Willie Foster (Lima Senior) 6'2 Guard
Grant Guess (Alter) 6'6 Forward
Alan Horton (Toledo St. Francis) 6'9 Center
Race Kowalcyzk (St. John's) 6'5 Forward
Tim Martin Jr. (Summit Country Day) 6'8 Forward
Marco Mattucci (New Albany) 6'4 Guard
Xavier McKinney (Reynoldsburg) 6'4 Guard
Jake Quackenbush (Newark) 6'5 Forward
Jason Singleton (Columbus Academy) 6'4 Guard
Julian Washington (Margaretta) 6'4 Guard
Kellen Wiley (Wyoming) 6'1 Guard


KENTUCKY

Head Coach: David Levitch (North Oldham)
Asst. Coach: Shaun Busick (Danville Christian)

Tyreek Anthony (Fort Campbell) 6'2 Guard
Leek Ateny (Danville Christian) 6'10 Center
Keriawn Berry (North Hardin) 6'6 Forward
Anthony Blackaar (Lloyd Memorial) 6'2 Guard
Donovan Bradshaw (Covington Catholic) 6'6 Forward
Reece Davidson (North Laurel) 6'7 Forward
Tylin George (Adair County) 6'4 Guard
Jeremiah Jackson (St. Xavier) 6'4 Forward
Jaden Johnson (Trinity) 6'5 Guard
Damian Jung (Eastern) 6'11 Center
Athens McGillis (Covington Catholic) 6'0 Guard
Andrew Sparrow (Anderson County) 6'5 Forward
Jacob Spurlock (Boyd County) 6'4 Guard
Jackson Stephan (Henry Clay) 6'5 Forward
Jayden Washington (Christian Academy of Louisville) 6'2 Guard

Each year, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association honors the top officials for the sports in which it licenses officials. Finalists in each sport are selected through a combination of not only on-field performance but also local association activity and leadership, training efforts and the mentoring of newer officials.

One official in each sport is named Outstanding Official of the Year in appreciation of their dedication and service to schools and student-athletes across the state. Winners are selected following consultation with local assigning secretaries, veteran officials’ observers and coaches throughout the state, as well as additional staff review.

The Outstanding Official of the Year for the 2025-26 in the sport of Basketball is Myia Smith of Louisville. Each finalist will receive a commemorative watch and certificate courtesy of the Officials Trust Fund, with the Official of the Year receiving an additional recognition award.

With officiating numbers declining at the national level, the KHSAA is always accepting applications from individuals interested in giving back to their community. Officiating remains a great avenue to stay active, earn extra spending money and ensure that high school athletics are preserved for the current and future generations. To get involved as an official, visit khsaaofficials.org.

2025-26 KHSAA OUTSTANDING OFFICIALS (Winners in bold)

• Basketball: Myia Smith (Louisville), Brian Sandlin (Hebron), Kenneth Kegley (Vanceburg), Darrelle Russia (Independence)
• Football: Daniel Brummett (Walton), John Smoot (Lexington), David Pentecost (Greenville)
• Soccer: Jordan Houston (East Bernstadt), Paige Hurst (Morehead)
• Field Hockey: Lauren Bauer (Louisville), Matt Sallee (Louisville)
• Girls’ Volleyball: Amye Adams (Cox’s Creek), LuAnne Craig (Butler)

-Grayson County making another deep run at Rupp.

-Which programs have the best chance to challenge the Cougars in 2027?

-Who gets the Muhlenberg County and Owensboro jobs?

Everyone in the 7th Region could use a breather after a season full of twists and turns. St. X was the early favorite, before Male took the Tigers down in the King of the Bluegrass. Injuries soon crippled the Bulldogs, leaving the region wide open for several teams, including an Edelen-infused Ballard. 

We ultimately came full circle, as the cream rose to the top with X claiming the regional championship.

With the likes of Cole Edelen, Jeremiah Jackson, and Jayden Johnson off to the collegiate ranks, the deck may get shuffled a little, but the names on the front of the jersey won't change much.

X | Can the X-Men make it a three-peat with the return of springy superstar Josh Lindsay stepping into an even bigger role, both in terms of production and leadership?

H | What does a full season for the duo of Jordan Mitchell and Trey Hillerich look like? Male should be in the conversation for a lofty preseason ranking inside the region and beyond.

🐻 | How high is Ballard's ceiling? It has to be at least seven feet to accommodate the 6’11” frame of Mason Grivna, who's primed to become one of the more dominant forces in the state. 

