Should be a very interesting year in Region 1.  Several of the top teams in the region did not lose much from last season, and I expect that they will be competitive throughout the state.  Here are my rankings:

1. Calloway Co. (17-11)

Key Losses: None

Key Returners: Eli Finley - Sr. (24 ppg, 4 rpg, 35% 3 Pt shooting) can really score the basketball.  Jonah Butler - Sr. (18 ppg, 10 rpg, 37% 3 Pt Shooting) committed to Stony Brook and could be Region 1 PoY.  Conner Lockhart - Sr. (14 ppg, makes 3 3s per game), Luke Armstrong - Soph. (10 ppg, 5 rpg)

The senior trio of Finley, Butler and Lockhart has to be one of the top trios in the state.  However, they have missed the Regional Tourney two years in a row in the stacked 4th district.  I look for them to break that streak this year.  The only question mark that I have for this team is do the Lakers have quality depth?

2. Marshall Co. (25-8)

Key Losses: Logan Parker (8 ppg, 7 rpg), Orrin Phelps (4 ppg, 4 rpg)

Key Returners: Alex Staples - Sr. (15 ppg) can really get to the rim.  Matthew Langhi - Soph (13 ppg, 5 rpg) the Marshals run the offense through him.  Tommy Robertson - Sr. (9 ppg, 3 rpg) good athlete and solid defender.

I badly under-ranked the Marshals each of the last two years, and now I have the defending 1st Region champs ranked second after only losing a couple guys.  Logan Parker is a bigger loss than his stats show - he was a good defender and also really just a winner.  I still think the margin between the Lakers and Marshals is very, very close and it is quite possible that we could see these two 4th district teams meet in the regional finals.

3. McCracken Co. (26-8)

Key Losses: Connor Miller (17 ppg, 5 rpg), Grayson Parrish (5 ppg, 3 rpg)

Key Returners: Jackson Klope - Jr. (16 ppg, 10 rpg) expected to be out this season with injury.  Dylan Jackson - Sr. (8 ppg) excellent shooter, Jay Martin - So. (4 ppg) solid point guard.  Caden Fulcher (5 ppg)

I must admit that some of this ranking is due to how dominant the Mustangs have been in past years - they have won 5 of the last 11 regional titles.  I expect that Klope will be out for the season, and this is a very big loss since I think he would have been a Top 5 player in the region this year.  I still expect that he will be very dominant next season for his senior year.  Still, this Mustangs team has plenty of depth, and also has one of the top coaching staffs in this area.  I expect they will be a factor this year for sure.

4. Paducah Tilghman (15-16)

Key Losses: Omari Williams (9 ppg, 6 rpg), Jamie Harris (5 ppg)

Key Returners & Transfer: Miles Woodfork - Jr. (20 ppg) can score the basketball in many different ways.  Owen Mikel - Sr. (transfer from St. Mary 20 ppg, 5 rpg) shooter.  Ahmad Wilkins (16 ppg, 4 rpg) another shooter, Josh Campbell (12 ppg, 5 rpg) scores around the rim.  Avery Thompson (4 ppg, 4 rpg) his role picked up as the year went on.  A solid defender.

I count 1 win and 20 losses in the last 21 games against the Mustangs - can the Tornado get a win or two over their rival this year?  The Tornado will not be without scoring - Woodfork is a pure scorer and Mikel (transfer) and Wilkins can really shoot it from 3.  My worries for this team are defensively and also size - they have several guards between 6-0 and 6-3, but I think they will struggle to defend some of the Region 1 bigs.

5. St. Mary (20-11)

Key Losses: Owen Mikel (20 ppg, 5 rpg) transfer to PT, Aidan Hahn (12 ppg), Landon Durbin (5 ppg, 3 rpg)

Key Returners & Transfer: Luke Sims - Sr. (20 ppg, 4 rpg, 2.5 3s per game) one of the top players in the region.  Brett Haas - Sr. (7 ppg, 6 rpg) good size.  Griffin Mayes - 8th (transfer from McCracken Co.) not your typical 8th grader.

