BluegrassPreps.com 6th Region Boys Basketball Preview

[Chopper6]

6th Region Preview and preseason rankings

There is a lot of unknown when it comes to high school basketball this season, especially with JCPS teams, as their seasons are still on hold.  While some rosters are still in flux, I will try to preview what we do know at this time about the 6th region! 

1. Fern Creek (Last Seasons Champion) - Even with Zeke Montgomery's transfer to St. Louis - I would still consider Fern Creek the team to beat in the 6th region.  4 year starter Jaden Rodgers returns at PG to lead the Tigers - he led the team last season in scoring at 16.5 ppg and was their de facto floor leader. The twin towers of Darius Washington and CeArius Warren are also back - the 6’8” big men can control the paint and Warren is their returning leading rebounder.  The transfer of Montgomery will open the door for other returning players to make an impact.  The Tigers will rely on juniors Darian Lewis, Andru Markham, and Jaden Schooler to pick up the slack. 

2. DeSales - Akron signee Sekou Kalle will lead a talented DeSales team this season.  The 6’9” C averaged a double double for the Colts last season (16p/11r).  However, it’s far from a one-man show.  Soph. F Keith Robinson returns (13p/6r) and with the addition of transfer PG Devin Perry, back from Fl for his senior season, DeSales could be the favorite to win the region depending on how well Perry gels with the team AND how big a head start DeSales gets over their JCPS competition.

3. Jeffersontown - Another team with some roster changes.  While the Chargers leading scorer from last year (B. Rayzer-Moore) transferred to New Albany - JTown picked up a huge asset in jr. Turrell Cleaves, who comes from Butler,  Turrell joins PG Jalen Fairmen, a dark horse 6th region POY candidate, to make one of the most dynamic backcourts in the Lou. area.  This Jtown team is athletic, long and will play uptempo. IF they can find some playmakers in the paint - look for the Chargers to make some noise in the region!

4. PRP - PRP returns two starters from last season's team - Uber-talented So. PG Zee McCown and Sr. SG Nevin White, both of whom averaged around 10ppg.  However, unlike 2020, this team has some underneath presence.  Jr.’s Victor Lado and Lavonte Harris are both 6’6” and have matured drastically from last season. 6' 4" Sr. Brian Gatewood has multiple D3/NAIA offers and will most likely be the 5th starter.  PRP will be a deeper team than last season and should make some noise in the Region.

5. Doss - The Dragons return the bulk of their squad back from last season, where they went 17-12 while playing a tough schedule.  Their top duo of jr. Inslee Carroll (17ppg) and sr. big man Tony Moss (13p/10rpg) both return and are surrounded by speed and length.  If Doss can find their outside shooting touch, they could be a very dangerous team in the region.

6. Evangel - One of the true unknowns are the Eagles of Evangel.  According to multiple social media outlets, they have brought in numerous transfers.  6’11’ Cyr Malonga, who has multiple high D1 offers, headlines the group, but fr. Johnny Djema and 8th grader Ben Tshaka are also big men with a high upside.  IF things pan out for the Eagles, they could skyrocket up these rankings

7. Butler

8. Western 

9. Bullitt East

10. North Bullitt 

These 4 teams are coming off of successful seasons, but lost a lot to graduation and/or transfers.  Butler in particular will be interesting to follow.  They return some solid players in sr.’s Mershon Dickerson and Taevon Dozier, but lost their top 4 scorers from last year and have a new coach in Brent Jameson.  Bullitt East will have to cope with the loss of sr. PG Zak Perdue and North Bullitt graduated all 5 starters from last season's district championship team.  Western’s top 3 scorers graduated (including double/double machine Jaheim Foreman) but will be long, athletic and physical.

11. Southern - Sr. Camden Pfeister is a player to keep an eye on.

12. Moore

13. Fairdale - Sr. Isaac Tedford is a player to watch.

14. Iroquois

15. Bullitt Central

16. Holy Cross

17. Beth Haven - Sr. Luke Easley (22ppg) returns with some new transfer players - a team to keep an eye on once we start playing.

18. Valley

19. Whitefield Academy
 

[ColonelMike]

I used to live in Shively (long, long, time ago) and attended PRP in 7th and 8th grade.  (back when you had "junior highs" instead of middle schools)   I remember some of the great wars between PRP and Bishop David (now Holy Cross for you young whippersnappers)....PRP vs. Western was a big rivalry then....and Shawnee - with Durand Macklin - was our nemesis in the region.   

At PRP then, we had a monster lineup of Tony Raymer (6'7" center), Dennis Short (6'4" shooting forward), Charlie Jackson (6'6" power forward), Mike Slayton (6'4" shooting guard) and Michael Cain (6'3" point guard).   Lost in the 1976 regional finals to that awesome Shawnee squad by 2.    

Oh good.   The memory isn't totally gone.    🙄

Long time ago.  Things change.

I'll get to see a lot of the 6th this year on Pegasus Sports.   We'll be doing games involving Fern Creek, Jeffersontown, Butler, and Bullitt East.   I invite 6th region fans to tune in at www.pegasussportsky.com.   With attendance so limited, it's a great way to keep up with your teams.

James Schooler, coach at Fern Creek, is a good friend.   Happy to see him being so successful at the Creek.

Great legacy of basketball in the 6th!   Though I'm now an 8th Region guy, and have been since I moved out of Jefferson County in the mid-70s, I still remember some great roundball in the 6th.   Good luck to all!

CM

[ColonelMike]

Hey, Chopper!

What do we know about the teams without write-ups?   I'm especially curious about Butler and Jason Couch's Bullitt East squad.

CM

[Chopper6]

If you look under North Bullitt - I lumped Butler and Bullitt East together.

Both squads are losing a lot of contributions from last season - and Butler has a new coach - so we won't know much until they start playing

[Chopper6]

20 hours ago, ColonelMike said:

 

I'll get to see a lot of the 6th this year on Pegasus Sports.   We'll be doing games involving Fern Creek, Jeffersontown, Butler, and Bullitt East.   I invite 6th region fans to tune in at www.pegasussportsky.com.   With attendance so limited, it's a great way to keep up with your teams.

CM

No PRP or DeSales games?  Doss will be a fun team to watch as well.

[ColonelMike]

Pegasus Sports Network is the official voice of the three Oldham County teams, Oldham County HS, North Oldham HS, and South Oldham HS.   During the regular season, we broadcast games involving those schools.

During the post-season, we also serve as the broadcast voice of the 8th Region, broadcasting each and every game of the boys' and girls' 8th Region tournaments.

The 6th region teams we are seeing this year are on our schedule during the regular season because they are playing an Oldham County school.  

There is a possibility that we may pick up a DeSales game this year, but it's not on the preliminary schedule.   I've broadcast a ton of Colts games over the past few years because they play the Oldham schools a lot...

CM

[ColonelMike]

We do a lot of games involving 6th and 7th region schools, since the Oldham schools play a lot of 6th/7th teams.

Among the 7th Region teams we'll cover this year are Male, St. X, Seneca, 

4 hours ago, Chopper6 said:

If you look under North Bullitt - I lumped Butler and Bullitt East together.

Both squads are losing a lot of contributions from last season - and Butler has a new coach - so we won't know much until they start playing

GOTCHA.   I wasn't even looking under North Bullitt.   I see what you did now.