Top Kentucky boys basketball teams and players in the Sixth Region for 2023-24 season
Here's a look at the 2023-24 boys basketball teams in the KHSAA Sixth Region. Teams listed in alphabetical order by district.
21st District
Beth Haven
Coach: Michael Stinnett (sixth season)
Last season: 21-11
Player to watch: Senior Jordan Harris (20.6 ppg and 6.6 rpg) had the highest free-throw percentage (85.9%) in the Sixth Region. Harris has a scholarship offer from Kentucky Christian College.
Other top player: Freshman Michael Ray Stinnett (11.8 ppg) had 109 3-pointers, the most by an eighth grader in Kentucky history, and had the highest 3-point percentage (50.5%) in the region.
Outlook: Beth Haven's biggest strength is its veteran leadership and varsity experience among its top players. "Our schedule is upgraded with Warren Central and Collins in the first week, and I think that will help us prepare for district play. Our key will be defense and rebounding because I think we can score the ball pretty well," Michael Stinnett said.
Fairdale
Coach: John Hunt (first season)
Last season: 22-10
Player to watch: Senior Dalton Hicks (17.9 ppg, 5 apg and 5 rpg).
Other top players: Senior Jacob Tucker (17.3 ppg, 3 apg, 4 rpg) and junior Joseph Hurt (10 ppg, 43% from 3-point range)
Outlook: They return their team leaders in scoring, assists and rebounds. This is Hunt's first year as a head coach after six years as an assistant.
Holy Cross
Coach: Matt Thomas (second season)
Last season: 21-9
Player to watch: Senior Jacob Hand (20.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg)
Other key players: Seniors Mike Loftis (15.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg) and Wes Meiman (6.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg)
Outlook: Coming off a 21-9 season, Thomas said this team is "ready to win now." They have 10 seniors who will get most of the minutes. "We want this season to be one of the best in school history following up last season. These seniors have some unfinished business, and they badly want to help get us back to the All 'A' State and the Sixth Region Tournament," Thomas said. "We cannot get complacent, and chemistry must continue to grow between them as the season goes on."
Pleasure Ridge Park
Coach: Larry Kihnley (fifth season)
Last season: 23-6 (21st District champions)
Player to watch: Junior KeJuan Shephard (2.5 ppg). "Shephard is a 5-10 point guard who averaged 2.5 ppg last season and is our most experienced returning player. He is a skilled ballhandler as well as an excellent shooter," Kihnley said.
Other top player: Junior Tristan Warfield. "In Warfield, we feel we have a solid big man, who at 6-7 can score inside as well as block shots," Kihnley said.
Outlook: The team is reloading after nine seniors graduated from last season's roster. "Not since 1966 has a PRP team been less experienced," Kihnley said. "Yet the positives with this team far outweigh the negatives. This group practices and plays extremely hard; they are very willing to learn, and they enjoy sharing the basketball. While there will be ups and downs this season, I love our team. As we gain experience, I feel we will be able to compete with any team in our region."
Valley
Coach: Josh Koebel (first season)
Last season: 0-24
Player to watch: Senior Raymond Wright (7.1 ppg) shot 47.5% from beyond the 3-point line.
Other top players: Seniors Rob Higgason, Travon Thornton and Derrick May will step into bigger roles in the offense this season.
Outlook: "This roster is very inexperienced. Even with the handful of upperclassman transfers, there is very little varsity experience between them," Koebel said. "Continuing to be consistent and teaching what it takes to be successful day in and day out will be key to this group's growth and confidence."
22nd District
Butler
Coach: Kevin Geary (third season)
Last season: 23-9 (22nd District champions)
Player to watch: Senior Dayton Williams (15 ppg, 8 rpg, 3 apg). He has offers from Georgetown College and Kentucky Wesleyan. Williams recently was voted as the best player in the Sixth Region by coaches.
Other key players: Seniors Dontre Russell (11 ppg, 3 rpg, 4 apg) and Jayden Perkins (3.7 ppg and 3 apg)
Outlook: "We have some younger guys that are going to be filling big gaps left behind from our nine seniors that graduated last year. Dontre, Jayden and Dayton have stepped up in a big-time way as leaders both on and off the court, helping to bring the younger guys along," Geary said. "Transfer Adrian Milan will also provide a big boost, while sophomore Santana Anderson should thrive as our backup point guard in his first varsity season."