💯 | Next year's junior class is loaded, perhaps the best the city of Louisville has seen in many years. Lindsay, Mitchell, and CAL's tandem of Jordan Cook and Myles Howard are all Top 100 prospects, nationally. Hillerich is also being courted by high level Division I programs.

Be it predictions, off-season rankings, coaching changes, transfers, schedules… this is the place for it.

17th District

The big question will be can North maintain their dominance on the 17th district as they have for the past 2 seasons. Obviously, losing a player like Berry hurts, but they played a majority of the season without him and they return most of their starting lineup with Mack, House and Cleaver. I'm not sure that there are any other teams in the district that will be able to matchup with them. Central would have been the closest but they lose 4 starters including Hogan and Nichols. 

18th District

Caverna loses their coach and basically their entire team that played any minutes this season. Whoever steps into that role as a coach will have a monumental task ahead of them. As was stated in another thread, Caverna didn't field a middle school team this past season so it could be some very dark days ahead for Colonel basketball. 

Green County showed some improvement at the end of the season and started to play towards what expectations were at the beginning of last season. However they lose transfer seniors Laws and Wade.

Larue County returns several key pieces including Mikey Harris. Harris is what runs the show for the Hawks. They'll definetly miss the presence of Ayden Seidl but the Hawks have some pieces coming up through their middle school program as well. I think Larue is probably the heavy favorite in the 18th next year.

19th District

Can Nelson build on the success they had this season? Does Gilbert stay? Can Thomas Nelson keep the momentum going even though they lose Cutter Boone, Carter Hamilton, and Hunter Mattingly? Bardstown returns Chi Poynter and Tylin Spaulding, so you can't forget about them. Somehow Bardstown was the district winner and never felt like they were better than the 3rd best team in the district, but I think that's largely due to the difficult schedule they play up front, so the win totals usually seem a little low. Bethlehem will likely be much better next season as well. If Bradley gets healthy and they can bring together some of the younger pieces who saw quite a bit of time this year and get them to mature a bit, I think we likely see Bethlehem fighting for the top spot in the district and a trip back to the region tournament. 

20th District

Taylor will return the duo of Vernon and Stone. Those two players alone would make most teams tough to beat. They'll have to figure out how they play with such a big presence in the middle missing in Bryten Close but with Stone and Vernon, I feel like most coaches would love to have that problem. Will they be able to piece it together to get them back to Rupp Arena?

Adair County will be the other big question mark in the 20th, more specifically Coach Breeze. Will he stay or will he leave? He came back for this season after a summer debacle with their new hire Jordan Brangers. If he stays, you have to figure Adair will be in the hunt, he's in the top 5 of coaches in the region. If he leaves, who do they go after and how do they figure out how to replace Blakey, George and Gilbert?

Let me know your thoughts!

1. Marshall County - Matthew Langhi.  With apologies to Braxton Butnham - I am just going to stop there.

2. McCracken County - the losses of Woodfork and Klope are big, but this team just reloads.  Garrett Miller will hopefully have a healthy season and he can score.  Aaron Adams is a matchup problem.  Don’t forget about PG Jay Martin.

3. Tilghman - Avery Thompson averaged almost 20 ppg the last five games of the year.  Eli Dabney returns and he does a lot of damage around the rim.  Hopefully we will see Carruthers back

4. Graves Co. - they don’t really lose anything and they will get Raygon Mathis back from injury.  I’ve been hearing about this rising Senior class for awhile.

5. Carlisle Co - 6-10 Wyatt Rickard will once again be an all-region player.  The senior guards will be solid too.

6. Murray - Coach Doss did an outstanding job in his first year.  They’ll miss Maddox Mitchell a bunch but this team had a ton of depth this season. 

7. St. Mary - this team is definitely a wild card as their roster has changed some each summer.  Mayes will definitely be a top guard in the region.  Jack Griffith was on fire late in the season. 

8. Calloway Co. - Armstrong will definitely be a top first region player and he will have some shooting around him.

9.Mayfield - this team will always have athletes.

10 Ballard Mem. - they’ll miss Ike Miller but some good guards return.

What do you think about this Top 10?  And what topics are worth talking about for next year?

North graduates two of their top three scorers in Mr. Do It All Reece Davidson, and then Jordan Rawlings. They'll undoubtedly take a hit. Bell County graduates their leading scorer Blake Burnett and they lose Cayden Huff, but bring back everyone else, including freshman phenom Braxton Ferguson. They would be my favorite right now.

