Boyd County finally ended the reign of the Tomcat. What lies ahead in the 16th Region next season?

Discuss.

Ashland loses two key pieces but brings back enough to be the favorite in the 16th region. Caleb Clarke and Drew Smith, will be missed but this is a next man up situation. Look for Justin Hughes, to have a break out season as a junior. Owens, Strader, and Lynch look to have more involved roles as Sophomores. This core will be around for three years, and I would look for them to keep the Tomcats in the thick of things. Lastly, they will bring back arguably the best returner in the region Elijah Neel, I would expect him to have average into the mid 20's next year. However, I don't think Russell is too far behind the Tomcats they will certainly be in the mix with Burgess and Pridemore being a year older. The biggest question mark is Boyd County, they will have two imposing players from a size standpoint in Rimmer and Carter. How does coach Anderson, utilize these two and will he change playing styles to cater to them? As we look at the region now feels like a 3-horse race.

Also, within the next two years East Carter and West Carter will be consolidating will that bring a Carter County High School to the forefront of the 16th region?

The only current opening is Menifee County, from a coaching perspective should be little movement this off season.

1 hour ago, Herbie22 said:

Ashland loses two key pieces but brings back enough to be the favorite in the 16th region. Caleb Clarke and Drew Smith, will be missed but this is a next man up situation. Look for Justin Hughes, to have a break out season as a junior. Owens, Strader, and Lynch look to have more involved roles as Sophomores. This core will be around for three years, and I would look for them to keep the Tomcats in the thick of things. Lastly, they will bring back arguably the best returner in the region Elijah Neel, I would expect him to have average into the mid 20's next year. However, I don't think Russell is too far behind the Tomcats they will certainly be in the mix with Burgess and Pridemore being a year older. The biggest question mark is Boyd County, they will have two imposing players from a size standpoint in Rimmer and Carter. How does coach Anderson, utilize these two and will he change playing styles to cater to them? As we look at the region now feels like a 3-horse race.

 

 

Also, within the next two years East Carter and West Carter will be consolidating will that bring a Carter County High School to the forefront of the 16th region?

 

The only current opening is Menifee County, from a coaching perspective should be little movement this off season.

I was able to catch a few Russell games from this past season.  They were a fun team to watch.  I would expect them to challenge Ashland. 

1 hour ago, Herbie22 said:

Also, within the next two years East Carter and West Carter will be consolidating will that bring a Carter County High School to the forefront of the 16th region?

I'm curious how this consolidation will affect the makeup of the region. At the last BOC meeting there was a proposal by the Floyd County schools to move Lawrence County out of their current district. Could the Bulldogs go back to the 16th?

I heard the new Carter County high school will have the largest enrollment in the 16th region by a sizable amount.
And I think the new mascot choice is Coyotes.

10 hours ago, The Professor said:

I heard the new Carter County high school will have the largest enrollment in the 16th region by a sizable amount.
And I think the new mascot choice is Coyotes.

We'll see if numbers equal success on the hardwood.

4 hours ago, 4 Quarters said:

We'll see if numbers equal success on the hardwood.

Everyone is the 14th region thought when MC Napier and Dilce Combs consolidated in the late 1990s that Perry with around 1200-1300 students (at that time) would dominate but Hazard with only 300 students was still in the thick of the regional rankings every year and have won several championships since PCC was established. 

On 4/3/2026 at 12:03 AM, The Professor said:

I heard the new Carter County high school will have the largest enrollment in the 16th region by a sizable amount.
And I think the new mascot choice is Coyotes.

Coyotes are going to be in the den for a while. Aspirations of the former regime outweighed reality, a technical center is the only plans on top of the mountain of despair for the near future.

I saw in the 11th region thread where Jagger Prickett has left Russell and is headed to Lexington Catholic. I am also hearing that Gabe Pridemore, will be leaving Russell and heading to Boyd County.

 

 

Side note: Russell, would have the best team in the 16th if they could have retained all the talent. Neel, Rimmer, Pridemore, Prickett and Burgess would have been an extremely talent group for the Red Devils.

Which teams will be the favorite to win their respective districts? Ashland, Russell, Rowan, and who in the 62nd?

On 4/11/2026 at 9:38 AM, Herbie22 said:

I saw in the 11th region thread where Jagger Prickett has left Russell and is headed to Lexington Catholic. I am also hearing that Gabe Pridemore, will be leaving Russell and heading to Boyd County.

 

 

Side note: Russell, would have the best team in the 16th if they could have retained all the talent. Neel, Rimmer, Pridemore, Prickett and Burgess would have been an extremely talent group for the Red Devils.

I am hearing that Gabe will be staying at Russell. I guess I will just wait and see if he's on Russell's team next season. Gabe will be a Key Piece at Russell if he stays.

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Any one have rumors or insights into two big-time open jobs? Both Boyd County and Greenup County are open. Greenup has been open for a while, I haven't heard a peep though about candidates or interviews.

I could see referring to Boyd County, as a big time job with some possible recency bias, they lose a ton of talent. However, I don't think Greenup County is big time at all.  Their last semi-final appearance was 2014 prior to that it was 2006. The last time Greenup County team to make the Sweet 16 was in 1997. If I were an admin at Greenup, I would want someone that plans to place their roots in the community and work to develop a program. 

There was no one more rooted in Greenup County than Nathan Sutton. Yet he was one and done. The facilities are great and the history is there. But...other than a season here or there they have been a non-factor since the Randy Ward days. I would love nothing more than to see the Musketeers back in the mix. It's a great place to watch a ball game and we need another strong eastern Kentucky program. I don't know the inner-workings and I don't pretend to have a solution but something has been amiss....for decades.