I am very excited for the upcoming 2023/2024 Boys Basketball Season and I am very glad to be covering the 6th region as I feel it is the the most competitive region in the state. Last season saw 9 teams win 20 games but a team that did not win 20 games won the region in the Jeffersontown Chargers as they won it for the 2nd consecutive year. Can they repeat? Only time will tell. Let's dive into it.

The teams 

1. Evangel Christian (29-5 last season)- Won the all A state tournament last year and was favorite to win the region but was upset in region Semi Final to Desales. They have 4 starters back and have the most talent in the region again including Christian Doerr and Kyran Tilley. The lone starter they lost is a big one "literally' in 6'11 Cry Malonga.

2. Desales (21-12 last season)- Desales lost to Jtown by 1 point in region championship last year. They have two double digit scorers back in Will Gibson and Brady Cummins. Desales also has had a few transfers come in this season with the big one being potential region player of the year candidate Damone King who came from Manual who is one of the best players in the Louisville area.

3. Jeffersontown (17-13 last season)- I honestly feel that this ranking is too high for what they have coming back but back to back years they have been in the middle of the pack in this region and got hot at tournament time to win the region so that must be respected and until they prove otherwise I will rank them here. This team lost 8 players to graduation and in all honesty should be a rebuilding season for them. With that being said they do have their top two scorers back in Cam and Lukas Mcdaniels. They both play football so will be joining the team later than those who started in mid October.

4. Fairdale (22-10 last season)- Fairdale will have a new coach this season in former Bullitt East coach John Hunt. They return to big time scorers in Jacob Tucker and Dalton Hicks and had lots of young talent around them last year and are very poised on taking the program to the next step. This is my sleeper team in preseason to win the region

5. Butler (23-9 last season)- The Bears have two double digit scorers back from last season in Dayton Williams and Donte Russell. Williams will be one of the top contenders for region player of the year. Butler will need to find some components to help these main two.

6. Holy Cross (21-9 last season)- This team is led by senior Jacob Hand who averaged slightly over 20 ppg last year. Mike Loftis is also a nice guard who averaged double digits last year and can really shoot the 3. I think this is a dangerous team that can surprise some people

7. Prp (23-6 last season)- This team is a huge question mark this season as they lost 9 seniors. They will have to rebuild and reload  with lots of inexperience at the varsity level. They are a great program and always find a way to have a great season and can never be over looked

8. Western (21-8 last season)- You could argue that Western has had the most talent in the region the last couple of years and under achieved to be honest. Now they have lost their head coach and lost two top players who transferred to Trinity. New coach Brandon Britt will have to look at some new and inexperienced players for this incoming season. Western seems to be in a state of flux and will be interesting to see how the season unfolds for them 

9. North Bullitt (16-16 last season)- North Bullitt was very young last season and with them all being a year older they will be much better. Kaylen Alexander and Braxton Sievert lead the way

10. Beth Haven (21-11 last season)- They return four starters including a 20ppg in Jordan Harris who is one of the top players in the region. This small school could sneak up on some teams and pull some upsets during the season.

11. Iroquois (20-12 last season)- Must replace all 5 starters and find success from players with little or no varsity experience. Angelo Persley and Cortez Mitchell are only two players back with much varsity experience.  This is a rebuilding season for them however they do have a state championship coach in Jeff Morrow 

12. Fern Creek (12-17 last season)- Lost 8 seniors but do have two players back that contributed a lot last season. Double digit scorer Noah Glover who is a nice 3 point shooter leads the way 

13. Moore (13-19 last season)- Was a very young team last year. They have the best sophomore in the region in Dayvone Harrison who averaged 16ppg as a freshman. Moore will have a new coach in Patrick Mcgee

14. Bullitt East (12-18 last year)- Has five seniors back so do have some veterans to lean on with varsity experience. Sam Wilson and Andrew Jackson lead the way

15. Doss (5-23 last season)- Loss 21 ppg scorer Marcus barker to graduation. Brandon Radford is top leading scorer that is back this season

16. Southern (10-21 last season)- Lost 7 seniors from last season. They will have to find to find some players to help out returning varsity players Anthony Johnson and Jaylen Brown.

17. Bullitt Central (5-25 last season)- Return three starters including double digit scorer Ryan Brown

18. Whitefield Academy (8-19 last season)- Lost top three scorers. Will be lead by Dallas Bryant 

19. Valley (0-24 last season)- Valley has a new coach in Josh Koebel who takes over a team that was winless last year. Top returning scorer is Raymond Wright

 

Region player of the year contenders 

Damone King Desales- 6'0 Sr. Guard transfer from Manual one of top players in the city 

Will Gibson Desales- 6'6 Sr. Center Liberty commit 

Christian Doerr Evangel Christian- 6'2 Sr. Guard Athletic Guard that can do it all 

Kyran Tilley Evangel Christian- 6'2 Sr Guard One of best pure point guards in Kentucky

Dayton Williams Butler- 6'4 Sr Guard Bears leading scoring back from last year

Dalton Hicks Fairdale- 6'3 Sr Guard Lead Fairdale in scoring last 3 seasons 

Jacob Tucker Fairdale- 6'4 Forward Excellent 3 pt shooter 

Jacob Hand Holy Cross- 6'4 Sr Forward Lead Holy Cross in Scoring and Rebounds three straight seasons 

Dayvone Harrison Moore- 5'10 So Guard   Best sophomore in region 

Jordan Harris Beth Haven- 6'3 Sr Guard Shot 86% from free throw line last season while averaging 20 ppg

 

Great read! Thanks!

I am very interested in hearing everyone's thoughts and comments. Hope to get a discussion about this region going?

This had to be one of the state's most competitive regions last year. Five of the seven region tournament games were decided by eight points or less. Do we expect the 6th to be that tight again?

Yes it is very wide open and competitive and I hope my weekly updates and coverage does it justice. I will be out watching a lot of games and I am ready for it to get started.

Bump.

Is Elijah Clinton still at Western??

13 hours ago, Ordell said:

Is Elijah Clinton still at Western??

He's not listed on their roster on KHSAA website.