Who’s No. 1 in the first boys high school basketball media rankings of 2025?

Below are the top 15 boys high school basketball teams of the 2024-25 season, according to the first (Jan. 7) poll of media members from each of Kentucky’s 16 regions as compiled by the Courier Journal’s Jason Frakes. Teams are listed with first-place votes, records and total rankings points. In addition, see how Herald-Leader digital sports writer Jared Peck voted and the media’s region-by-region top fives.

Boys Top 15

First-place votes in parentheses; records through Sunday’s games:

Rank-school (FPV) Record Pts

1. St. Xavier (16) 11-2 240

2. Great Crossing 11-4 207

3. Frederick Douglass 10-2 188

4. Bryan Station 13-2 185

5. Covington Catholic 10-2 142

6. Marshall County 14-0 135

7. Hazard 12-1 102

8. Manual 12-3 101

9. George Rogers Clark 10-2 80

10. Green County 11-1 76

11. Warren Central 10-1 68

12. Woodford County 8-6 65

13. Ballard 9-4 54

14. Male 9-4 43

15. Calloway County 13-1 42

Others receiving votes: Bowling Green 40, Lloyd Memorial 39, Adair County 14, Pleasure Ridge Park 14, South Laurel 14, Butler 13, Clinton County 12, Jeffersontown 9, Ashland Blazer 8, Greenwood 6, Harlan County 6, LaRue County 5, South Oldham 5, Campbell County 3, North Laurel 2, Covington Holy Cross 1, Fairdale 1.

How @HLpreps voted

Region-by-region top fives

1st Region

Steve Springer, Murray Ledger & Times

1. Calloway County

2. Marshall County

3. Mayfield

4. Paducah Tilghman

5. Graves County

2nd Region

Edward Marlowe, WKDZ-FM

1. Henderson County

2. Lyon County

3. Madisonville

4. University Heights

5. Caldwell County

3rd Region

Mark Mathis, Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer

1. Butler County

2. Daviess County

3. Owensboro Catholic

4. Apollo

5. Muhlenberg County

4th Region

Micheal Compton, Bowling Green Daily News

1. Warren Central

2. Bowling Green

3. Clinton County

4. Greenwood

5. South Warren

5th Region

Josh Claywell, Bardstown Kentucky Standard/LaRue County Herald News

1. LaRue County

2. Green County

3. Taylor County

4. North Hardin

5. Adair County

6th Region

Demetrius Stanton, DeadStock Visuals

1. Butler

2. Jeffersontown

3. Pleasure Ridge Park

4. Fairdale

5. Bullitt East

7th Region

Jason Frakes, The Courier Journal

1. St. Xavier

2. Ballard

3. Male

4. Manual

5. Trinity

8th Region

James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer

1. Woodford County

2. North Oldham

3. Simon Kenton

4. South Oldham

5. Walton-Verona

9th Region

Brendan Connelly, Cincinnati Enquirer

1. Covington Catholic

2. Lloyd Memorial

3. Highlands

4. Conner

5. Covington Holy Cross

10th Region

Evan Dennison, LinkNKY.com

1. Campbell County

2. George Rogers Clark

3. Mason County

4. Montgomery County

5. Bourbon County

11th Region

Jared Peck, Lexington Herald-Leader

1. Great Crossing

2. Frederick Douglass

3. Bryan Station

4. Madison Central

5. Henry Clay

12th Region

Mike Marsee, Danville freelancer

1. Danville Christian

2. Mercer County

3. Pulaski County

4. West Jessamine

5. Southwestern

13th Region

Les Dixon, 13thRegionMediaNetwork.com

1. South Laurel

2. Harlan County

3. Bell County

4. Corbin

5. Clay County

14th Region

Brendon Miller, Bluegrass Sports Nation

1. Hazard

2. Breathitt County

3. Perry County Central

4. Powell County

5. Jenkins

15th Region

Randy White, Appalachian News-Express

1. Martin County

2. Pike County Central

3. Pikeville

4. Johnson Central

5. Floyd Central

16th Region

James Collier, WLGC-FM

1. Ashland Blazer

2. Fleming County

3. Boyd County

4. Raceland

5. Lewis County

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