Sweet 16 Preview ~ Thursday’s Matchups

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sweet 16 Matchup Preview. A brief overview of each team and top performers. It is the final chance to scout high school players before transitioning to the travel season. Prep Hoops staff will be locked in to every game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Below is a spotlight of Thursday's four opening round match-ups:&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>11:00am</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Male (25-10)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cantrall's Rating: 83.7</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>State RPI #30 .618</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>7th Region Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>26th District Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2023 Postseason Victories vs Louisville Collegiate, St. Xavier, Atherton, Ballard, Trinity</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Previous Sweet 16 Appearance: 2022</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ranked Prep Hoops Players: <em>[player_tooltip player_id='932772' first='Jack' last='Edelen'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1065569' first='Meechie' last='White'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1088816' first='Max' last='Gainey'] (Junior), [player_tooltip player_id='1543636' first='Cornelius' last='Barnett Jr'] (Freshman), [player_tooltip player_id='1359140' first='Cole' last='Edelen'] (Freshman)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Breathitt County (18-9)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cantrall's Rating: 68.5</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>State RPI #60 .585</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>14th Region Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>55th District Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2023 Postseason Victories vs Wolfe County, Knott County Central, Hazard, Perry County Central</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Previous Sweet 16 Appearance: 1996</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ranked Prep Hoops Players: <em>[player_tooltip player_id='1215546' first='Christian' last='Collins'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1215567' first='Bryce' last='Hoskins'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1111948' first='Austin' last='Sperry'] (Sophomore)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>1:30pm</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lyon County (30-5)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cantrall's Rating: 78.7</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>State RPI #11 .665</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2nd Region Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>7th District Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2023 Postseason Victories vs Livingston Central, Trigg County, Hopkins County Central, Christian County, Hopkinsville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Previous Sweet 16 Appearance: 2022</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ranked Prep Hoops Players: <em>[player_tooltip player_id='932788' first='Bradin' last='Nelson'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='939117' first='Travis' last='Perry'] (Junior), [player_tooltip player_id='1221721' first='Jack' last='Reddick'] (Junior), [player_tooltip player_id='1088820' first='Brady' last='Shoulders'] (Junior), [player_tooltip player_id='1543608' first='Bray' last='Kirk'] (Freshman),&nbsp;</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Newport (28-6)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cantrall's Rating: 76.3</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>State RPI #37 .610</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>9th Region Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>36th District Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2023 Postseason Victories vs Bellevue, Highlands, Beechwood, Lloyd Memorial, Cooper</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Previous Sweet 16 Appearance: 2010</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ranked Prep Hoops Players: <em>[player_tooltip player_id='1088812' first='Marquez' last='Miller'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1238514' first='Jabari' last='Covington'] (Junior), [player_tooltip player_id='1571213' first='Noah' last='Silverton'] (Sophomore), [player_tooltip player_id='1359137' first='Taylen' last='Kinney'] (Freshman), [player_tooltip player_id='1359138' first='James' last='Turner'] (Freshman)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>6:00pm</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Frederick Douglass (31-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cantrall's Rating: 82.4</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>State RPI #7 .672</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>11th Region Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>42nd District Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2023 Postseason Victories vs Bryan Station, Scott County, Lexington Christian, Madison Central, Lexington Catholic</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Previous Sweet 16 Appearance: First appearance</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ranked Prep Hoops Players: <em>[player_tooltip player_id='1133838' first='Kai' last='Simpson'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1033473' first='Tylon' last='Webb'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1287897' first='Ryan' last='Carter'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1344607' first='Armelo' last='Boone'] (Sophomore), [player_tooltip player_id='1344606' first='Aveion' last='Chenault'] (Sophomore), [player_tooltip player_id='1514348' first='Logan' last='Busson'] (Sophomore), [player_tooltip player_id='1421677' first='Chris' last='Wright'] (Sophomore), [player_tooltip player_id='1252214' first='Josiah' last='Lemond'] (Sophomore), [player_tooltip player_id='1565983' first='Trae' last='Cayson'] (Freshman)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Martin County (24-10)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cantrall's Rating: 63.4</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>State RPI #54 .595</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>15th Region Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>57th District Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2023 Postseason Victories vs Johnson Central, Paintsville, Shelby Valley, Lawrence County, Pikeville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Previous Sweet 16 Appearance: 2020 (Covid-19 cancelled the tournament)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ranked Prep Hoops Players: <em>[player_tooltip player_id='1763790' first='Luke' last='Hale'] (Junior)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>8:30pm</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>George Rogers Clark (27-5)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cantrall's Rating: 83.9</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>State RPI #15 .657</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>10th Region Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>40th District Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2023 Postseason Victories vs Bourbon County, Paris, Augusta, Harrison County, Mason County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Previous Sweet 16 Appearance: 2022 Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ranked Prep Hoops Players: <em>[player_tooltip player_id='692930' first='Jerone' last='Morton'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1108411' first='Trent' last='Edwards'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1033474' first='Sam' last='Parrish'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1126607' first='Tyleik' last='Maxwell'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1424162' first='Eli' last='Craig'] (Sophomore)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>North Laurel (25-10)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cantrall's Rating: 84.7</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>State RPI #32 .612</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>16th Region Champion</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>64th District Runner-Up</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2023 Postseason Victories vs Oneida Baptist Institute, Clay County, Harlan, South Laurel, Corbin</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Previous Sweet 16 Appearance: 2022</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ranked Prep Hoops Players: <em>[player_tooltip player_id='932765' first='Reed' last='Sheppard'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='932771' first='Ryan' last='Davidson'] (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id='1650727' first='Gavin' last='Chadwell'] (Junior), [player_tooltip player_id='1288978' first='Colton' last='Rawlings'] (Sophomore), [player_tooltip player_id='1543623' first='Jordan' last='Rawlings'] (Freshman), [player_tooltip player_id='1558733' first='Reece' last='Davidson'] (Freshman)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Make sure you are following</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/prephoopsky"><strong> </strong><strong>@PrepHoopsKY</strong></a><strong> on Twitter for weekly top games &amp; top performers!</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->