Now that the season has ended, what are everyone's expectations going into the next season? Who do you think the front-runners will be? Any coaching changes or other storylines emerge? 

17th District

The big question will be can North maintain their dominance on the 17th district as they have for the past 2 seasons. Obviously, losing a player like Berry hurts, but they played a majority of the season without him and they return most of their starting lineup with Mack, House and Cleaver. I'm not sure that there are any other teams in the district that will be able to matchup with them. Central would have been the closest but they lose 4 starters including Hogan and Nichols. 

18th District

Caverna loses their coach and basically their entire team that played any minutes this season. Whoever steps into that role as a coach will have a monumental task ahead of them. As was stated in another thread, Caverna didn't field a middle school team this past season so it could be some very dark days ahead for Colonel basketball. 

Green County showed some improvement at the end of the season and started to play towards what expectations were at the beginning of last season. However they lose transfer seniors Laws and Wade.

Larue County returns several key pieces including Mikey Harris. Harris is what runs the show for the Hawks. They'll definetly miss the presence of Ayden Seidl but the Hawks have some pieces coming up through their middle school program as well. I think Larue is probably the heavy favorite in the 18th next year.

19th District

Can Nelson build on the success they had this season? Does Gilbert stay? Can Thomas Nelson keep the momentum going even though they lose Cutter Boone, Carter Hamilton, and Hunter Mattingly? Bardstown returns Chi Poynter and Tylin Spaulding, so you can't forget about them. Somehow Bardstown was the district winner and never felt like they were better than the 3rd best team in the district, but I think that's largely due to the difficult schedule they play up front, so the win totals usually seem a little low. Bethlehem will likely be much better next season as well. If Bradley gets healthy and they can bring together some of the younger pieces who saw quite a bit of time this year and get them to mature a bit, I think we likely see Bethlehem fighting for the top spot in the district and a trip back to the region tournament. 

20th District

Taylor will return the duo of Vernon and Stone. Those two players alone would make most teams tough to beat. They'll have to figure out how they play with such a big presence in the middle missing in Bryten Close but with Stone and Vernon, I feel like most coaches would love to have that problem. Will they be able to piece it together to get them back to Rupp Arena?

Adair County will be the other big question mark in the 20th, more specifically Coach Breeze. Will he stay or will he leave? He came back for this season after a summer debacle with their new hire Jordan Brangers. If he stays, you have to figure Adair will be in the hunt, he's in the top 5 of coaches in the region. If he leaves, who do they go after and how do they figure out how to replace Blakey, George and Gilbert?

Let me know your thoughts!

21 hours ago, 5thregionbasketball said:

Now that the season has ended, what are everyone's expectations going into the next season? Who do you think the front-runners will be? Any coaching changes or other storylines emerge? 

17th District

The big question will be can North maintain their dominance on the 17th district as they have for the past 2 seasons. Obviously, losing a player like Berry hurts, but they played a majority of the season without him and they return most of their starting lineup with Mack, House and Cleaver. I'm not sure that there are any other teams in the district that will be able to matchup with them. Central would have been the closest but they lose 4 starters including Hogan and Nichols. 

18th District

Caverna loses their coach and basically their entire team that played any minutes this season. Whoever steps into that role as a coach will have a monumental task ahead of them. As was stated in another thread, Caverna didn't field a middle school team this past season so it could be some very dark days ahead for Colonel basketball. 

Green County showed some improvement at the end of the season and started to play towards what expectations were at the beginning of last season. However they lose transfer seniors Laws and Wade.

Larue County returns several key pieces including Mikey Harris. Harris is what runs the show for the Hawks. They'll definetly miss the presence of Ayden Seidl but the Hawks have some pieces coming up through their middle school program as well. I think Larue is probably the heavy favorite in the 18th next year.

19th District

Can Nelson build on the success they had this season? Does Gilbert stay? Can Thomas Nelson keep the momentum going even though they lose Cutter Boone, Carter Hamilton, and Hunter Mattingly? Bardstown returns Chi Poynter and Tylin Spaulding, so you can't forget about them. Somehow Bardstown was the district winner and never felt like they were better than the 3rd best team in the district, but I think that's largely due to the difficult schedule they play up front, so the win totals usually seem a little low. Bethlehem will likely be much better next season as well. If Bradley gets healthy and they can bring together some of the younger pieces who saw quite a bit of time this year and get them to mature a bit, I think we likely see Bethlehem fighting for the top spot in the district and a trip back to the region tournament. 

20th District

Taylor will return the duo of Vernon and Stone. Those two players alone would make most teams tough to beat. They'll have to figure out how they play with such a big presence in the middle missing in Bryten Close but with Stone and Vernon, I feel like most coaches would love to have that problem. Will they be able to piece it together to get them back to Rupp Arena?

Adair County will be the other big question mark in the 20th, more specifically Coach Breeze. Will he stay or will he leave? He came back for this season after a summer debacle with their new hire Jordan Brangers. If he stays, you have to figure Adair will be in the hunt, he's in the top 5 of coaches in the region. If he leaves, who do they go after and how do they figure out how to replace Blakey, George and Gilbert?

Let me know your thoughts!

I think elizabethtown will be better than what people think. You can never count out coach haire. Balfour will still have the pieces to run thru the 17th. 

In the 18th I think its definitely Larue county district to lose as they will be one of the top teams in region. Larue County will have a chance to be a top 25 team before the end of the season with veteran guard play and shooters all around. Coach Childress always has his teams ready to play.  

I believe in the 19th you will see another year of a competitive district, but I think Thomas Nelson has the edge of being the top team in the district pre season with bardstown /bethlehem right behind. Thomas Nelson and bardstown had the best JV teams this past season and return the best player in the district in Tyler Bartley.

20th district will be led by taylor county but I believe Marion County is not far behind with the team coach thomas brings back and pre season all region candidate Gabriel Washington . You never what coach breeze has up his sleeve but I would never count them out. 

In the 17th District, I expect Elizabethtown and North Hardin to be the fronrunners for the District crown. I think John Hardin will be an improved team followed by Central Hardin and Fort Knox.  I think Region 5  favorites next season have to be LaRue County and Taylor County. 

It is difficult to select favorites at this stage, as the majority of rosters will undergo significant changes before the season begins. However, as of today, North Hardin, Taylor, and LaRue appear to be the front runners to watch.

At the HS level,  success is easier to predict by one simple formula, quality of coaching!

Any news out of Nelson County on the new coach? From what I'm hearing; it's a total mess there now.  

So at this point in the offseason we have Central Hardin, Caverna, Nelson County, Thomas Nelson, and Marion County looking for head coaches. Rumors around 2 other schools for potential coaching changes, (one retirement, one moving into administration). 

On 5/27/2026 at 9:53 AM, 5thregionbasketball said:

So at this point in the offseason we have Central Hardin, Caverna, Nelson County, Thomas Nelson, and Marion County looking for head coaches. Rumors around 2 other schools for potential coaching changes, (one retirement, one moving into administration).  

Caverna is now filled. Assistant coach Jason Scott has taken over as head coach.

On 5/27/2026 at 10:07 AM, ACfan4 said:

Caverna is now filled. Assistant coach Jason Scott has taken over as head coach.

That's good to know. Was a little concerned that Caverna may not field a team this season. 

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