Top 10: The 11th Region’s best boys basketball teams for the 2025-26 season
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Four 11th Region teams ranked in Herald-Leader preseason Top 25; three top-10.
- Douglass, Madison Central and Bryan Station lead region title and Sweet 16 hopefuls.
- Surratt, Feldhaus and Owens project as primary candidates for KABC player awards.
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When the season tips off Dec. 1, the 11th Region will have four teams ranked in the Herald-Leader Boys Basketball Preseason Top 25. Three are in the top 10.
Among the region’s coaches, No. 2 Frederick Douglass edged No. 5 Madison Central as the favorite to reach the Boys’ Sweet 16 in Rupp Arena next March.
But No. 7 Bryan Station also got votes as the 11th’s top team in a tally split 8-7-2 in favor of the Broncos. And no one would dispute No. 21 Lexington Catholic will be in the mix.
“I’m grateful that coaches think of us in that manner, but also, being a veteran coach, I know preseason rankings don’t get you anything but a target on your back,” Douglass coach Murray Garvin said. “It gives you motivation if you’re in the middle of the pack or not thought of at all.”
Douglass, led by Bellarmine signee DeMarcus Surratt, a 6-foot-3 senior, has remained one of the 11th Region’s top teams despite having a carousel of five different head coaches since the school opened in 2017. Its 2023 11th Region title and run to the Boys’ Sweet 16 semifinals was two coaches ago. This is Garvin’s second season in charge.
“The 11th Region, man, is a dogfight every night,” Garvin said. “Every night, it’s going to be ultra-competitive. … We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Madison Central, on the other hand, has had the steady leadership of coach Allen Feldhaus Jr., who led the Indians to the 2013 state championship and might have one of his best teams since.
“It’s never easy in the 11th, but usually when we have five or six seniors, we’re going to have a pretty good team,” Feldhaus said. “We have six seniors and four starters coming back who’ve played a lot over the last two or three years.”
Chief among those seniors is the coach’s nephew Jake Feldhaus, a 6-8 Belmont commit who averaged a double-double for the Indians last season.
Feldhaus, Surratt and Bryan Station senior point guard Amari Owens provide some of the star power for what should be a thrilling battle for this season’s region crown and state tournament berth.
The campaign for the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches’ 11th Region player of the year could be even tougher. That KABC award is a requisite to be considered for its statewide Mr. Basketball honor.
Feldhaus, Surratt and Owens already rate as three of the top seniors in the state according to the Herald-Leader’s preseason survey of coaches, and Henry Clay’s Jackson Stephan merits a dark-horse chance.
First, however, the 11th Region’s teams will get to settle who’s the best on the court.
“I’m picking the Broncos, but it’s going to be a war,” Garvin said. “And it’s good for basketball. I can’t wait to see the packed gyms and the community get behind basketball here in Lexington.”
The 11th Region Boys Top 10
Here’s a rundown of the 11th Region’s best teams for the 2025-26 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. Frederick Douglass (25-5)
The football team’s loss to Ryle in its region finals last week could be a huge gain for the Broncos’ boys basketball team as some of its key players are usually still bound to football practices when the basketball season begins.
Basketball role players last season, football standouts Dakari Talbert, a 5-10 junior point guard and Terry Cayson, a 6-2 senior guard, should be more prepared to help Douglass when it opens Fairdale’s King of the Bluegrass Tournament against No. 19 Butler on Dec. 19.
That’s more firepower for Surratt (15.9 ppg) and shooting guard Tate Robinson (8.9 ppg) to play off of and could help Douglass back up its No. 2 preseason ranking in that showcase holiday tournament.
2. Madison Central (20-12)
Indians forward Jake Feldhaus has emerged as one of the leading candidates for Mr. Basketball after averaging a team-high 22 points and 11.3 rebounds per game as a junior.
Madison Central’s returning starters also include 6-4 senior Luke Asher (15.4 ppg) and 6-foot shooting guard Will Richardson (8.3 ppg), who led the team in 3-point shooting at 42.2%.
