Top 10: The 11th Region’s best boys basketball teams for the 2024-25 season

Everyone’s Kentucky high school basketball preseason No. 1, Great Crossing, has a significant obstacle in the way of its Boys’ Sweet 16 dreams this season.

The Warhawks are going to have to defend their 11th Region title first.

Lurking at Great Crossing’s heels in Central Kentucky’s gauntlet are Herald-Leader preseason No. 10 Bryan Station, No. 12 Frederick Douglass, No. 16 Lexington Catholic, No. 24 Henry Clay and a number of teams who likely feel unjustly overlooked.

“The 11th every year is going to be tough for whoever wins it,” Great Crossing coach Steve Page said. “All the rankings you see has us, then the 42nd District … . The good thing for us is we maybe only have to face one of those.”

Indeed, in the Herald-Leader’s preseason survey of the region’s coaches, Lexington’s 42nd District teams fall in line at Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 6 in the 11th. Great Crossing got all but one No. 1 vote from the region’s coaches. Douglass got the other.

The high regard for Lexington’s 42nd District teams is fitting, because games between those rivals last season packed out gyms almost every night. Bryan Station, Douglass, Henry Clay and Sayre threw down some thrillers. This year should be no different.

“It’s a credit to how hard our kids work. It was kind of like when Shelvin Mack was here and we had several city games that were just huge games,” said Bryan Station coach Champ Ligon, whose two stints at Bryan Station over the years have yielded sensational Defenders teams. “It’s good for the city when you have big city rivalries and packed gyms. It’s fun for everybody.”

Ligon returns a senior-laden team led by two juniors — lightning quick point guard Amari Owens and power forward Taeshawn Adams. He likes the Defenders’ chances.

“We have depth, we have experience and we have very talented players,” Ligon said. “It’s going to come down to taking care of business in the district and all that stuff first.”

Douglass will be formidable despite having a number of new faces and its fourth head coach in four years. Henry Clay should be improved. While Lexington Catholic might be on a complete rebuild, the Knights can never be overlooked. And forget about Madison Central at your peril. The list goes on.

Yes, Great Crossing will likely be the problem everyone has to solve at the end of the season. To do that the region’s coaches will have to start from within.

“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves getting better every day,” Ligon said. “If and when that game (against Great Crossing) comes, hopefully we’ll be ready. If you can beat the very best in the region, the other games should fall into place.”

Here’s a rundown of the 11th Region’s best teams for the 2024-25 season in order of how they were rated in our survey, with last year’s record in parentheses and a brief summary. Coaches were asked to “rank the top 10 teams” in the region. Each team’s name has a link to its schedule in our online story.

1. Great Crossing (36-2)

The graduation of 6-9 Jeremiah Godfrey takes away some size from the Warhawks, but when you have 6-foot-11 Malachi Moreno, a Kentucky signee and the overwhelming favorite to come away with this year’s Mr. Basketball award, getting a little smaller won’t hurt much.

Great Crossing still has size with 6-5 shooting guard Vince Dawson III, a Morehead state signee considered one of the best players in the state, and 6-5 forward Gage Richardson, who’s a solid 3-point threat.

“I think that we’ll shoot it better, because the kids that are taking up the spots that are left, two of them shoot the ball really well,” Page said.

One of those stepping in is sophomore LJ Holman, who’s already lined up a college offer from Eastern Kentucky. Senior point guard Junius Burrell markedly improved from beyond the arc last season.

2. Bryan Station (23-8)

The Defenders and junior point guard Amari Owens took the state by storm last season by winning 15 of their first 16 games. Owens (22.1 points per game) impressed with his on-the-ball speed and his ability to make shots from seemingly everywhere.

“Every day, Amari makes a play that just makes you shake your head,” Ligon said. “I call him my cheat code. As good as he was last year, he’s improved. He’s bigger, stronger and faster.”

Combined with underrated 6-6 junior forward Taeshawn Adams (11.1 points) and seven seniors to lean on, Bryan Station looks loaded for a run.

