The more things change the more they stay the same in the 7th Region and once again head coach Mike Szabo has a very talented Trinity team this season. Trinity will not only be one of the top teams in the 7th Region but they will be one of the top teams in the state. Ballard and head coach Chris Renner are also looking to be one of the top teams in the 7th Region as Trinity and Ballard have dominated this region for the past several years. Doug Bibby is looking to bring Central back to the limelight and at the top of the 7th Region and St. Xavier and head coach Kevin Klein would love another crack at Trinity in the 7th Region Championship game. If Waggener is able to get Devon Cooper eligible then they too will be come a player and with the plethora of talent in the Louisville area the 7th Region looks to be one of the top regions in the state as they always are. The more things change the more they stay the same.

 

 

1. Trinity

 

Trinity returns 4 starters from last year's 7th Region championship team and all signs point them being even better this season. Led by senior PG Jacob King Trinity has a plethora of talent for Coach Szabo as he tries to guide Trinity to Rupp Arena for the 4th time in 6 years. Joining Jacob King will be seniors Lukas Burkman, LJ Harris and David Burton. Burkman is known for his excellent three point shooting and range as well as his defense. Harris is a long athlete who will man the 4/5 position on the court and will do the dirty work that all teams need for success. Burton will play multiple positions and was second on the team in minutes last season. The experience these four seniors bring to the team will be a stabilizing force as sophomore combo guard David Johnson will most likely become a household name this year in the state of KY. Johnson is a major D1 recruit who has interest from Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana, Xavier and Tennessee just to name a few. Johnson can score in many ways and has the ability to impact the game at both ends with his length and athleticism. Other players expected to make a difference on the team include junior Jay Scrubb who is said to be the most athletic player on this year's team and is at his best when driving and finishing at the rim. Senior Brendan King will provide depth and is a strong heady player who will be an asset offensively and defensively. Sophomore Stan Turnier and freshman Justin Powell are two more players that will provide depth and be expected to deliver for Trinity when their number is called. As always Trinity will have a very competitive schedule and they will be playing in the King of the Bluegrass tournament, the Arby's Classic in Bristol, TN and the Louisville Invitational Tournament. Trinity once again looks to not only be the best team in the 7th Region but possibly the best team in the state.

 

 

2. Ballard

 

Ballard will be led by the duo of Mr. Basketball candidate Jamil Wilson and Clivonte Patterson as the Bruins strive to improve upon last year's finish as a semifinalist in the 7th Region tournament. Jamil Wilson is one of the premier guards in the state and has flourished in Coach Chris Renner's system throughout his career at Ballard. Many around the 7th Region believe that Ballard is the #2 team in the region and one thing we know is that Coach Renner will ensure that Ballard remains one of the top teams in the 7th Region. Ballard will be replacing 5 seniors from last year's team but returning the duo of Wilson and Patterson is a great building block for Ballard in the 2016-17 season.

 

 

3. St. Xavier

 

St. Xavier finished last season as the runner up in the 7th Region tournament and this year's team must replace 7 seniors including 7th Region Player of the Year and All-State point guard, Connor McKim. Junior Pierce Kiesler is expected to step up and assume the role of team leader as he and fellow junior Evan Walker are returning starters and have the most varsity experience on this St. X team. Both are believed to be primed for breakout seasons this year. Freshman James Taylor will see significant time on the court for St. X and is already making a name for himself in the 7th Region and is seen as one of the top freshmen in the state. Seniors Tyler Barnes, Paul Oberst and Chase Westenhofer are all expected to be key contributors this season aand senior Jack Koch will have a chance to stretch the floor with his perimeter shooting. Junior Cameron McDonogh is expected to share point guard duties with freshman James Taylor to add depth and stability to that postion. The Tigers strengths will be team chemistry, size and length and the team has a good mixture of experienced upperclassmen and inexperienced underclassmen. The Tigers have had a productive preseason and their focus is to improve each game with plans to erase the sting from last year's runner-up finish in the 7th Region tournament and advance to the 2017 Sweet Sixteen at Rupp Arena.

 

 

4. Central

 

Coach Doug Bibby says that every year his expectations are high and this season isn't any different. He tries to make his practices harder than games and he says, "I don't want these guys to think about winning championships but I want to have them work like champions everyday." This season Central will be led by seniors Devin Firman, Derron Douglas and Korey Johnson. Senior Dominique Knight has transferred to Central from Eastern and he looks to contribute from the guard position. James Simpson is expected to join the team once football season is complete and his duties as the starting QB have come to an end for the 2016 possibly after the state finals at WKU. Coach Bibby's teams are usually very disciplined and defensive-minded. I expect that to stay true this season as Central has a challenging schedule and will jump right into some tough games as they will face St. X, Eastern and Covington Catholic by December 10. If this team does indeed work like champions as Coach Bibby implores them to do then come March they very well may emerge as champions of the 7th Region.

