20 Players to Watch: Traditional Bank Holiday Classic

Steve Quattrocchi December 26, 2019 @ 03:35 PM

The annual Traditional Bank Holiday Classic takes place Friday through Monday at Lexington Catholic. Here's a quick primer of top players to watch at a LOADED event at Lexington Catholic this weekend. Bardstown's JaRel Montgomery and JJ Taynor - Between the two of them, they're averaging over 35 points per game. Traynor gets the headlines but Montgomery is a solid combo guard and a heck of an athlete. The Cooper game starts the tournament on Friday and is a rematch from last season when Traynor got hurt down the stretch or Bardstown would likely have beaten the Jags. Cooper's Gavin Rabe - Rabe is the leading scorer for the Jags by a decent margin at 16.3 per game but his shooting percentages show he could improve his efficiency. This Cooper team struggles to score the ball and relies on their defense. Look for them to try and grind Bardstown down and rely on Rabe to do the majority of the scoring. Beechwood's Scotty Draud - The Junior wing is having a big season and should benefit from seeing some out of region competition who won't chase him all over the court. Draud has already scored 30+ in a game this season and is currently 5th in the state in scoring. Paintsville's Coby Fugate - Colby is one of the top Sophomores in the state and one of the best college prospects in the mountains. The matchup between he and Draud on Friday should be fun as both players are capable of creating their own offense. Collins' Dayvion McKnight and Marcellus Vail - The only backcourt in Kentucky with 2 D1 signees, Collins relies on their guards to do a lot of the heavy lifting for them. The matchup with Tates Creek should be a fun one. Both teams like to play with some pace and get most of their points from their guards. Tates Creek's Amari Taylor - One of the best available Seniors in the state, Amari can play on or off the ball and scores the ball well at all 3 levels. He and Vail are likely to matchup against each other and should be worth the price of admission on Friday afternoon. Madisonville's Kenny White and Ksuan Casey - The Maroons have 2 D1 players in their starting lineup and are among the top 5-6 teams in the state. Kenny and Ksuan combine for 33 points and 16 rebounds per game while being two of the toughest kids to guard in the Senior class. Central's Shane Bibby - Central plays super hard and is well coached but Bibby is one of the few players on the roster who can create his own shot. For them to upset Madisonville, Bibby will need to have a HUGE game for the Yellow Jackets. North Oldham's Justin Powell - The winner of the MVP award at last week's King of the Bluegrass, Powell is having a great season and will look to continue his hot streak as he leads his team into Lexington hoping to continue his team's hot streak and keep padding his Mr. Basketball resume. Frederick Douglass' Jaylan Green and DaShawn Jackson - After transferring from Henry Clay last season, Green is having a great Senior season, averaging 17 points and 5 rebounds. Jaylan plays really hard and attacks the rim relentlessly. Jackson is a combo guard who can heat up quickly and can be the difference for a Douglass team that is off to a hot start this season. Dunbar's Tim Hall - Only a Sophomore, Hall is one of my favorite players in the class because he plays super hard. Hall is long and athletic and continues to improve his all around game. As he develops his shooting touch, Tim can be a big time recruit in the 22 class. Simon Kenton's Kelly Niece - Still only 8 months removed from an ACL tear, Kelly is rounding back into form. Niece is an efficient scorer, averaging 15 points per game while shooting 62% from the field and 41% from three. Martin County's Trey James - The best big in the 21 class, James is having his usual double-double season, averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds while being a disruptive force on the defensive end. There won't be many in Lexington who can matchup with James on the block. Lexington Catholic's Ben Johnson - Quietly having one of the best seasons of anyone in the state, Johnson is averaging over 25 points per game while posting shooting splits of 53/47/79 and leading the team in rebounding at 5.8 rebounds per game. Bourbon County's Amirion Joyce - Maybe the front runner for the Mr Basketball nomination from the 10th region, Joyce has seen a huge jump in his production after transferring from Paducah Tilghman to Bourbon County in the spring. Averaging 18 points and 4 rebounds, Joyce has recently added multiple Juco offers. Madison Central's Kole Browne - Doing a little bit of everything for the Indians, Browne leads the team in both scoring and rebounding at 18 and 7 per game. His team is VERY young and inexperienced but getting better by the game and Kole is leading them as they get continue to improve each time out.