The 5^th region promises to have some quality basketball at the top of the region.

Here's my regional rankings to kick off the season:

1.      Caverna- Expectations for first year head coach Josh Pittman will be high. Pittman takes over the program after newly hired coach Richard Gatewood resigned during the summer. Caverna comes into this season returning Jaylin Crane (19.7 ppg), The Martin twins and Cortavion Maxey who made up 4 spots of the starting 5. They have also added Gavin Lightning, a 6’6 guard/forward and Jaciyon Graves, a 6’7 transfer from Danville.

2.      Green County- The Dragons were frontrunner’s last season and ended the season in the regional semifinals. Assistant coach Montrelle Irvin takes over the first chair and will look to guide the Dragons back to the regional tournament. He’ll have to do it without all-time leading scorer, Hayden Blakeman, who graduated along with Jayden Marr, and Cooper Stone who transferred to Taylor County. Green County returns a Mr. Basketball Candidate in Eric James Jr. (16.4 ppg) and transfer Kai Wade from North Carolina. There are some eligibility issues for Modi Kuoyate that still need to be worked out, but if he is eligible, he’ll be a major defensive force in the middle.

3.      North Hardin- The Trojans made a run to the regional finals last year and have the ability to do it again. North was very senior heavy last year but transfer Kerwian Berry, who might just be the best player in the region now, will keep the Trojans in a lot of games. Michael Baffour has proven he knows how to coach, so don’t be surprised that at the end of the season, the Trojans aren’t right in the thick of it.

4.      Adair County- The 2x defending regional champions have had quite a bit of off-season drama. The Indians lose 4 of their 5 starters to graduation including Connor Loy and Isaiah Cochran. But the Indians return Dawson Gilbert and get a pair of transfers in Landon Blakey and Tylin George. Blakey and George will go a long way in replacing the scoring that Loy and Cochran gave the Indians. Deron Breeze will be the interim head coach this year after resigning at the end of the season, only to see his replacement Jordan Brangers resign during the summer.

5.      Taylor County- The loss of Davier White to prep school and Layken Lyons to graduation will certainly hurt the Cardinals. But they’ve got some good size in the middle with Bryten Close, and they return Bryce Vernon and Griffin Hines, who will provide some stability for the Cards. The biggest addition for the Cardinals comes in sophomore point guard Cooper Stone. Stone had a great season in Greensburg last year and hopes to have another year like that in Campbellsville.

6.      Central Hardin- The Bruins will likely be underrated and fly under the radar of a lot of people this year, which I think coach Tavon Johnson wants. But don’t let the Bruins fool you, they return a core nucleus of Camdyn Hogan, Carson Nichols and Cameron Elmore and they added Robert Bertolucci from John Hardin who can shoot the deep ball. The Bruins will be fast and likely live and die by the 3 ball, but this could be the year the Bruins make some noise in the 5^th Region.

7.      Bardstown- You should never count out a Boo Brewer coached team. And while the Tigers roster won’t be made up of names that individually stand out, it will be a team that plays as hard as any in the region. Having said that, don’t sleep on Myles Stone and Jayvyn Montgomery. You can expect these two to lead the Tigers back to the regional tournament.

8.      Bethlehem- Hoping to stand in the way of Bardstown, will be crosstown rival Bethlehem. The Eagles will have to find someone to score as they lose Nicholas Osborne to graduation. Osborne averaged over 20 ppg last season. They’ll turn to Jack Bradley, Thomas Mudd, and Xander Willett to make up most of that scoring.

9.      Larue County- No team was hit harder by transfer than the Hawks. They lost Lucas Thompson to graduation and Jagger Mardis, Landon Blakey and Tyler Bartley to other teams. Paul Childress’ Hawks will still have Ayden Seidl and guard Michael Harris who are very nice players in their own right.

10. Marion County- The Knights made massive strides last season, amassing 17 wins, a 13-win improvement. And the best news for the Knights, is that they were a young team last season. They return basically all of their scoring and rebounding from a season ago. The Knights will be led by guard Christian Rucker and Eli Washington.