 

 

5. Waggener

 

Waggener is a team that could easily be ranked #2 or #3 as they await the ruling on the appeal of senior Devon Cooper who transferred back to Waggener after spending the 2015-16 season at Findlay Prep in Nevada. Waggener finished 15-13 last season and lost to St. X in the first round of the 7th Region tournament. Waggener must find a way to replace 42 points/game that graduated from last year's team and a lot of that load will be shouldered by seniors Ethan Taylor and Jacquess Hobbs. Taylor and Hobbs look to lead a team that is long in youth and short in experience. With 5 juniors and 6 sophomores this Waggener team is poised to gain some valuable experience for the future this season and if they can manage to receive Devon Cooper back in the fold then things will get very interesting for Waggener.

 

 

6. Eastern

 

Eastern will have a completely new look for the 2016-17 season and Coach David Henley wants to try and run a little more than they have in the past. Eastern will be led by a core group of 5 seniors and Caleb Williams is one of those seniors. Williams is considered by some to be one of the top 10 players in the 7th Region as he is a post player who can also shoot the ball fairly well for a post player. Seniors Sugar Ray Wyche and Braxton Johnson are both guards capable of pushing the ball up the court while Javen Rushin does a little bit of everything. Senior Kahlil Garmon joins Caleb Williams in the post so Eastern will boast multiple guards and multiple post players that will also provide valuable varsity experience. Williams, Wyche and Rushin have all been playing varsity basketball for three years and are expected to be the team leaders. Eastern's junior class is unproven at the varsity level as Dixie transfer Nate Jackson, Jordan Lyons, Myles Goodrich, Charles Morris, Scott Humpich and Barnabas Ojo will all fight for playing time. A strong sophomore class that will compete for playing time includes Nick Sparks, Will Clay, Trent Robinson, Jacob Robinson, Isaiah Ross, Connor Noland and Elijah Rice. The opportunity for a new face to make a splash is clearly evident for an Eastern team with a strong senior core and an abundance of unproven juniors and sophomores with the talent to help Eastern improve upon last year's finish as a semifinalist in the 7th Region tournament.

 

 

7. Christian Academy-Louisville

 

CAL returns three main cogs of their offense from last season as seniors Parker Jones, Kenneth Purvis and Michael Woodward look to advance to the 7th Region tournament this season. Parker Jones is considered by some to be one of the top 10 players in the 7th Region so CAL will have his talents to lean on in the tough 28th District. CAL finished 14-14 last season and look to improve their standings and will likely go as far as their seniors can take them.

 

 

8. Male

 

Coach Willie Feldhaus has his hands full this season but Male will still likely be a strong team this season that not many teams will look forward to playing. Male has the tall task of replacing a total of 8 seniors from last year's 25-6 squad that was led by current Bellarmine Knight, Alex Cook. Hogan Brownley is the leading candidate to replace Alex Cook as Brownley looks to guide Male to another winning season and trip to the 7th Region tournament.

 

 

9. Kentucky Country Day

 

Coach James Booker feels he has a talented group returning to KCD this season led by Navy commit Anthony Mathis. Mathis is regarded as one of the best point guards in the state as well as being a true veteran for KCD as he has been a starter since he was in the 8th grade. Coach Booker speaks on the leadership that Mathis has displayed this offseason and he expects Mathis to have another spectacular season scoring, assisting and playing tough defense. Coach Booker praised the offseason work that junior Solomon Mathis did to improve his game and calls him KCD's most improved player. Senior Hayden Kraus brings back his 45% percentage from three point land and junior Wilder Brice brings back his varsity experience to provide stability on both ends of the floor. Seniors Justin Grissom, Connor Widman and Eastern transfer, junior Cedric Cosby will add much needed depth to this year's team is also what Coach Booker had to say. KCD lost to Eastern in the first round of the 28th District Tournament last season and Anthony Mathis is determined to get KCD into the 7th Region tournament this season. Kentucky Country Day is also looking to make it back to the All A Tournament as the 7th Region representative.

 

 

10. Manual

 

Noah Hawkins returns for his junior season to lead Manual this season as Manual looks to improve upon last year's 17-13 season that ended with them losing to Eastern in the first round of the 7th Region tournament. Coach James Just has 6 seniors on this year's team and has Manual facing some good competition in the Best of Hoops tournament in Oldham County and the always strong Traditional Bank Tournament held at Lexington Catholic. Add in the Louisville Invitational Tournament and you'll see a seasoned Manual team when February rolls around.

