As open as the region was last season, it seems completely the opposite this season. Last year at the beginning of the season it felt like there were 7-9 teams who could compete to win the region. This year it feels like only 2-3. I could be way wrong on that, but the region was loaded with top talent last year and has been hit hard by graduation. The teams that weren’t hit hard by graduation are at the top of the rankings.

Parody will be the name of the game for most teams in the 5^th this year. Teams 5-11, I think could really be in about any order. I expect that John Hardin and Thomas Nelson will be vastly improved from last year so they are moved quite a bit higher in the pre-season rankings from where they finished last season.

For teams 14-18, I think it’s going to be a long season.

Rankings

1.      Adair County

The defending regional champions, Adair County should have only 1 goal as it relates to 5^th region basketball: Repeat as champion. The Indians return every single key player from last year’s state tournament team, including Connor Loy (17.3 ppg), Isaiah Cochran (16.5 ppg and 8.8 rpg), Brayton Coomer (10.8 ppg), and Dawson Gilbert (8.9 ppg). The road to Rupp runs through Columbia this year.

Adair County finished last season with a record of 29-8, runner up in the 20^th district championship, winners of the 5^th region tournament and lost in the Elite 8 round of the state tournament.

2.      Larue County

Larue County returns almost every player from a solid regional semifinal team last season. Of course, the big piece that they lost to graduation was Daniel Allen and his 20.6 ppg and 7.6 rebounds, both team leaders. But the Hawks will be contenders. Returning junior Jagger Mardis (16.7 ppg), junior Landon Blakey (12.9 ppg & 7.6 rpg) will lead the way for Larue. Expect contributions from Michael Harris and Ayden Seidl and also senior transfer from Central Hardin, Lucas Thompson.

Larue County finished last season with a record of 23-10, won the 18^th district tournament and lost in the regional semifinals.

3.      Green County

The Dragons lost their backcourt combo of Eli Bishop & Kelson McKinney to graduation. So, they’ll rely heavily on senior Hayden Blakeman (22.2 ppg) who was the leading scorer last year. Jayden Marr and Houston Hodges will contribute much for the Dragons as well. The big x factor are the two transfers for Green County. 6’3 guard Eric James Jr. and 6’7 Modibo Kouyate.

Green County finished last season with a record of 17-14 and lost in the district semifinals.

4.      Caverna

Optimism should be high in Horse Cave. A solid group of sophomores are now juniors and almost every top scorer for the Colonels returns. Caverna will be led by junior Jaylin Crane (20.3 ppg) and junior Tyson Martin (14.5 ppg). Russell Williams, Kenyon Martin and Cortavian Maxey will be key pieces to the puzzle as well. The biggest unknown will be, can new head coach Terrence Miles find the success at Caverna that he missed at Thomas Nelson?

Caverna finished last season with a record of 17-11 and lost in the district semifinals.

5.      North Hardin

North graduated the bulk of their scoring options from last season, including Shaun Boykins, Tavion Smith and Darius Wiley. The top returning scorer is Miklos Melton (6.9 ppg). The Trojans will look to Melton, Seth Woods, Tyree John and Jaydin Vornberger. Despite being hit hard by graduation, this is a senior heavy team that will bring plenty of varsity experience.

North Hardin finished last season with a record of 22-10, they won the district and lost in the regional semifinals.

6.      Taylor County

Former assistant coach, now head coach Josh Kays will look to a couple of players who have been staples in the Cardinal program for the past few years to keep the winning tradition going at Taylor County. Layken Lyons (20.7 ppg) and Bryten Close (4.1 rpg) will look to leverage their experience in helping Taylor County this year. The Cardinals will have to replace C.J. Johnson (15.5 ppg), Keeton Clements (10.7 ppg & 5.6 rpg) and point guard Jackson Wise. They’ll also be without Jalen Gribbons who has transferred to Campbellsville.

Last season Taylor County finished with a record of 19-13, won the 20^th district championship and lost in the first round of the regional tournament.

