Who are the top 25 girls’ high school basketball players for 2019-20?
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2019-20 High School Basketball Preview
The Herald-Leader/Kentucky.com is publishing season preview stories each day leading up to the start of the 2019-20 high school basketball season on Monday, Dec. 2. You can read everything we’ve published to this point by clicking on this drop-down list. All of the stories are also available in our Sunday, Dec. 1 print edition.
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Below is the preseason top 25 ranking of Kentucky high school girls’ basketball players for the 2019-20 season, as voted on by coaches in a statewide survey conducted by the Lexington Herald-Leader/Kentucky.com.
The top 10 players are listed with their school along with grade level, height and last season’s points per game in parentheses plus a brief comment. The remaining 15 players are listed with their school, grade level and last season’s ppg along with their college, if known.
The top 10 players
1. Maddie Scherr, Ryle (5-11 Sr., 15.1 ppg): Already named a Gatorade and USA Today Kentucky player of the year as a junior, Scherr, an Oregon commit, is rated as one of the top guards in the nation by ESPN and helped lead her team to a Sweet Sixteen title last year. The Raiders return as the Herald-Leader’s preseason No. 1 and Scherr will be a favorite for Miss Basketball honors. “She can impact a game in so many different ways which is why she holds the program record for steals (446) and assists (502),” Coach Katie Haitz said.
2. Taziah Jenks, Mercy (6-1 Sr., 18.0): A three-star prospect by ESPN who is committed to West Virginia, Jenks has been a big part of the Jaguars’ Sweet Sixteen runs each of the last two years, including their trip to the finals in 2018. “She does so many things well and has a great work ethic,” Coach Keith Baisch said. “She makes everyone around her better.”
3. Ally Collett, South Laurel (5-9 Sr., 20.9): A dynamic scorer, Collett, a Western Kentucky commit, also averaged more than seven assists per game, according to Coach Chris Souder. “Ally is also the all-time leading scorer in Laurel County,” Souder said. “That is pretty impressive considering all the tradition in Laurel County.”
4. Kennedy Igo, Clark County (5-7 Sr., 14.1): Igo missed 12 games last season and was still named 10th Region player of the year ahead of the postseason. The Northern Kentucky commit is just “a winner” says Coach Robbie Graham. As the Cardinals’ point guard, she led her team in scoring as a freshman and has been a primary cog in three consecutive region titles and corresponding trips to the Sweet Sixteen.
5. Malea Williams, Scott County (6-3 Sr. 12.8): Williams, whose shot-blocking capability helped the Cardinals escape an 11th Region upset last year, averaged a double-double with 11.6 rebounds per game. She has offers from 15 Division I schools, including Western Kentucky, Georgia and Vanderbilt.
6. Shelby Calhoun, Christian Academy-Louisville (5-10 Sr., 10.1): A Virginia Tech commit, Calhoun also averaged 11.5 rebounds per game for the Centurions. She scored 13 points and grabbed 10 boards in CAL’s midseason Kentucky 2A State Championship. She’s rated a three-star recruit by ESPN.
7. Whitney Hay, Elizabethtown (6-1 Sr., 21.9): Hay, who recently signed with Belmont, comes back as a proven scorer whose passing ability is “underrated,” according to Coach Donnie Swinney. Hay made 42.4 percent of her three-point attempts last year, a good rate for 172 attempts and went to the free-throw strip more than any other Panther, making 78.8 percent.
8. Erin Toller, Sacred Heart (5-6 Sr., 10.2 points as a sophomore): Toller, who committed to Kentucky earlier this year, tore her left ACL amid her sophomore season and tore her right ACL in practice a week before getting cleared to play her junior year. All systems are go for this season as she tries to lead a loaded Sacred Heart to the Sweet Sixteen.
9. Brooklynn Miles, Franklin County (5-6 Jr., 20.7): Rated a four-star recruit by ESPN, the Flyers’ junior point guard holds Division I offers from schools including Kentucky and Purdue. Her coach, Joey Thacker, rates her as the best junior in the state and a great defender.
10. Mya Meredith, Scott (6-0 Jr. 25.2): After a breakout sophomore season, Meredith has garnered Division I offers from a number of schools, including Syracuse, Northern Kentucky, Morehead State, Murray State and Middle Tennessee. She made a team-high 56.1 percent of her shots last season and grabbed eight rebounds per game.
The next 15
11. Hannah McKay, Owensboro Catholic (6-0 Sr., 13.9): Murray State.
12. Charlee Settle, Calloway County (6-2 Sr., 23.2): Murray State.
13. Kendall Wingler, Meade County (5-10 Sr., 26.0): Eastern Kentucky.
14. Destinee Marshall, Sacred Heart (5-5 Sr., 12.8): Radford.
15. Amerah Steele, South Laurel (5-8 Sr., 21.2): Eastern Kentucky.
16. Lexie Meyers, Leslie County (5-8 Jr., 23.6): Uncommitted.
17. Regi Cundiff, Southwestern (6-0 Sr., 14.4): Lindsey Wilson.
18. Cassidy Rowe, Shelby Valley (5-4 So. 9.9 as eighth-grader): Kentucky. Note: Suffered second ACL injury in June. Return TBD.
19. Morgan DeFoor, Scott County (5-6 Sr., 16.1): Morehead State.
20. Harley Paynter, Boyd County (5-7 Jr., 16.0): Morehead State.
21. Lexi Taylor, Bullitt East (5-10 Sr., 17.2): Georgetown College.
22. Hope Sivori, Mercy (5-5 Sr., 16.3): Uncommitted.
23. Kristen Clemons, Sacred Heart (6-0 Sr., 15.8): Belmont (volleyball).
24. Hailey Smith, Wolfe County (5-6 Sr., 26.2): Uncommitted.
25. Halle Langhi, Marshall County (6-0 So., 12.4): Uncommitted.
METHODOLOGY
Our annual survey was emailed to all 270 KHSAA girls’ basketball coaches in Kentucky, using their email registered with the KHSAA. Multiple attempts were made to encourage every school to participate. Coaches were asked to select their top 10 players, and points were assigned based on a player’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.
A total of 68 of 270 schools (25.2 percent) voted in our top 10 players poll out of the 134 coaches (49.6 percent) who responded to the Herald-Leader survey. They are recognized here: Allen County-Scottsville, Ashland Blazer, Assumption, Ballard, Bardstown, Barren County, Bell County, Bishop Brossart, Boone County, Bourbon County, Bowling Green, Boyd County, Butler, Caldwell County, Calloway County, Caverna, Christian Academy-Louisville, Clay County, Clinton County, Conner, Dayton, Elizabethtown, Franklin County, Clark County, Glasgow, Great Crossing, Green County, Harlan County, Harrison County, Henderson County, Henry Clay, Highlands, Hopkinsville, Jackson City, Knott County Central, Leslie County, Lincoln County, Manual, Martin County, Mason County, McCracken County, Mercy, Muhlenberg County, Nelson County, Owensboro Catholic, Paducah Tilghman, Paintsville, Paris, Pendleton County, Pleasure Ridge Park, Pulaski County, Rockcastle County, Rowan County, Ryle, Sacred Heart, Scott County, Scott, Shelby Valley, Simon Kenton, South Laurel, Spencer County, Thomas Nelson, Walton-Verona, Whitley County and Woodford County.
This story was originally published November 29, 2019 at 8:44 AM.