 

 

Best of the Rest:

 

 

Shawnee

 

There is a lot of excitement at Shawnee this season as Shawnee returns seniors Nicholas Warf, Amontay Mitchell and Josh Cunningham to lead this year's team. Warf will provide perimeter shooting and ballhandling, Mitchell looks to provide scoring and rebounding and Cunningham looks to provide post play down low as well as rebounding. Sophomore Lajuantre Gray will provide a spark off of the bench and junior Johnathan Heck will also add to the depth of the team with rebounding, inside scoring presence and perimeter shooting.

 

 

Seneca

This will be an exciting season for Seneca as Coach Daniel Hawkins feels this will be his best team since taking over the program. Expectations are high as Seneca returns all of their production from last season as well as the young players that came on towards the end of the season last year. With everyone returning this team is expected to compete and just barely found themselves outside of the top 10 in the 7th Region rankings. Key players returning this year include seniors Keyontez Leach and Dayshawn Chaney as well as junior Tayquan Smith. Chaney had a strong offseason and is said to be much improved from last season. Four sophomores who also showed growth from the end of last season and through the spring and summer are Richard Ninamou, Phillip Armstrong, Carl Parker and Robert Walker. Sophomore Timothy Gordon, junior Myron Malone and junior William Wright are all new to the team this year and will be expected to play huge roles off the bench. Don't be surprised if Seneca fins their way into the top 10 of the 7th Region this season. They look to be much improved and up for the challenge that is the 7th Region.

 

 

Collegiate

 

Collegiate returns an experienced team that includes 5 seniors as their top 7 players. Their three leading scorers return and they also add three talented newcomers into the fold. Coach Shannon Weaver says that Collegiate is looking to move up in the 7th Region and that this year is their year to make that move. 6'9" senior Ryan McDaniel(Alabama-Huntsville signee) returns as Collegiate's top scorer and joing him will be senior guards Barrett Myers and Alex Hertzman. McDaniel is a very skilled big man who can score inside but is also an excellent three point shooter. Senior guard Parker Duff and senior wing Nayaab Grewal round out this experienced group for Collegiate. Freshman Tyler McDaniel is Ryan McDaniel's brother and he stands at 6'5" and will vie for a starting spot. Junior guard Eli Allen is also a name to keep an eye out for as he is set up to have a break out season. Collegiate hopes to challenge Kentucky Country Day for the 7th Region spot in the All A Tournament.

 

 

Brown

 

Brown returns leading scorer Jared Fife and Brown looks to their 5 seniors for leadership and stability this season. Brown will hope to position themselves to be competitive in the 7th Region All A tournament. Brown will be led by head coach Erin Spalding.

 

 

St. Francis

 

Much like Brown, St. Francis is returning a fair amount of talent from last season and also look to position themselves to be competitive in the 7th Region All A Tournament. James Risley returns for St. Francis and he will be the leader on the floor for St. Francis this season.

 

 

Atherton

 

 

Atherton looks to improve upon last season's 7-23 record as senior Flynn Calnon returns to lead an Atherton team that gained a lot of experience last season. Atherton is looking to build on that experience gained last season and look to make a deep run in the 27th District Tournament with hopes of making the 7th Region Tournament.

 

 

Portland Christian

 

Portland Christian recently named Jeremy Niestadt head coach and he looks to take over a roster that doesn't have a single senior on it. Leading scorer sophomore Quincy Dye returns to lead a Portland Christian team that looks to improve from last season, gain even more experience this season and hopefully make a good run in the Kentucky Christian Athletic Athletic Conference Tournament.

 

 

Top 10 Players in the 7th Region

1.Jamil Wilson-Ballard

2. Anthony Mathis-KCD

3. Jacob King-Trinity

4. David Johnson-Trinity

5. Clivonte Patterson-Ballard

6. Caleb Williams-Eastern

7. Devin Firman-Central

8. Parker Jones-CAL

9. Pierce Kiesler-St. Xavier

10. Jay Scrubb-Trinity

 

* If Devon Cooper of Waggener is ruled eligible he will become one of the top 3 players in the 7th Region.

 

 

Best of the Rest

 

Lukas Burkman-Trinity

Hogan Brownley-Male

Noah Hawkins-Manual

Keyontez Leach-Seneca

Ryan McDaniel-Collegiate

James Taylor-St. Xavier

Jacquess Hobbs-Waggener

Edited November 23, 20169 yr by PurplePride92

I believe Manual junior Jordan McClendon should be included in the best of the rest players. I think he will have a big year for the Crimsons. I also feel by years end he will be among the best players in the region.