The biggest question right now in the 13th is who will coach Corbin and South Laurel?? There's been talk of Davis to Corbin, and Swords to Corbin. There's been talks of Sizemore to South Laurel. I'm sure if coaches are interchanging within the region, there will be some movement out of players as well. 

This offseason should be a good one in the 13th. Share your thoughts on what you think it's going to look like.  

A Look Back at the Pre-Season Predictions

(1) Covington Catholic [31W – 3L, Regional Champions, lost in 1^st round of Sweet 16, Final Ranking 1]

Pre-Season Prediction: With Cooper no longer being a threat and relying on their typical stellar defense and improved 3-pt shooting, Cov Cath does not lose a game within the region and wins the 9th region tournament, with the potential to make a nice run in the Sweet Sixteen in Lexington.

(2) Holy Cross [21W – 10L, lost 1st round of regionals to Lloyd, Final Ranking 6]

Prediction: Relying on their core group of seniors and some newcomers (keep an eye on sophomore Amir Henderson), Holy Cross wins the All “A” 9th region and makes a run at the All “A” state tournament. However, they fall just short of their first regional title since 1994, losing to Covington Catholic in the regional final.

(3) Highlands [25W – 6L, lost 1st round of regionals to Conner, Final Ranking 4]

Key Fact(s): The Bluebirds had no seniors on 2024-25 team; Freshman team won regional tournament

Prediction: Led by their strong senior class and Lorenzon, who makes a last-minute decision to play basketball this season, coach Listerman and the Bluebirds cruise into the regional semifinals.

(4) Ryle [23W – 9L, regional final to Cov Cath, Final Ranking 2]

Prediction: Ryle will be the best team not named Cov Cath, Highlands, or Holy Cross in the region. But like the last two years, Ryle will fall just short of pulling off an upset in the first round of the regional tournament.

(5) Conner [15W – 13L, lost in regional semi-final to Cov Cath, Final Ranking 8]

Prediction: The Cougars beat Ryle in the 33rd District final and make a run to the regional semifinals where they fall to one of the top 3.

(6) Dixie Heights [18W-13L, lost 1st round of regionals to Cov Cath, Final Ranking 9]

Prediction: Dixie wins the 34th District but is unable to advance past the first round of the regional tournament.

(7) Lloyd [23W – 5L, lost to Ryle in regional semi-finals, Final Ranking 3]

Prediction: Lloyd makes it back to the regional tournament but is unable to make it out of the first round, despite the efforts of star Anthony Blaackar.

(8) Beechwood [21W – 9L, lost in District to Holy Cross, Final Ranking 7]

Prediction: Beechwood is in the unfortunate position of likely having to beat Holy Cross to win the 9th region All “A” or advance to the 9th region tournament. The Tigers will look to 2026-2027 to accomplish these goals.

(9) Newport [21W – 10L, lost to Ryle in 1^st round of regionals, Final Ranking 5]

Key Fact(s): The Wildcats lost 6 of top 7 players to transfer or graduation

Prediction: Though Newport will be better than expected and competitive on most nights, they will fall short in the 36th District final to Highlands and lose in the first round of the 9th region tournament.

(10) St. Henry [12W – 17L, lost in District to Dixie, Final Ranking 12]

Prediction: The Crusaders will be greatly improved from last season and surprise some people, but will ultimately fall short of the regional tournament.

(11) Cooper [5W – 21L, lost in District to Conner, Final Ranking 11]

Prediction: Holthaus has a reputation of being a very good coach, so the Jaguars will be competitive on most nights. However, I don’t expect them to make it past Ryle or Conner in the 33rd District.

(12) Newport Central Catholic [12W – 18L, lost in District to Newport]

Prediction: While I expect the Thoroughbreds to struggle, coach Luhn’s teams always play hard and they will find a way to surprise and win a few games against teams ranked higher than them during the season, though still fall short of the 9th region tournament.

Way-to-Early 9^th Region Top 12 Rankings (2026-2027)

1.       Covington Catholic (31-3)

2.       Ryle (23-9)

3.       Beechwood (21-9)

4.       Newport (21-10)

5.       Highlands (25-6)

6.       Lloyd (23-5)

7.       Dixie Heights (18-13)

8.       Holy Cross (21-10)

9.       Conner (15-13)

10.   Cooper (5-21)

11.   St. Henry (12-17)

12.   Newport Catholic (12-18)

Way to Early Rankings Breakdown

I’m sure it happens many years, but this year it seems that several teams are losing core groups of seniors that have been their main contributors for the past few years. By my count the region loses at least seven 1,000-point scorers (and almost eight, with Bradshaw falling just short).  Between Cov Cath, Highlands, Holy Cross, and Conner, I think only five total players return that started games regularly throughout the season, meaning that there will be a lot new faces making contributions. I didn’t catch many freshman games this year, but it is likely there a couple of sophomores-to-be that seemingly come out of nowhere to make an impact. It is also almost certain that there will be player movement that could shake up the rankings, similar to what we saw this past year with Cov Cath adding Myrick from Mason County. Newport is one team to watch as there are rumors of a key player returning for his senior year.

