Who are Kentucky’s top 25 girls’ high school basketball teams for 2022-23?

With one of the best sophomores in the nation and a roster besides that would be the envy of any team, Sacred Heart opens the 2022-23 girls’ basketball season as an overwhelming favorite to hoist the Louisville school’s seventh Girls’ Sweet 16 championship and third in a row.

The defending Girls’ Sweet 16 and 7th Region champs garnered a remarkable 75 No. 1 votes among the 80 cast by coaches voting in this year’s @HLpreps preseason girls’ basketball survey. The poll asked every coach to rank their “top 10 teams in the state.”

The Valkyries feature three players voted among the best in the state in a separate vote, including 2022 Gatorade player of the year ZaKiyah Johnson, who also earned Sweet 16 MVP honors as a freshman.

Clark County also returns a lot of experience, including the powerful and dynamic Byars sisters, Brianna and Ciara. The Cards got two No. 1 votes from the coaches. Cooper, Southwestern and Pikeville, all Sweet 16 teams last year, each got one top nod.

But there’s a lot of basketball to be played between now and March and the only given is that nothing can be taken for granted.

Here’s a look at this year’s Herald-Leader High School Girls’ Basketball Preseason Top 25 as voted on by the state’s coaches with a brief summary on what we know about the top 10 teams and a note about each of the next 15.

THE TOP 10

(Last season’s record in parentheses)

1. Sacred Heart (36-3): The last time Coach Donna Moir won back-to-back titles (2002, 2003), the Valkyries went ahead and made it a three-peat, and they look primed to do it again. Sacred Heart has legitimate contenders for the next three Miss Basketballs in senior Triniti Ralston (8.4 points), junior Reagan Bender (11.4 points), and sensational sophomore ZaKiyah Johnson (17.7 points), who all have Division I offers and big-game experience, as does 6-3 junior Angelina Pelayo (9.3 points). To put it simply, the Valkyries are loaded for another run to Rupp Arena — maybe for a couple of years to come.

2. Clark County (31-3): The Cardinals made a run to the No. 1 ranking last winter thanks in large part to the sensational play of the Byars sisters, Brianna (15.1 points), a 5-11 senior Cincinnati commit, and Ciara (17.5 points), a 6-2 sophomore who is piling up Division I offers. Trinity Gay, a 5-8 senior, and Kennedy Stamper, a 5-3 eighth-grader, also started and provide a three-point threat. Clark has been 10th Region champ for five of the last six years. Coach Robbie Graham’s goal is always to get to Rupp and “hang around for a few days.”

3. Mercy (23-9): Four double-figure scorers return, most notably Leah Macy (20.1 points, 12.3 rebounds), a 6-2 forward who is rated as one of the top sophomores in the nation. Fellow sophomore Alyssa Murphy (14.4 points) has Division I offers, too. Emma Barnett (11.1 points), a 6-1 senior, has committed to Ohio and Mary Smith (10.6 points), a 5-9 senior, is drawing recruiting interest. Mercy was one of three teams to beat Sacred Heart last year. “We have a lot of talent and more depth than a year ago,” Coach Nick Cann said. “I’m very anxious to see how this group grows together as the year goes on.”

4. Cooper (25-10): The Jaguars lost one senior off the school’s first team to claim the 9th Region title, and Coach Justin Holthaus hopes this year’s squad can do even better than last year’s state semifinalists. Whitney Lind (16.7 points), a 6-2 senior committed to Lehigh, returns along with sisters Liz (10.4 points) and Kay Freihofer (9.2 points) and 5-10 junior Logan Palmer (10.5 points). “With added depth to this year’s roster we are capable of playing multiple rotations and different styles of play,” Holthaus said.

5. McCracken County (31-2): Destiny Thomas (18.0 points), a 6-0 senior committed to Murray State, should be in the running for Miss Basketball as she tries to help lead the Mustangs to back-to-back 1st Region titles. She’s joined by Claire Johnson (13.5 points), a 5-9 junior with a number of DI offers; Mikee Buchanan (9.3 points), a 5-11 junior; and Caroline Sivills, a 6-0 senior committed to play volleyball at Shorter University.

6. Manual (22-7): Ashley Franklin, a 2002 Manual graduate and one of its standout players (nee Ashley Butler), takes over a program that finished 7th Region runner-up to Sacred Heart last year and racked up wins against a number of eventual Sweet 16 teams. The Crimsons return senior leading scorers Jakayla Thompson (15.7 points) and Sydne Tolbert (13.6 points). Franklin was previously head coach at Central from 2008 to 2016.

7. Bowling Green (29-8): Three seniors, Meadow Tisdale (15.5 points), a 5-10 Northern Kentucky commit, Saniyah Shelton (8.6 points), a 5-10 Eastern Kentucky commit, and Tanaya Bailey (12.0 points), an uncommitted 5-8 guard, helped the Purples to their third straight 4th Region title last year. “We will depend on our three seniors to keep us settled and grounded all year,” Coach Calvin Head said. “Our success will depend on how quickly we mature on and off the court.”

8. Southwestern (27-8): The Warriors have four starters back from last year’s Sweet 16 semifinalists and will be looking for the school’s third straight 12th Region title. Led by seniors Ayden Smiddy (14.1 points) and Kaylee Young (7.9 points) along with junior Payton Acey (12.3 points) and sophomore Kinsley Molden (14.0 points), Southwestern should be nobody’s underdog come postseason time this year. “There have been a lot of doubters out there the past couple years and that fueled us to prove people wrong,” Coach Junior Molden said. “I expect everyone’s best game this season.”