DeSales
Coach: Damien Anderson (fifth season)
Last season: 21-12
Player to watch: Senior Damone King (16 ppg, 5.9 rpg). King has offers from Miami (Ohio) and Eastern Kentucky.
Other top player: Senior William Gibson (11.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 5.6 apg) is committed to Liberty.
Outlook: DeSales is an experienced team with great passing and shooting. Last season, the team ranked second in the state for field-goal percentage. Anderson said rebounding could be a concern this season.
Doss
Coach: Zach Allender (second season)
Last season: 5-23
Player to watch: Senior Quinten Shaw (3.3 ppg) averaged the most points of the returning players.
Other top player: Senior Terius Lewis brings valuable varsity experience. He played the second-most games for the Dragons last season.
Outlook: Doss is looking to rebuild with new talent after last season's leading scorer, Marcus Barker (21.0 ppg), graduated. "We could be a pretty deep team this year. I have several new kids that I expect to make a big impact," Allender said. "We don't have one kid that is more important than the other; if I can get 9-10 kids to buy into our team, I think we could be very good."
Iroquois
Coach: Jeff Morrow (12th season)
Last season: 20-12
Player to watch: Senior Angelo Persley (4 ppg and 2.2 rpg)
Other top players: Seniors Cortez Mitchell and Maslah Abdullahi
Outlook: They have won 20 games in back-to-back seasons, but all five starters graduated. "It will be a rebuilding process with several returning players and a couple of new faces being given the chance to earn minutes," Morrow said.
Western
Coach: Julio Anthony
Last season: 21-8
Player to watch: Junior Jayden Miles (8.7 ppg and 9.6 rpg)
Other key player: Elijah Clinton (9.8 ppg and 4 rpg) and Miles have offers from Ohio University and Southeast Missouri State.
Outlook: The Warriors' best players are at least 6-foot-6. They can create their own opportunities on offense, and they crash the boards. Western lost to DeSales by three points last season in the semifinals of the 22nd District Tournament. This season, with a little more experience, they hope to bring home the district championship.
23rd District
Bullitt Central
Coach: Shane Popplewell (sixth season)
Last season: 5-25
Player to watch: Freshman point guard AJ Lee scored 200 points (7.7 ppg) last season as an eighth grader. Popplewell thinks Lee will be one of the state's top freshmen this season.
Other top players: Senior Ethan Hennig led the team in 3-pointers (59) last season, and senior Ryan Brown led the team in scoring (10.7 ppg) and rebounds (8.3 rpg).
Outlook: Bullitt Central looks to make a big jump this season with the backcourt pairing of freshman Lee and senior Dominic Leczo, whom Popplewell called one of the fastest guards in the region. In the frontcourt, Hennig and Brown will look to build off the success they had last season. "We will be a much-improved team coming off a five-win season. We have more depth and size," Popplewell said. "We will have the ability to score the ball much better with more playmakers and shooters on the roster."
Evangel Christian
Coach: Larry Miller (third season)
Last season: 29-5 (23rd District champions)
Player to watch: Senior Christian Doerr (18.5 ppg and 3.9 rpg). Doerr received his first offer over the summer from Jacksonville State University.
Other top players: Senior Kyran Tilley (16.1 ppg) and junior Ben Mukadi (5.8 ppg and 6.4 rpg)
Outlook: Evangel Christian will look to stay hungry after winning the 23rd District championship and the Kentucky All "A" Classic state tournament. The team returns four starters: Tilley, Doerr, Johnny Djema and Mukadi. Their top shot blocker and rebounder, Cyr Malonga, graduated last year and is now at East Carolina. Doerr (2) and Tilley (3) were also listed as two of the top 10 players for the Sixth Region.
Moore
Coach: Patrick McGee (second season)
Last season: 13-19
Player to watch: Sophomore Dayvone Harrison (16.3 ppg and 5 apg)
Other top players: Seniors DaShawn Hall (13 ppg and 3 rpg) and Jerry Bartlett (2.8 ppg and 4.3 rpg)
Outlook: The team has three seniors returning, and Harrison will look to make a big jump after an impressive freshman campaign. The Mustangs look to have a great backcourt that will play an up-tempo offense. They will need someone to impact rebounding as they try to replace the top two rebounders who graduated after last season.
