Sixteen things to get you ready for Kentucky’s 2024 Boys’ Sweet 16 basketball tournament

The 2024 UK HealthCare Boys’ Sweet 16 begins Wednesday as teams from around the state will square off to see who will capture Kentucky high school basketball’s ultimate prize.

Here are 16 things to think about as the tournament returns to Rupp Arena this week:

1. Who’s No. 1?

Great Crossing (34-1) enters the tournament as the consensus No. 1 team in the state according to a number of measures, including the Dave Cantrall’s Rating the State and the final Kentucky High School Basketball Media Poll.

The Warhawks defeated No. 2 Lexington Catholic in the 11th Region Tournament finals to get here on a spectacular buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Vince Dawson.

2. Mr. Basketball

Travis Perry, who was named Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball on Sunday night, comes to Lexington with his Lyon County Lyons for the third straight year.

Cantrall’s ratings had the Lyons (32-3) as the No. 5 team in the state at the end of the regular season and the fourth-best team in the field this week. They were Herald-Leader’s preseason No. 1.

Two losses in the middle of the season occurred while senior point guard Jack Reddick (14.8 points), a Florida Gulf Coast commit, dealt with an ankle injury. One of those came in a 50-48 nail-biter against Newport in the All “A” Classic state tournament.

Perry, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard, doesn’t see being “Mr. Basketball” and a University of Kentucky signee as any added pressure on his performance this week.

“I just try to go out there and have fun,” Perry said. “This is going to be the last time — however many games we play — the last time I get to play with some of the guys I played with my whole life, the last time I get to be coached by my dad … stuff like that takes a little bit of the pressure off me.

“I know that no matter what happens, I’m still going to have people in my corner that love me and support me.”

3. The Lyon King’s records

Perry surpassed Wayland legend “King” Kelly Coleman’s career record of 4,337 points at last year’s Boys’ Sweet 16 and heads into this week’s state tournament with 5,393 career points. He’s averaging 29.5 points as a senior.

Though unofficial because his senior year is not yet complete, Perry also owns the boys all-time career records for field goals made and attempted (currently 1,888 and 3,809), 3-pointers made and attempted (698 and 1,710) and free throws made and attempted (919 and 1,121).

Only girls basketball’s Whitney Creech of Jenkins has scored more points in a high school career with 5,527. Perry would need to average 33.5 points per game and reach the state finals this week to match Creech’s mark.

4. Region players of the year

In addition to Perry, there are three other region players of the year who were Mr. Basketball candidates in the field.

▪ Trent Noah of Harlan County (29.7 points), a 6-foot-6 guard and South Carolina signee, leads the Black Bears in scoring and rebounding (10.5 per game) and is the best free-throw shooter in this week’s field, having made 88.9% of his tries this season.

▪ Kade Unseld of Warren Central, (15.7 points), a 6-foot-6 guard and Western Kentucky signee, missed the first nine games of the season as he recovered from surgery to repair a minor knee issue. He has been a key figure in the Dragons’ back-to-back trips to the state finals.

▪ Aden Barnett of Magoffin County (29.4 points), an uncommitted 6-foot-2 guard who has helped the Hornets earn the program’s first 15th Region championship, has been among the top scorers in the state all season.

5. Other names to know

At least 18 players in this year’s field have either committed to or had reported college offers from Division I college programs. The highest-rated uncommitted players among those are:

▪ Malachi Moreno of Great Crossing (15.9 points), a 7-foot-1 junior, ranks as the No. 3 center in the nation for the class of 2025 and has at least 23 college offers, including Kentucky. Also one of the state’s top rebounders, (13.0 per game), he is the younger brother of former Scott County and Eastern Kentucky standout Michael Moreno, who made back-to-back trips to the state finals with the Cardinals.

▪ Jayden Johnson of Trinity (12.0 points), a 6.-5 sophomore and four-star recruit whose offers include Texas A&M, West Virginia and Cincinnati.

▪ Taylen Kinney of Newport (18.0 points), a 6-1 sophomore and four-star recruit whose offers include Tennessee, Notre Dame and Purdue. Kinney suffered a hamstring injury at the start of the 9th Region finals last week and his status is uncertain.

The tournament also features some of the top scorers in the state. In addition to Perry, Noah and Barnett, Butler County junior Ty Price (29.6 points) can fill it up.

6. Unpredictable

Half of this year’s field was unranked in the Herald-Leader’s top 25 preseason poll of coaches. Those who survived were preseason No. 1 Lyon County, No. 2 Great Crossing, No. 3 Trinity, No. 6 Warren Central, No. 8 Newport, No. 9 Evangel Christian, No. 18 Harlan County and No. 19 Ashland Blazer.

Cantrall final ratings of the regular season had nine of this week’s participants in its top 25, foreseeing the success of its No. 18 Spencer County and No. 21 Campbell County in addition to the teams above but excluding 16th Region champion Ashland Blazer, which it rated behind its No. 13 Boyd County.

In forecasting this year’s field ahead of the postseason, the best any of the 16 media poll members could do was pick seven of 16 Region champions.

So, it seems there were plenty of teams who got slept on this season.

7. First-timers

The five teams making their first appearance in the state tournament as region champions are Butler County, Evangel Christian, Spencer County, Great Crossing and Magoffin County.

8. Back for more

Ashland Blazer has the longest streak of Sweet 16 appearances with six. Defending champion Warren Central and Lyon County are each making their third straight trip. Newport and Pulaski County both made it last year.

9. Small schools represent

Newport (32-3) will try to become only the second school to win both the small-school All “A” Classic state championship that’s conducted in the middle of the season and the Boys’ Sweet 16. Shelby Valley accomplished the feat in 2010.