9. Pikeville (31-3): The Panthers have had a lock on the 15th Region since 2019 and are led by a core of juniors, including point guard Trinity Rowe (15.9 points), a varsity player since seventh grade who has racked up a number of Division I offers. Fellow juniors Kyera Thornsbury (11.3 points) and Kristen Whited (7.3 points) help make up one of the best backcourts in the state. And inside, Pikeville adds Belfry transfer Jenna Sparks (9.0 points, 10.0 rebounds), a 6-3 junior, to go with Rylee Theiss (9.0 points, 9.7 rebounds), a tenacious 5-6 junior. It’s a team that will make a run at both the All “A” Classic and the Sweet 16 again this year.

10. Meade County (29-7): The Waves rallied from 16 down at halftime to defeat Boyd County in the first round of last year’s Sweet 16. It’s a tournament experience Coach Dina Hackert hopes to build on with four starters back, including Peyton Bradley (19.3 points), a 5-9 sophomore, who was the state’s most prolific three-point shooter with 3.4 three per game and an accuracy rate of 44.6 percent. “We lack some height inside, but the kids are making some of that up with skill and IQ, Hackert said.

THE NEXT 15

(With last year’s record and a brief note)

11. Ryle (21-10): A veteran team led by Cincinnati commit Abby Holtman (15.0 points) aims to return to the Sweet 16 after a two-year absence.

12. Franklin County (28-8): The three-time defending 11th Region champs will defend. Bank on that. Jazmin Chambers (8.7 points) is their leading returning scorer.

13. Mercer County (24-8): The Titans will pose a significant threat to Southwestern in the 12th Region with five starters back, including Buffalo commit Timberlynn Yeast (20.9 points).

14. Bullitt East (33-5): Three starters return from last year’s state runners-up, including Lilly Reid (9.4 points), but the Chargers will look vastly different without 6-6 Gracie Merkle, now at Bellarmine.

15. Henderson County (24-5): The Colonels have missed the Sweet 16 once in the last decade. Four seniors include leading scorers Jarie Thomas (14.4 points) and Graci Risley (13.6 points).

16. Bethlehem (23-8): An athletic team of multi-sport standouts includes leading returning scorer Emma Filiatreau (13.1 points), a 6-0 senior.

17. Anderson County (30-5): The core of the team that won three straight 8th Region titles has graduated. Expectations haven’t. Lainey Johnson (8.5 points), a 6-0 sophomore, is the top returning scorer.

18. Corbin (25-7): The 13th Region champions return two of their top three leading scorers, Kallie Housley (15.4 points) and Darcie Anderson (12.1 points).

19. Christian Academy-Louisville (22-10): New coach Byron Wilkins brings his supremely talented freshman daughter Brianna Wilkins (25.1 points at Eastern) and has junior Mariah Knight (12.3 points) to help make a run at the 7th Region.

20. Boyd County (21-12): The Lions will be without last year’s leading scorer, 6-0 junior Audrey Biggs (17.5 points), for much of the season as she recovers from an ACL tear suffered three months ago.

21. Notre Dame (23-4): Northern Kentucky signee Noelle Hubert (12.9 points), a 5-11 senior who can shoot three-pointers at a 40.5% clip, leads a Pandas team with a lot of length.

22. Male (21-6): MaKiya West (11.4 points), a 5-11 guard/forward committed to Asbury, returns for the defending 26th District champs.

23. Russell (26-6): Shaelyn Steele (21.9 points), a 5-5 junior, made a huge impression at the 2021 Sweet 16 and was a Courier Journal All-State first-team selection last year.

24. Conner (22-4): Two of the Cougars’ top scorers are back: Anna Hamilton (16.9 points), a 5-6 junior, and Juliet Strange (10.9 points), a 5-9 senior.

25. Ashland Blazer (22-6): Alumna Stacy Franz Davis takes over for last year’s 16th Region runner-up and has Ella Sellers (11.8 points) and Kenleigh Woods (11.8 points) back.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES

In points order: Central, Dixie Heights, Rowan County, North Laurel, Frederick Douglass, Butler, South Laurel, Nelson County, Elizabethtown, Lawrence County, Montgomery County, Bardstown, Owensboro Catholic, Assumption, Marshall County, Covington Holy Cross and Woodford County.

Methodology

Our annual survey was emailed to all 272 girls’ basketball head coaches using their email registered with the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. Multiple attempts were made to encourage every school to participate. Coaches were asked to select their top 10 teams and points were assigned based on a team’s position on the ballot (10 points for No. 1, nine points for No. 2, eight points for No. 3, etc.), and tabulated across all ballots received. Some schools participated in the survey but declined to vote due to unfamiliarity with players and teams outside of their own area. A total of 80 coaches (29.4 percent) voted in our top-10 teams poll of the 147 coaches (54 percent) who responded to the survey and supplied information about their teams. Thanks to all.

2022-23 SEASON PREVIEW

This is the third of eight stories the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com is publishing in the coming days previewing the 2022-23 high school boys’ and girls’ basketball seasons, which are scheduled to tip off Nov. 28.

This story was originally published November 25, 2022 at 6:30 AM.

Jared Peck

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-488-2883

Jared Peck, the Herald-Leader’s Digital Sports Writer, covers high school athletics and has been with the company as a writer and editor for more than 20 years. Support my work with a digital subscription