Taking a look at 11 key players so far in Utica-Herkimer boys basketball

The high school basketball season is heating up as schools prepare for their holiday break, making this a time to look at how some of the area's top returning players are performing.

Here's a look at 11 players and their teams so far. Players are listed in alphabetical order.

Kyle Carney, sr, Herkimer

The Herkimer Magicians have won their first five games to start the new season with Kyle Carney, a senior who received all-state honorable mention in Class C a year ago, among the leaders on a veteran team.

A 20-point scorer for a 15-win team as a junior, Carney is averaging 16 so far this winter and has scored in double figures in each game. Junior Zack Petucci, one of three returning double-digit scorers - senior Dante Mollel is the other - is up to 21.6 per game in the early going.

Herkimer has won four of its five games by double-digit margins and defeated Hamilton by one point on the road in the other.

Carter Cookinham, jr, Poland

Carter Cookinham is an early 2023-24 breakout choice. While the Poland junior was not an all-state selection last winter, he did average 15.4 points and 9.1 rebounds. The new season has seen him top 30 points in each of the Tornadoes' first four games.

Cookinham had 40 points and 19 rebounds in an overtime win at DeRuyter in the season opener. He put up 38 and 10 against Morrisville-Eaton and 30 and 12 for a third double-double against Cooperstown.

This follows a fall that saw Cookinham break his school's season goal-scoring record with 44 as Poland earned a share of the state's Class D championship.

Coltan Frederick, sr, Little Falls

Coltan Frederick, a third-year starter at Little Falls, has an average of 21.8 points through the Mounties' 5-1 start and moved within 17 points of the 1,000 milestone.

Frederick scored 23.2 points per game as a junior, and 14.6 as part of a one-two punch with older brother Logan as a sophomore. He was a ninth-team all-state pick in Class C last winter and his brother was a 10th-team B selection the year before. Like his sophomore year, Coltan Frederick and the Mounties are competing in Class B this winter.

Dylan Hosford, sr, Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young

The combined Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young basketball team does not compete in Section III but has players from both sides of the boundary with Section IV, and Richfield Springs has long ties to Section III.

Dylan Hosford went over 1,000 points as a sophomore and passed Kyle Grup's Richfield Springs scoring record after his return to the court from knee surgery as a junior. The injury shortened what would have been Hosford's fourth varsity season, but he still earned honorable mention in Class D after a fifth-team all-state selection as a sophomore.

Hosford and the Eagles have won five of their first six games this year, including the championship at their own tip-off tournament - Hosford was the tournament's most valuable player - and received honorable mention this week in the state's first Class C rankings of the season.

Tega Igho, sr, Clinton

Tega Igho scored 19 points per game as a Clinton junior and earned all-state honorable mention in Class B.

He's up to 25.0 points per game and the team is off to a 5-1 start in its first season as the Comets. He had a high of 30 points in a win over Dolgeville.

Deacon Judd, sr, Central Valley Academy

Deacon Judd has already checked off one milestone for his senior season at Central Valley Academy.

Judd, a 10th-team all-state pick in Class B as a junior and eighth-teamer as a sophomore, has scored 1,006 varsity points after scoring 26 in Monday's win at Oneida for the 4-1 Thunder.

Judd is third basketball player to hit 1,000 since the Ilion/Mohawk district merger, following teammate Jaylon O'Neal, who graduated this spring and now plays at Ithaca College; Stony Brook soccer player Reilly Rich had 1,000 basketball points for the Central Valley Academy girls.

Judd is averaging 29.8 points so far this season and had a 41-point, 17-rebound game against Proctor. He scored 22.3 points per game last winter when the Thunder won 22 consecutive games before a season-ending playoff loss.

Doneilous King Jr, jr, Utica Academy of Science

Doneilous King Jr is starting his fourth varsity season at the Utica Academy of Science, the Center State Conference-affiliated charter school that went independent with its basketball program last year.

King was the leading scorer for the Atoms as a sophomore and earned a sixth-team spot in Class A after being selected for the third team in Class B as a freshman. Utica Academy of Science is competing in Class AA for the first time this winter and King is again the top scorer at 21 points per game, closing in on 1,000 points heading into the Downtown Classic at Utica's Nexus Center next weekend.

Charlie Lambert, sr, Cooperstown

Cooperstown senior Charlie Lambert was a 10th-team all-state selection in Class C last year and set a new career scoring high with 38 points Wednesday in a win over Section IV Unatego.

A double-digit scorer as a sophomore and junior, Lambert is averaging 20.4 points for the 4-3 Hawkeyes.

Camerohn Ludwig, sr, West Canada Valley

Camerohn Ludwig was an eighth-team all-state selection in Class D last winter as the second-leading scorer for West Canada Valley's 16-win final Indians team.

Ludwig, who averaged 16.2 points last year, is up to 22 to start this season, including a career-high 36 in Monday's win over Remsen for the 4-1 Nighthawks. He had a triple-double against Westmoreland - 25 points, 12 rebounds, 14 assists - had has two other double-doubles.

Jameson Stockwell, jr, New Hartford

Jameson Stockwell was the No. 2 scorer for a New Hartford team that won a Section III title and advanced to the state's Class A Final Four last year and earned honorable mention for his performance.

Stockwell, now a junior, is currently the top scorer for Spartans. He is averaging 13.3 points after scoring 21 on Tuesday in the team's first win of the season at Whitesboro.

Jake Senko, sr, Mt. Markham

Jake Senko is the leading scorer at Mt. Markham, where he received Class C honorable mention as a junior.

Senko is averaging 16.7 points for the Mustangs (3-4) with a high of 27 in Monday's win over Canastota. Senko also grabbed 11 rebounds and recorded his first double-double of the season.

Senko was the leading scorer last winter for a 17-7 Mt. Markham team that advanced to Section III's Class C championship game.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Boys basketball players to watch in Utica-Herkimer as Christmas arrives