North Bullitt
Coach: Alex Young (sixth season)
Last season: 16-16
Player to watch: Junior Kaylen Alexander (13.2 ppg and 7.5 rpg) was the Eagles' second-leading scorer last season.
Other top players: Junior Braxton Sievert (9.8 ppg and 3.6 rpg) and senior Jaydon Reisser, who shot 42% from beyond the 3-point line.
Outlook: "Talented junior and sophomore group that'll get better as the year goes on," Young said. "Team may struggle early with size and physicality but will be dangerous in February if the team jells. Should have good guard play with multiple scorers. Hopefully, we will sneak up on some teams in the region."
Southern
Coach: Jeremy Baker (first season)
Last season: 10-21
Player to watch: Senior Jaylen Brown (5 ppg)
Other top players: Junior Anthony Johnson (5.3 ppg) and senior Johnce Minor, who played only nine games last season but shot 6 for 12 from beyond the 3-point line.
Outlook: The Trojans are replacing five varsity starters from last season and have no returning players who averaged more than five points per game. "We will look to improve defensively and be more productive and efficient on offense, especially transition. Locking in on defense and rebounding better will be the keys to our success," Baker said. "We're at a point that we need to focus on ourselves and get our own backyard straight before we look to see what others are doing. We have a very athletic group of good kids that need to work together if we are going to reach our goals."
24th District
Bullitt East
Coach: Jason Couch (eighth season)
Last season: 12-18
Player to watch: Senior Sam Wilson (8 ppg)
Other top players: Senior Andrew Jackson was third on the team in 3-pointers, but he had the highest 3-point percentage (38.1).
Outlook: Last season, the Chargers relied heavily on senior Nolan Davenport, who led the team in scoring and rebounding. They hope that experience on the court will lead to more victories, with four seniors and five juniors in the rotation.
Fern Creek
Coach: Ellis Myles (second season)
Last season: 12-17
Player to watch: Junior Noah Glover (11.2 ppg) tied for No. 1 on the team for 3-pointers (40).
Other top players: Junior Tahj Boston (8.5 ppg) and senior Nazir Shahid-Stevenson (2.1 ppg and 2.9 rpg)
Outlook: Last season, the Tigers made it to the 24th District championship but lost to Jeffersontown by six points in overtime. The Tigers need to find a few more offensive threats this season to make the next jump competitively. Glover and Boston are the only returning players who averaged more than five points per game.
Jeffersontown
Coach: Richard Duncan Jr. (seventh season)
Last season: 17-13 (24th District champions and Sixth Region champions)
Player to watch: Junior Camron McDaniels (11.2 ppg and 43% from beyond the 3-point line). "Camron McDaniels has the size and skill set to be a matchup nightmare. He’s a natural scorer, scores the ball from all areas of the court," Duncan said.
Other top player: Senior Lukus McDaniels (10.4 ppg). "Lukus McDaniels is a great athlete. Can defend all five positions on the court. His competitive nature is key to our team’s success," Duncan said.
Outlook: "We have to develop some depth at the guard spot. We have young guards, and we don’t know how they will respond when the lights come on," Duncan said.
Whitefield Academy
Coach: Brian Boggs (fifth season)
Last season: 8-19
Player to watch: Junior Dallas Bryant (7.3 ppg)
Other key players: Junior Cole Hodges (1.4 ppg and 3.4 rpg) and sophomore Gavin Dowdle. Dowdle played in 17 games as a freshman and is primed to have a more prominent role on the team this season.
Outlook: It's been an uphill battle for the Wildcats the last few years, and this season will be a challenge without their top three scorers, who were seniors. Time will tell which players step up to the challenge and help the Wildcats become more competitive in the region.
More: Top Kentucky boys basketball teams and players in the Seventh Region for 2023-24 season
Reach sports reporter Prince James Story at pstory@gannett.com and follow him on X at @PrinceJStory.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA boys basketball: Top teams, players in Sixth Region for 2023-24
