HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

It should be yet another exciting year ahead for the girls in the 10th Region.

While George Rogers Clark and Montgomery County looked poised to be the top two, what happens from there will be most interesting. There’s a cluster from teams three all the way to 11 where anyone is capable of knocking off the other on any given night.

The girls had their chance along with each coach to take the stage, or the computer screen for a few minutes during 10th Region media day.

Here’s each team’s outlook as they head into the season next week (In order of how they went):

Augusta

William McKay enters his second season with the Lady Panthers and gets pretty much all of his team back from a 7-13 campaign in 2020-21. His challenge to his team to be more competitive is on the defensive end. They have a target of holding the opponent under 50 points and when they did so last season they went 6-3. Emma Young and Reagan Tackett joined McKay on the call, Young expected to provide senior leadership, Tackett the team’s returning leading scorer.

Bracken County

Troy Archibald takes over and is the fifth Lady Bears coach since the end of the 2015 season. This will be his first varsity head coaching job, but has been an assistant on staff under Taylor Alstatt. He’s familiar with the team, starting point guard Nicole his daughter and will have a solid trio in Archibald, Ella Johnson and Macie Sharp to rely on and all three joining the call. With just eight wins the last two seasons, Archibald said to expect a new brand of basketball from the team, pushing the tempo a lot more.

St. Patrick

The Lady Saints have a lot of high hopes entering the season with five of their top six players back. Their theme is taking that next step which would mean winning the 39th District or an All “A” championship. The pieces are there, including 1,000 point scorer Allison Hughes, floor general in Caroline McKay and the team’s most athletic player in Makenna Roush, all three joining the call with Andy Arn, in his sixth season with the Lady Saints. Arn feels the only thing stopping them this year is themselves, getting over the mental hurdle of being the underdog and becoming a champion. The Lady Saints weren’t in the top 10 preseason poll in the region, they’d like to prove otherwise.

Mason County

The Lady Royals enter the season with a new coach in Kevin Bundy, but the majority of the team back minus two graduates. Bundy is still getting a feel for his team, but is upbeat with their athleticism and a lot of the players having varsity experience. Bundy was joined by Macey Littleton and Sedaya Thomas, the two expected to be key pieces of the backcourt. After two straight opening round losses in the 10th Region tournament, the Lady Royals will enter the season with a chip on their shoulder to prove they belong back with the region’s elite.

Bourbon County

Derek Robinson takes over in what will be a very young and brand new team with a lot of seniors graduated. Robinson, a Bourbon County grad, is excited to take on the challenge despite having just one starter back in Laiken Hardin. He knows there will be some growing pains along the way, but hopes his team takes on the demeanor like he had in his college playing days at Western Kentucky. When Robinson was a senior captain for the Hilltoppers, they went up to Lexington and beat Kentucky. His Lady Colonels will need to carry the same mindset when they have to take on the likes of George Rogers Clark and Mongtomery County in the district.

Montgomery County

The Lady Indians were a year ahead schedule last season, making the 10th Region championship game before losing to Bishop Brossart. The scary thing about that is they return everybody, even having a few players utilize Senate Bill 128 to reclassify. Coach Dustin High feels that region tournament run will have them better prepared for this season as they hope to make another deep tournament run. While the potential is there to make a run to Rupp Arena, the Lady Indians know the road still goes through their district rival, George Rogers Clark.

George Rogers Clark

The Lady Cardinals enter the season mad, the first time not winning the 10th Region last year since 2016. They have a loaded roster once again, featured by Brianna and Ciara Byars. Both are already receiving Division I offers, as well as senior Tyra Flowers, who recently signed with Division I North Alabama. So not only do the Lady Cards have one Division I player, but three. While the trio will be tough to stop, coach Robbie Graham was most excited about the depth the team will have this season. That will be sure to help the Lady Cards implement their relentless ball pressure and full court press. While offense was an issue at times last season, their defense often helps turn things into offense in transition.

Paris

The Lady Greyhounds lose talented players in Zoe Strings and Chez Tye, but don’t count out the Lady Hounds yet with Jamie Cowan and Sanaa Jackson receiving All-Region honorable mention preseason recognition. Coach Aaron Speaks has faith in his youth to help develop the depth needed, still returning four of their top seven players. The Lady Hounds will be a threat to win the All “A”, but do have a tough opening round matchup with St. Patrick. If they can win that, they have a path to the finals.

Calvary Christian

The Lady Cougars are expected to field a team today, but did not have anyone online for the Media Day. They are coached by Jessica Hinkle and have 11 players on the roster. They have 17 teams on the schedule starting on December 4 against Danville Christian. The last time they fielded a team was the 2018-19 season.

Scott

While the injury bug has plagued the Lady Eagles, it could help for what’s coming ahead, plenty of players on the roster thrust into roles over the past two seasons due to injuries. Steve Brown cracked a joke if anyone needed knee braces, they’d have plenty for them. With Sofia Allen and Mya Meredith departed, one would expect a dropoff for the team, the Coaches Association thinks otherwise, having the Lady Eagles ranked third preseason.

Campbell County

The Lady Camels missed the 10th Region tournament for the second time in the last three years and are determined to not let that happen again. With Kylie Koeninger in her senior season, there’s a good start. Koeninger is an First Team All-Region selection, what Campbell can get elsewhere will determine how successful they can be.

Bishop Brossart

The reigning 10th Region champs will enter the season a bit unknown, starting with new coach Garren Parker. They had a deep senior class that departed, but players ready to prove themselves that may not have got as much playing time in the past. Lauren Macht and Madison Parker were two key parts of a region championship season and Parker feels the team will be more well rounded this season, with a lot of action surrounding Marie Kiefer in prior years, deservedly so for the Region Player of the Year.

Harrison County

Coach Kim Marshall said her team will have a bit of a new look with not as much size in the post, but will be a much quicker team defensively. They’ll hope to push the pace more this season, Gabrielle Hatterick being the key component in that. The Fillies have won four straight 38th District titles and will be challenged by Nicholas County once again for a fifth.

Nicholas County

One thing to always expect from Greg Letcher’s teams, they will be hard nosed and play hard. Expect much of the same this year as Letcher has had to shift his lineup around a little, moving Jada Cleaver over from shooting guard to point guard. They have a workhorse in the paint in Melanie Hatton to which the crowd chants “Mell Yeah”, when she gets to working in the post. An intriguing opening round matchup with Bishop Brossart in the All “A” tournament looms in January. They’ll hope to break through and knock off Harrison County in the 38th this year as well.

Robertson County

The Lady Devils return all but two players from last season and have two dynamic guards in Krysta Hamm and Ruby Gay. The two averaged in double figures last season and Coach Pilosky is hoping the team can improve on the defensive end to win the close games this season. It’s been since 2015 since the Lady Devils have made the region tournament, they’ll hope to change that trend this year.

Pendleton County

Is this the year someone breaks the Harrison-Nicholas top two teams in the district trend? The Lady Cats are hopeful, off to a good start in scrimmage play with a win over Highlands. Pendleton made steps in the right direction last season, finishing with a 12-11 record. With five of their top eight players back, coach Jenna O’Hara feels the upside is there to break the 38th District trend.