3. Henry Clay (24-7)

The Blue Devils return three of their leading scorers from a team that began last season 16-0 — junior Jackson Stephan (14.5 points) and seniors Kayson Brown (11.9) and Hassan Bush (10.0). Coach Daniel Brown expects a breakout year for senior guard AJ Dixon and contributions from Bourbon County transfer Kade Hilander.

“This team has the experience, the strength and ability to compete in this top-heavy 42nd District and 11th Region,” Brown said. “We just need to continue to improve each day in practice and stay healthy.”

4. Frederick Douglass (21-13)

The Broncos will look a lot different this season with new coach Murray Garvin and just two starters back from last season in DeMarcus Surratt (13.6 points) and Logan Busson (8.9).

They’ll get a boost from senior Woodford County transfer J.J. Jenkins (11.4 points) and junior Utah transfer Tate Robinson. Expect bigger roles for juniors Terry Cason, Travis Jones and Nate Coen.

“We have a chance to surprise some people this year,” Garvin said. “We have a lot of new faces, including myself, but at the end of the day, we are Frederick Douglass.”

5. Lexington Catholic (32-3)

The Knights graduated nine seniors off last season’s region runner-up. That leaves senior Ryan Harward as the only returning player with significant varsity experience.

“After losing nine seniors and 99% of every statistic, we will be starting new,” coach Brandon Salsman said. ”We will be counting on many youthful and inexperienced players. While they are inexperienced, they are uber talented. We will get better with time.”

6. Sayre (21-10)

Multi-sport athletes are the norm for the Spartans and football standouts Brock Coffman and Luke Pennington and 6-6 baseball hurler Jaxson Howard, all seniors, will be key cogs this season.

Coffman, an Ohio football commit, is the leading returning scorer (17.4 points) and rebounder (7.5). Seniors Chase Parker and John Palumbo, and 6-6 junior Sayvion Staley will be factors if Sayre is to defend its All “A” Classic region title and contend for more.

“The start will be slow as we will have to wait for football to make its run to the state, but we think once we get everyone on board we can be dangerous,” coach Robbie Goodman said.

7. Madison Central (10-23)

The Indians had an uncharacteristic off year and still have just one senior, but coach Allen Feldhaus said his team will be much improved.

“We have a very good junior class,” Feldhaus said. “A lot of guys returning have varsity experience and have also gained strength.”

Senior Cody Morrison (15.8 points) returns as the leading scorer and Madison Central gets better inside with 6-7 Mason County transfer Jake Feldhaus (13.0 points).

8. Scott County (8-22)

With the Cardinals’ new school building and the soon-to-be dedicated Billy Hicks Gymnasium, they also have a new but familiar face at the helm in Steve Helton, a Hicks protege who led the girls program for 24 years.

Seniors Ben Glenn (11.4 points) and Xyier Ray (8.5) are the leading returning scorers for a team Helton hopes can push the pace and deliver the up-tempo style of play Scott County has been known for.

“We have to get every game into a full court setting to create easy scoring opportunities,” Helton said. “We have to outwork our opponents and create chaos and pressure for 32 minutes.”

9. Lexington Christian (15-16)

LCA’s quarterback of the football team is also the point guard on the court, so the Eagles have been without Saxton Howard (18.3 points) and five of his multi-sport teammates for most of the preseason.

Coach Ted Hall will be breaking in a lot of players with limited varsity experience around Howard, but his hopes are high.

“We have had a very good off season and the coaching staff is constantly amazed by the work ethic and togetherness of this team,” Hall said.

10. Lafayette (9-22)

Third-year coach Vince Sanford acknowledged he has a young team this season and said there will be some “growing pains.” The Generals returnees include senior Eli Steele (8.0 points) and juniors Clay Noble (7.6), Tyler Hunt (6.9) and KJ Jones (6.2).

ROUNDING OUT

Other teams in order of votes: Western Hills, Berea, Madison Southern, Tates Creek, Model, Franklin County, Frankfort, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Frankfort Christian.

METHODOLOGY

The 11th Region’s 19 coaches were asked to rank the 10 best teams in the 11th Region. The list reflects the rating of the 17 coaches who responded to the “top-10 team” question in the survey.

This story was originally published November 28, 2024 at 7:00 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