7.      Bethlehem

Was last year a case of a team getting hot at just the right time? Was it a fluke? Or are the Eagles for real? Their run in the postseason was nothing short of magical. Can they repeat that success? They lost Nicholas Culver (13.3 ppg) and Isaiah Ballard (10.2 ppg) to graduation, but they return leading scorer Nicholas Osborne (18.1 ppg) and sophomore Jack Bradley (8.9 ppg).

Bethlehem finished last season with a record of 16-15, they were runner-up in the district tournament and then lost in the regional finals to Adair County.

8.      Central Hardin

Same story for a different team in the 17^th district. The Bruins were hit hard by graduation, losing their top 3 scorers, Brett Decker, Ace Jaggers, & Donovan Stone. They also lost Lucas Thompson (transfer to Larue County). The top returning scorer will be Camdyn Hogan (8.4 ppg) They’ll rely heavily on Hogan, Cameron Elmore, Carson Nichols and Caleb Irwin. Irwin didn’t play last season because of transfer eligibility issues.

Central Hardin finished last season with a record of 18-11 and lost in the semifinals of the district tournament.

9.      Elizabethtown

Elizabethtown- The Panthers lost their top 5 scorers to graduation, including Ayden Evans (16.6 ppg) and Alex Evans (14.6 ppg). The Evan’s also made up the top 2 rebounders, with Trey Durbin coming in right behind them. Durbin was the 4^th most prolific scorer last season. The Panthers will use TaQuan Townsend to run the offense. They’ll look for contributions from Reed Sherrard in the paint and on the boards.

The Panthers finished last season with a record of 19-11, were district runners-up and lost in the first round of the regional tournament.

10.  Bardstown

The Tigers had one of their worst seasons under head coach Boo Brewer last season. And yet the Tigers were physical and fast. You can expect that to continue. The Tigers were young last season but leaned heavily on now graduated Brenton Moore (21.7 ppg). Look for junior Jayvyn Montgomery and senior Bradley Moore to be the leaders of the Tigers squad.

Bardstown finished last season with a record of 13-16 and lost in the semifinals of the district tournament.

11.  Hart County

Justin Line’s group will have their work cut out for them in the 18^th district. A district that will probably be more competitive than any district in the region. Junior Jacob Shoulders (14.3 ppg) will anchor the Raiders lineup along with senior Kohnner Trent (10.9) The big loss from last season is Jacob’s brother Jaxon who averaged 15.7 ppg and 8.3 rpg.

Hart County finished last season with a record of 17-13, were district runners-up and lost in the first round of the regional tournament.

12.  John Hardin

I think John Hardin has the best possibility to be the most improved team in the region and certainly in the district. After losing their head coach during the middle of the season with his unexpected death, the Bulldogs rallied around interim head coach Marcus Hyche. Coach Hyche quickly had the interim label removed in the off-season and they look to continue to build. The Bulldogs were young last season and return leading scorers Marquis Hayes and Robert Bertolucci. There are two big unknowns for me for the Bulldogs. Ayden Brown and Kamari Hayes are not listed on this year’s roster. I don’t know if they have left the Bulldog program, or they just haven’t been listed yet. Brown and Hayes will be a big part of the game plan for the Bulldogs if they are playing.

John Hardin finished last season with a record of 5-27 and was defeated in the semifinals of the district tournament.

13.  Thomas Nelson

Maze Stallworth takes over at Thomas Nelson. The Generals return all but one player from a season ago including leading scorer Cole Girdley (14.6 ppg) Cutter Boone, Cade Boone, J.T. Cammack and Hunter Mattingly will each need to have big seasons for  the Stallworth era to have a successful start.

Thomas Nelson finished last season with a record of 6-22 and lost in the first round of the district tournament.

14.  Washington County

The Commanders were hit hard by graduation losing their top 3 scorers (Beau Baker, Noah Reynolds & Riley Brown). Then they lost what would’ve been their biggest difference maker this season in Gabe Weiss to prep school. The good news for Washington County is that they’ll have a senior guard to run the offense in Camden Abell. He’ll look for help from junior Lance Coulter.

Washington County finished last season with a record of 22-10, won the 19^th district tournament and lost in the first round of the regional tournament.

