Next Up: Replacing Top 2020s (Regions 1-5)

<p>The 2020 class is out the door but their high school teams are left to try and replace the production of players who have had a massive impact for the last several seasons. Here’s a look at how teams will look to replace the top players in the departing Senior class.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>First Region:</strong></span></p> <p>Player of the Year: [player_tooltip player_id="915102" first="Jackson" last="Sivills"], McCracken County</p> <p>Next Up: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="793777" first="Noah" last="Dumas"]</strong> and <strong>Ian McCune</strong>. Dumas is a known commodity and the straw that stirs the drink for the Mustangs. He’s a floor general who can also score. McCune is going to get first crack at being the wing scorer that Sivills was for the last three seasons. While Sivills leaving for Murray State may hurt the team in the short term, McCracken has the potential to be a deeper and more talented team overall in 2021.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Second Region:</strong></span></p> <p>Player of the Year: [player_tooltip player_id="783030" first="Kenny" last="White"], Madisonville-North Hopkins</p> <p>Next Up: White was 1 of 9 Seniors who leave the back to back 2nd region champions. <strong>Zach Tow</strong> is the returning leading scorer for the Maroons at 4 points per game. Junior<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="926905" first="Danye" last="Frazier"]</strong> will have the chance to run the team from the point guard spot and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="926929" first="Brytton" last="Walker"]</strong> returns after a one year transfer to Warren East. It’s hard to see Coach Beshear’s team looking anything like they have the last few seasons but there should be some young players anxious for their chance after waiting their turn the last few seasons.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Third Region:</strong></span></p> <p>Player of the Year: Kaeveon Mitchell, Breckinridge County</p> <p>Next Up: Each of the past two season, an athletic wing from Breckinridge has come from modest numbers to huge ones and the regional player of the year award. The two most likely candidates for that jump next season are Seniors <strong>Brock Lucas and Kason Morris</strong>. Both two fewer than half as many shots as Mitchell last season and the more likely scenario next year is Morris and Lucas end up splitting the shots between them as Breck has a more balanced scoring attack.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Fourth Region:</strong></span></p> <p>Player of the Year: [player_tooltip player_id="915110" first="Dre" last="Boyd"], Warren Central:</p> <p>Next Up: The Dragons graduated 11 Seniors and will have a completely new varsity rotation with the exception of <strong>Jaiden Lawrence</strong>. Lawrence got some quality playing time down the stretch of the season for Coach Unseld’s squad and can be penciled in for a starting spot next season with a lot of shots to come with it. Behind Lawrence, there is a loaded Sophomore class at WC that just had a huge freshman season. 2024 [player_tooltip player_id="939716" first="Kade" last="Unseld"] (the coach’s son) is also likely to carve out a role on varsity next season.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Fifth Region:</strong></span></p> <p>Player of the Year: [player_tooltip player_id="601411" first="Alex" last="Matthews"], John Hardin and [player_tooltip player_id="706008" first="JJ" last="Traynor"], Bardstown</p> <p>Next Up: <strong>Jalen Tyus</strong> is going to have first crack at being the man for the Bulldogs. Fellow Junior <strong>Devon Rogers</strong> will combine with Tyus to make a really solid John Hardin back court who will be relied on to score a lot of points for the team to have a shot at 5th region title contention. For Bardstown, Senior <strong>Javaughn Smith</strong> is one of the top returning scorers in the 5th region and one of the top shooters in the class. For the Tigers to avoid a dropoff, he’ll need to up his production even more than last year’s 15 points per game.</p>