Add Knox Central transfer Grayson Burton (21.1 ppg), a 6-4 sophomore who averaged double figures in scoring as both an eighth grader and a freshman at Knox Central, and the Indians have the look of a serious region title threat.
3. Bryan Station (25-7)
The Defenders have a Mr. Basketball candidate in Owens, a 6-foot senior who has displayed highlight-reel skills since his freshman year on the Northside and averaged 22.5 points per game during Station’s 42nd District championship campaign.
Coach Champ Ligon expects 6-6 senior forward Taeshawn Adams to make an even bigger contribution to his team’s success this year after scoring 13.3 points and grabbing a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game as a junior.
“We have two of the top players in the state, so I think we can be really good,” Ligon said. “But we may experience some growing pains. We have size, length, speed and depth. We should present problems for anybody we play.”
4. Lexington Catholic (23-10)
The Knights have a taller lineup player-for-player than any other in coach Brandon Salsman’s memory and could put a lineup on the court that has five players at 6-foot-5 or better.
Max Meagher, a 6-6 senior, led LexCath with 12.9 points per game last season. Hank Woodall, a 6-4 senior forward, averaged 11 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds per game. Salsman also expects 6-8 sophomore Everett Stuart to have a breakout season.
“We are big and strong and will play through our big guys,” Salsman said.
5. Henry Clay (20-8)
The Blue Devils landed two double-digit scoring transfers to help Stephan, a 6-5 senior who averaged 17.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last season and is committed to Air Force. Jack Hemenway, a 6-3 senior, led Berea in scoring with 15.1 points per game. Colton Helton, a 6-4 junior, averaged 12.7 points for Scott County.
Coach Daniel Brown believes his team has “the pieces to make a run at a district, region and state title. … We should be deep and able to shoot the ball at a high level.”
6. Great Crossing (35-4)
The core of the group that led the Warhawks to the Boys’ Sweet 16 championship has graduated or moved on. But 6-7 forward Brady Orem made a splash as Great Crossing’s sixth man in the state tournament. Coach Steve Page expects Orem to establish himself as one of the top sophomores in the state. Travanti Cooper II, a 6-2 senior, played in every game as well. “We may take some lumps early, but by the end of the season we feel like we can surprise people,” Page said.
7. Tates Creek (13-16)
The Commodores return a set of guards who made 208 3-pointers last season, the second most in school history. Stephen Franklin (13.8 ppg), a 6-2 senior, led them in scoring. A.J. Slaughter (11.2 ppg), a 5-11 sophomore, led the team in minutes and assists. Brady Manning, a 6-foot senior, made the most 3s with 63 while Tom Haubenreich, a 6-3 junior, made 10 of Creek’s 20 3s against Western Hills. Both set school records for 3s in a game.
8. Scott County (6-21)
Kentucky Unforgettable and former college coach Sean Woods aims to bring intensity and an exciting style of play to the Cardinals, who last won the region in 2020 and haven’t had a winning record since. Two starters return, seniors Montae Washburn (10.1 ppg) and Phillip Grimes (6.8 ppg).
9. Lafayette (12-17)
Three key players return for the Generals, led by Tyler Hunt, a 6-7 senior who averaged 14.7 points and 7.8 rebounds for a team that won more 43rd District games than it lost for the first time since 2019. Cooper Kirk and Ben Marsh, both 6-3 juniors, will have bigger roles.
10. Lexington Christian (15-18)
The Eagles will be almost entirely new after graduating five starters. Chase Bentley (7.2 ppg), a 6-1 freshman, saw significant playing time and started 11 games. Coach Ted Hall expects contributions from Kaleb Pridemore, a 6-2 senior who battled injuries last season, and Dawson Farmer, a 6-4 sophomore.
Rounding out
Other teams in order of votes: Madison Southern, Sayre, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Franklin County, Western Hills, Berea, Frankfort, Frankfort Christian, Model.
Methodology
The 11th Region’s 19 coaches were asked to rank the 10 best teams in the 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 December 1, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
