Basketball’s back
District tournaments begin in only 84 days, which means it’s time for another high school basketball season to begin. The 12-week regular season begins tonight locally and around Kentucky, though most teams will wait a day or more to get going.
It’s a season of transition for many of the teams in the Advocate’s coverage area, with a large number of young teams and a handful of teams trying to make significant moves forward. The transitions include four new coaches among the 16 local KHSAA-based teams:
- Former South Laurel player and assistant coach Brad Sizemore player and assistant coach Brad Sizemore is the new boys coach at Garrard County, where Kevin Wheeler was the interim coach for almost all of last season.
- Brian Britt, a former Centre College player and Mercer County boys assistant, was promoted at Mercer after Nelson Cundiff was fired following a season in which the Titans reached the 12th Region final.
- Greg Edwards, a former Harrodsburg and Mercer County boys coach and most recently an assistant with the Boyle boys, becomes the head coach of a girls team for the first time at Boyle, his alma mater.
- Cassandra McWhorter, a former player and assistant coach with the Lincoln County girls, was promoted to Lincoln’s head coach following the resignation of Don Story.
Outside the KHSAA, Jamie Middleton has taken over as coach of both the boys and girls teams at Danville Christian, where the season got under way earlier this month.
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With only a couple of moments worth of thought on the matter, here are my preseason picks for the 12th Region’s district and regional winners:
- 45th District: Danville boys, Garrard County girls.
- 46th District: Mercer County boys, Mercer County girls.
- 47th District: Pulaski County boys, Rockcastle County girls.
- 48th District: Wayne County boys, Southwestern girls.
- 12th Region: Wayne County boys, Rockcastle County girls.
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Finally, here are the remaining season openers for area teams:
Boys
- Boyle County: Saturday at Cumberland County (home opener Dec. 10 vs. Knox Central).
- Burgin: Tuesday vs. Portland Christian.
- Casey County: Tuesday vs. Anderson County.
- Danville: Dec. 7 vs. West Jessamine.
- Garrard County: Tuesday vs. Bath County.
- KSD: Tuesday vs. Red Bird.
- Lincoln County: Tuesday at Russell County (home opener Dec. 7 vs. Wayne County).
- Mercer County: Tuesday at McCreary Central (home opener Friday vs. Wayne County).
Girls
- Boyle County: Tuesday at East Jessamine (home opener Friday vs. Washington County).
- Burgin: Tuesday vs. Portland Christian.
- Casey County: Saturday at Danville (home opener Jan. 7 vs. Somerset).
- Danville: Friday vs. Burgin.
- Garrard County: Wednesday vs. Model at Sayre round-robin (home opener Dec. 7 vs. Lexington Christian).
- KSD: Thursday vs. Riverside Christian.
- Lincoln County: tonight at Pulaski County (home opener Dec. 7 vs. Wayne County).
- Mercer County: Friday vs. Wayne County.