The loss of Mikel to transfer hurts, but Sims and Haas still make up a very strong duo in this region.  I'm assuming that Mayes will be one of the best 8th graders in the state and I think he could potentially be the 2nd-leading scorer on this team behind Sims.  There are some other transfers too that will round out this roster (some of the transfers due to the Vikings strong baseball program).  Could this team pull and upset and make it to Murray State for the postseason?  The thing is - this year it won't be that big of an upset.

6. Graves Co. (20-11)

Key Losses: Lukas Pigg (13 ppg), Briley VeuCasovic (11 ppg, 4 rpg), Carson Carrico (5 ppg, 3 ppg)

Key Returners: Braden Waller (10 ppg, 7 ppg) good size at 6-5 for this forward

Waller will be the focal point of this team but there are a lot of young Eagles that will look to step up this year.  Some names to remember are Ty Cavette, Raygon Mathis and Bodie Veucasovic.  The Eagles have had a very strong elementary and middle school program over the last many years, and I look for that to begin paying off beginning this season.

7. Mayfield (19-9)

Key Losses: Braydon Pate (13 ppg, 2.8 3's made per game), Braden Morris (11 ppg, 5 rpg), Collin Gibson (8 ppg, 5 rpg)

Key Returners: Owen Webb (10 ppg), Owen Byrd (7 ppg) speedy guard that had a bigger role as the year went on.

The Cardinals have graduated quite a few seniors over the past couple years, but this is a school that is never short on athletes.  You may have heard this one before - this team will start slow as I expect their football team will make another postseason run.  The margin between the Cardinals and Eagles for the 3rd District title is pretty thin.

8. Murray (24-10)

Key Losses: Lincoln English (13 ppg, 6 rpg), Z Carman (12 ppg, 8 rpg), Collin Wilson (10 ppg), Drew May (8 ppg, 3 rpg)

Key Returners: Jeremiah Jones (10 ppg, 3 rpg) outstanding athlete who will play at the next level for football

The Jimmie Holder era in Murray begins as former coach Dior Curtis left for the Christian County job.  Unfortunately, Holder inherits a team that lost four key seniors.  However, I think this is a program that has the ability to reload, and there are several young Tigers who have the potential to step up in a big way.

9. Carlisle Co. (21-11)

Key Losses: Carter Burnett (15 ppg, 4 rpg), Zack Grogan (11 ppg, 3 rpg), Kenton Arnold (9 ppg, 3 rpg)

Key Returners: Wyatt Rickard - So. (8 ppg, 5 rpg)  he's 6-9 and he can shoot.

Several key losses for the Comets, but their Sophomore class is very talented.  Rickard is starting to get the attention of college coaches, and he will be hard to defend this year.  Coach ONeil is one of the best coaches in this region, and I expect they will have no problem winning the 1st District this year.

10. Ballard Co. (8-23)

Key Losses: Keaton Overstreet (6 ppg, 6 rpg)

Key Returners:  JACE BIRNEY - Sr. (26 ppg, 9 rpg) the all-time leading scorer for the Bombers

Look for Birney to once again put up monster numbers for the Bombers.  We'll see what his supporting cast looks like this year.  Could they spring a 3rd District upset this year.  Very possible!

11. Community Chirstian Acad (8-23)

12. Christian Fellowship (9-22)

13. Hickman Co. (5-17)

14. Fulton Co. (6-23)

15. Fulton City (6-23)

Let me know what you would change in these preseason rankings.

P.S.  I plan on posting here any of the other rankings that I come accross for the 1st Region.  It is interesting to contrast and compare.

Here are the other lists that I've seen so far:

Edward Marlowe from Cats Pause has 1-Calloway, 2-Marshall, 3-Tilghman, 4-Graves, 5-McCracken, 6-St. Mary, 7-Carlisle, 8-Mayfield, 9-Murray, 10-Ballard Mem.  He is high on Graves County, and I know they have some young guys who are supposed to be very good.

The Region One guy (Brian York) has 1-Marshall, 2-Calloway, 3-Tilghman, 4-McCracken, 5-Graves, 6-Carlisle, 7-St. Mary, 8-Ballard Mem., 9-Mayfield, 10-Murray.  Mr. York says that he expects Jackson Klope to return at some point this year for the Mustangs.  If so - that would be HUGE for them.  He is a beast!!!

I think that the Sun will have a coaches' poll again this year, and I will add that when I see it.