Lyon County and Evangel Christian also competed in this year’s All “A” Classic. Newport beat Lyon County 50-48 in the tournament’s semifinals and Evangel Christian 69-62 in overtime in the finals.

10. The favorite and longshot

Cantrall’s ratings refigured to include all of the postseason action up until now put the 11th Region’s Great Crossing as the top team in the tournament. The last 11th Region team to claim the state title was Paul Laurence Dunbar in 2016.

Evangel Christian out of Louisville in the 6th Region and Newport out of the 9th Region look to be next best. The 6th hasn’t had a state champ since Fairdale in 1994. Highlands won it for the 9th in 2021.

The 14th Region’s Perry County Central rates as the longest shot in the field, according to Cantrall. The 14th has not had a state champion since Carr Creek won it all in 1956.

11. Sizing them up

According to Cantrall’s latest ratings, this year’s first-round matchups could be close with Wednesday morning’s first-round battle between Adair County and Marshall County the tightest of them all with only a 0.9 ratings point difference between the two.

Here’s how the first round looks competitively, according to Cantrall. Games are sorted from closest matchup to biggest disparity.

▪ 13. Adair County (28-7), 69.6 vs. 14. Marshall County (25-7), 68.7 (AC +0.9).

▪ 6. Harlan County (31-4), 80.8 vs. 8. Warren Central (17-11), 77.6 (HC +3.2).

▪ 15. Magoffin County (21-13), 66.8 vs. 16. Perry County Central (22-13), 63.1 (MC +3.7).

▪ 9. Ashland Blazer (23-10), 76.8 vs. 4. Lyon County (32-3), 82.4 (LC +5.6).

▪ 3. Newport (32-3), 82.5 vs. 11. Campbell County (26-6), 76.2 (Newport +6.3).

▪ 10. Butler County (22-8), 76.7 vs. 2. Evangel Christian (29-6), 84.6 (EC +7.9).

▪ 7. Spencer County (25-9), 77.8 vs. 1. Great Crossing (34-1), 87.4 (GC +9.6).

▪ 5. Louisville Trinity (26-7), 81.9 vs. 12. Pulaski County (23-10), 71.5 (Trinity +10.5).

12. Toughest draw

Warren Central’s path to a repeat championship didn’t gain any favors from the KHSAA’s random bracket draw. The Dragons start with Harlan County, ranked No. 10 in Cantrall’s final ratings of the regular season.

If the Dragons survive that and the top-ranked teams on their side of the bracket win out to them, Warren Central will have to face No. 7 Newport in the quarterfinals, No. 4 Evangel Christian in the semifinals and No. 1 Great Crossing for the championship.

13. Toughest schedule

Ashland Blazer faced the toughest regular-season schedule of the 16 region champions, according to a glance at the “Opponents Winning Percentage” that is compiled by the KHSAA as part of its RPI Ratings formula. The Tomcats’ foes averaged a winning percentage of 0.67857. Warren Central faced the next toughest at 0.63057.

Newport and Harlan County tied for most wins against teams in the field with three. The Wildcats knocked off Spencer County, Lyon County and Evangel Christian The Black Bears have beaten Ashland Blazer, Perry County Central and Butler County.

14. Easiest schedule

Pulaski County’s regular-season schedule rated as the weakest, according to the RPI stats. The Maroons’ opponents averaged a winning percentage of 0.49555.

15. Top team stats

Scoring offense (points per game): Lyon County, 85.7. Scoring defense (points against per game): Newport, 48.7. Scoring margin (points per game): Lyon County, 27.3. Field-goal percentage: Great Crossing, 55%. Three-point field goal percentage: Harlan County, 40.3%. Free-throw percentage: Harlan County, 78.2%.

16. Top individual stats

Scoring (points per game): Trent Noah, Harlan County, 32.1. Rebounding (per game): Malachi Moreno, 13.0. Field-goal percentage: Julius Edmonds, Louisville Trinity, 67%. Three-point shooting: Travis Perry, Lyon County, 4.9 made per game. Three-point percentage: Maddox Huff, Harlan County, 46.1%. Free-throw percentage: Trent Noah, Harlan County, 88.9%.

2024 Boys’ Sweet 16

What: Sixteen-team tournament to decide Kentucky’s high school basketball state champion

When: March 20-23

Where: Rupp Arena

Tickets: Tickets available for purchase at KHSAA.org

Boys’ Sweet 16 schedule

At Rupp Arena

WEDNESDAY’S FIRST-ROUND GAMES

11 a.m.: Magoffin County (21-13) vs. Perry County Central (22-13)

1:30 p.m.: Ashland Blazer (23-10) vs. Lyon County (32-3)

6 p.m.: Adair County (28-7) vs. Marshall County (25-7)

8:30 p.m.: Spencer County (25-9) vs. Great Crossing (34-1)

THURSDAY’S FIRST-ROUND GAMES

11 a.m.: Harlan County (31-4) vs. Warren Central (17-11)

1:30 p.m.: Butler County (22-8) vs. Evangel Christian (29-6)

6 p.m.: Louisville Trinity (26-7) vs. Pulaski County (23-10)

8:30 p.m.: Newport (32-3) vs. Campbell County (26-6)

FRIDAY’S QUARTERFINALS

11 a.m.: Magoffin County-Perry County Central winner vs. Spencer County-Great Crossing winner

1:30 p.m.: Ashland Blazer-Lyon County winner vs. Adair County-Marshall County winner

6 p.m.: Harlan County-Warren Central winner vs. Newport-Campbell County winner

8:30 p.m.: Louisville Trinity-Pulaski County winner vs. Butler County-Evangel Christian winner

SATURDAY’S GAMES

11 a.m.: Semifinal 1: Winners of Friday’s afternoon session

1:30 p.m.: Semifinal 2: Winners of Friday’s evening session

7:30 p.m.: Championship game

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