11. Thomas Nelson- Key Returners- Cutter Boone and Hunter Mattingly, also added transfer Tyler Bartley. Key losses- Cole Girdley and Gavin Morgan

12. Washington County- Key Returners- Evan McIlvoy, Lance Coulter and JT Smith. Key losses- Camden Abell.

13. Hart County- Key Returners- Jacob Shoulders and Jake Crump. Key losses- Kohner Trent

14. Elizabethtown- Key Returners- Brandon Washington and Anthony Ratcliffe. Key losses- Ayden Dozier, TaQuan Townsend and Reed Sherrard

15. Campbellsville- Key Returners- Jaylen Gribbons, Keeton Hord and Lee Colvin. Key losses-None

16. John Hardin- Key Returners- Austin Richardson and Darius Bennett. Key losses- Robert Bertolucci, Marquis Hayes and Charles Lawrence

17. Nelson County- Key Returners- Kane Linton and Jacob Reynolds. Key losses- Eli Burks and Owen Goff

18. Fort Knox- Key returners- Lincoln Ocoin. Key losses- Dereon McNaulty and Trysten Jackson

I agree with this for the most part. I would probably swap Adair and North Hardin. Would Tylin George not be considered a Mr Basketball candidate as well?  He was there 3rd leading scorer in the state last year. Caverna has the talent to be a state contender! Gavin Lightning is a special athlete to go with Crane. 5th Region is going to be special this year! 

3 hours ago, IndianAlum81 said:

I agree with this for the most part. I would probably swap Adair and North Hardin. Would Tylin George not be considered a Mr Basketball candidate as well?  He was there 3rd leading scorer in the state last year. Caverna has the talent to be a state contender! Gavin Lightning is a special athlete to go with Crane. 5th Region is going to be special this year! 

I think Tylin George will be a Mr. Basketball candidate as well. I think you could potentially have 4 of the top players in the state in the 5th Region with George, Berry, James and Lightning. 

I'm a new Gavin Lightning fan, but man, what a name to go with some game!

I didn't realize this until today, but Lee Colvin, a Senior, has transferred from Campbellsville to Larue County. 

I would say come tournament time that North Hardin will have ironed out their roles.  Coach Baffour and staff do a great job of using their players to fit into their system.  I know that they will be playing tough hard defense regardless of their offensive production.  

Was not aware of Mack being at North. Without Berry, I would have had them lower in the top 10, but everything I've read about Berry and some highlights I've seen of his, he seems to be a player who can put a team on his back and carry them. Getting another player to help though would certainly go a long way. 

23 hours ago, 5thregionbasketball said:

Was not aware of Mack being at North. Without Berry, I would have had them lower in the top 10, but everything I've read about Berry and some highlights I've seen of his, he seems to be a player who can put a team on his back and carry them. Getting another player to help though would certainly go a long way. 

National ranking wise I would say Berry is the highest ranking player in the Region.

Bardstown / Thomas Nelson/ Bethlehem / Washington / Nelson is how I see this district shaping up byt the end of the season . 

Some scrimmage score updates from the weekend. 

Adair County over North Bullitt 80-79

South Oldham over Taylor County 71-55

14 hours ago, ACfan4 said:

Some scrimmage score updates from the weekend. 

Adair County over North Bullitt 80-79

South Oldham over Taylor County 71-55

Any scoring stats for Adair on this game. Was a little closer than I would have expected. 

Any word on if Blakey became eligible or not? 

 

Score from Ohio Co vs Green Co?

1 hour ago, IndianAlum81 said:

Any scoring stats for Adair on this game. Was a little closer than I would have expected. 

Indians were without Gilbert who's recovering from injury. George had 33, Blakey 23

Was told over the weekend by someone who I would think is pretty accurate when it comes to this sort of information, but Lightning for Caverna has not been ruled eligible yet and Modi from Green County did get eligible but as someone else posted on the other thread it was an issue with how many semesters he had been in school. Evidently he had 2 9th grade year transcripts. 

Modi is not eligible for this upcoming season. Yes he was ruled eligible last season and it’ was his 4th year in high school. 
the fact that green co is playing a kid who should be graduated is hurting the kid.