15.  Campbellsville

Campbellsville will be young this season with only 1 senior on the roster. They lost from last year’s team Landon Colvin, Deondre & Keondre Weathers and Tashawn Hart. Their top returning scorer from last season’s team is Keaton Hord (8.4 ppg). They also added Jalen Gribbons from Taylor County. Gribbons should contribute right away.

Last season Campbellsville finished with a record of 13-16 and lost in the semifinals of the district tournament.

16.  Nelson County

Jacob Kueker is hoping this is the year that his Cardinals put it together. In his 3^rd year now as the Cardinals head coach, he’ll have to overcome the losses of leading scorer Landon Scott (10.3) and key player Oliver Blincoe. To do that he’ll look to his senior heavy squad led by Amare Stone and Eli Burks.

Nelson County finished last season with a record of 9-19 and lost in the semifinals of the district tournament.

17.  Marion County

The injury bug hit Marion County hard last season, limiting Jalil Smith and Brady Hutchins in action for the Knights. Junior guard Christian Rucker (11.2 ppg) will lead the Knights. He’ll look to Noah Spalding and Julius Jones for help.

Marion County finished last season with a record of 4-25 and lost in the semifinals of the district tournament.

18.  Fort Knox

Fort Knox will have a hard time competing in the 17^th district. The Golden Eagles will return leading scorer Deron McNaulty (12.2 ppg) but what they have around him will remain to be seen. Last year they were able to defeat John Hardin in their first regular season matchup, but John won the 2^nd game by 11 points and then in the district tournament by 19 points. Fort Knox does return several players who have seen varsity minutes so hopefully the experience they have attained will help them this season.

Last season Fort Knox finished with a record of 7-21 and lost in the first round of the district tournament.

Coaching Carousel

Caverna- Terrence Miles, previously head coach at Thomas Nelson

Taylor County- Josh Kays, previously assistant coach at Taylor County. Former head coach Montrelle Irvin is now at Green County as an assistant coach.

John Hardin- Marcus Hyche, previously interim head coach at John Hardin after the passing of coach Austin Jones.

Thomas Nelson- Maze Stallworth, previously assistant coach at Washington County.

Top Players (No Particular Order)

1.      Connor Loy

2.      Isaiah Cochran

3.      Haydon Blakeman

4.      Jaylin Crane

5.      Jaxson Shoulders

6.      Jagger Mardis

7.      Tyson Martin

8.      Nicholas Osborne

9.      Brayton Coomer

10.  Dawson Gilbert

I did not include Eric James Jr and Modibo Kouyate in this list simply because I have not seen them play. The hype around them seems to indicate that they should be on this list.

Solid rankings. Will add you are forgetting Taylor County added 2027 6'5 transfer Davier White from Evangel Christian he averaged around 10 ppg for them last season and is one of the top 5 sophomores in the state. So he should be an impact player in the 5th.

1 hour ago, ACfan4 said:

Solid rankings. Will add you are forgetting Taylor County added 2027 6'5 transfer Davier White from Evangel Christian he averaged around 10 ppg for them last season and is one of the top 5 sophomores in the state. So he should be an impact player in the 5th.

You are correct, I did. I kept thinking when I was doing this that I was forgetting something about Taylor. That’s what it was. 

You also forgot about Layken Lyons of Taylor County who has over 1800 career pts going into his senior season.

Welcome to BGP @David R!

5 hours ago, David R said:

You also forgot about Layken Lyons of Taylor County who has over 1800 career pts going into his senior season.

That was just a typing error. When adding that portion of the preview, I just skipped his name. Had him listed on my rough draft between Blakeman & Crane. Thanks for catching that. 

Bump.

I'm gonna say this is Green County's year to take home 5th Region Title.

Adair defeated North Hardin 99-88 in a scrimmage today. Indians had 4 players with 16 points or more and 5 in double figures. North Hardin def looks better than a lot think as they hit 15 3 pointers. Adair hit 11 3's Adair pressed about the entire game so probably not how they would play in a normal game that counted.