While Cov Cath (#1) loses a ton to graduation and will not be nearly as dominant, I expect the Blue Colonels to be the best team in the region again. The Colonels are loaded with young talent, not to mention bringing back All-Region 1^st teamer and potential 9^th Region Player of the Year Braeden Myrick and defensive stopper Teegan Stava from the starting lineup. After Cov Cath, I think there a few teams that will separate themselves as potential regional contenders, beginning with Ryle (#2). The Raiders bring back three starters including leading scorer and potential 9^th Regional Player of the Year Holden Smith, the always-improving big man Grace Nsuti, and defensive player of the year Blake Broz. Next up is Beechwood (#3), who returns Kingston Brockett and Dylan Topmiller, who is another candidate for 9^th Regional Player of the Year. In the four spot I have another team with a Player of the Year candidate (Amontae Lowe) in Newport (#4). The Wildcats will certainly move up in the rankings if rumors hold true of an impact player returning after a year away at prep school. I have Highlands (#5) at five with their heavy losses to graduation, though this also could be too low as the Bluebirds may return Lorenzen and have a ton of young talent, including freshman-to-be Amil Wimzie.

I don’t really have a good handle on how to rank teams 6 through 12 and they could probably appear in any order. Lloyd (#6) loses star Anthony Blaackar and the under-rated Isaiah Golsby to graduation, but brings back a nice young group that performed better than expected. Dixie (#7) is another team that I may have ranked too low. They lost their leading two scorers in Max Rubemeyer and Tyson Metzger, but again will be one of the bigger teams in the region with Parks Vondehaar and Hunter Seng returning. Holy Cross (#8) will be interesting to watch. They lose a ton, including a couple of 3-year starters (Luke Arlinghaus, Brady Gabbard, Note Rominger), but bring back some nice young talent that won the regional JV championship. I have Cooper in the #9 spot. The Jaguars return two key players Julienne Knuckles and Cole Stanton, with their freshman team falling just short to a dominate Cov Cath group in the freshman regional final. At #10 I have Conner. It will be interesting to see how the Cougars look without star Finn Louden, though they do bring back multi-year starter Tyler Warner and few other young players that played key roles this past season. Coach Sullivan’s St. Henry (#11) squad will look to improve in year 2, bringing back four starters including leading scorer Tyler Detzel. Rounding out the top 12 I have Newport Catholic, who loses a few key players to graduation but does bring back two starters.

Way-to-Early 9^th Region Top 12 Players 2026-2027

1.       Braeden Myrick, Sr (Cov Cath)

2.       Dylan Topmiller, Jr (Beechwood)

3.       Amontae Lowe, Sr (Newport)

4.       Holden Smith, Sr (Ryle)

5.       Julienne Knuckles, Sr (Cooper)

6.       Tayden Lorenzen, Sr (Highlands)

7.       Tyler Warner, Sr (Conner)

8.       Grace Nsuti, Sr (Ryle)

9.       Kingston Brockett, Sr (Beechwood)

10.   Teegan Stava, Sr (Cov Cath)

11. Hunter Seng, Sr (Dixie)

12. Tyler Detzel, Jr (St. Henry)

Some of the games will be on the ESPN family of networks.

I think it's JC's region to lose again next season. Martin County will be solid with Keathley returning. There's always shake ups and movement within the 15th year in and year out. 

What can we expect to see next season in the 15th? 

Coach Hall poured his heart into our program and into the young men he led each day. His passion for the game, commitment to our student-athletes, and investment in our school community have left a lasting impact.

More importantly, Coach Hall helped shape our players beyond the court, teaching values of hard work, accountability, and pride in wearing the blue and white.

Coach Hall is loved dearly by our players, staff, and community, and he will always be a part of the Engineer family.

We thank him for everything he has done for Estill County and wish him nothing but the best in his next chapter.

#EngineerPride

Per Estill County Athletics Facebook.