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KSR's UK Healthcare Boys' Sweet 16 Wednesday Preview

On3 imageby:Brady Byrdwell•03/14/23•

BbyrdwellKSR

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Photo by Les Nicholson | Kentucky Sports Radio

March Madness (the high school edition) has arrived in the Bluegrass State.

Beginning Wednesday morning, the 2023 UK Healthcare Boys’ Basketball Sweet 16 Tournament officially gets rolling at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY. 16 of the state’s top teams survived the regular season and made it past their respective regional tournaments to assemble on this stage. Over the next several days, high school basketball fans from all over the Commonwealth will converge on Rupp Arena in hopes of their program being crowned the ultimate champion.

To prepare you for what’s to come throughout the rest of the week, KSR is previewing every team in the Sweet 16 and their first-round matchups. Up first will be Wednesday’s four games, which we’ll preview below. Those will be followed up by four more first-round games on Thursday before the quarterfinals start up on Friday.

Additionally, you can check out KSR’s post-regional tournament rankings here, which includes a Sweet 16 Power Rankings list for just the teams in the state tournament. If you prefer to listen to your preview, you can do so here through the Premier High School Sports Podcast. Now let’s dive into Wednesday’s preview.

11:00 AM | Jeffersontown (17-12) vs. Woodford County (20-12)

6th Region champion Jeffersontown and 8th Region champion Woodford County will meet Wednesday morning to kick off the Sweet 16. This matchup will start a wonderful week of high school basketball as the boys’ state tournament officially gets underway.

Both squads are relative underdogs, as neither was favored to win their regional tournaments. In the 6th Region, J-Town was not even considered in the conversation for the title. The Chargers suffered an up-and-down season following their regional championship last season. However, once February hit, a flip switched within the Chargers program. Sophomore Cameron McDaniels started to play his best basketball as the Chargers began to remind the region who they were.

Jeffersontown sent its first message with a win over Butler, which had a relatively good season in its own right. However, the big message sender was the Chargers’ regional championship victory over DeSales. The 6th Region seemed to be DeSales’ to lose throughout the year. Except J-Town will be the ones in Rupp Arena on Wednesday. Look for Richard Duncan’s squad to be led by Cameron and junior Lukus McDaniels, as both average over 10 points per game. Jeffersontown plays hard-nosed defense and looks to slow the game’s pace down to grind out the win.

The 8th Region champion Woodford County Yellow Jackets is the team trying to knock off the Cinderella story. Four-star sophomore Jasper Johnson leads the Yellow Jackets in scoring at over 20 points per game. Johnson is everything you want in a high-major guard. He’s versatile with a tremendous lefty jump shot and quickly gets to the basket. He is a true three-level scorer who holds offers from West Virginia, Louisville, Memphis, and many others, with Kentucky even showing plenty of interest. Flanking Johnson is the duo of sophomore Makhi Smith and senior Aden Nelson.

Both are standouts on the football field, with Nelson attending West Virginia next season, while Smith holds offers from Louisville, Kentucky, EKU, and West Virginia on the gridiron. However, Smith and Nelson are do-it-all guards on the hardwood that defend very highly. Smith can get to the basket and score, averaging 12.2 points per game during the regular season. Nelson is your typical glue guy, a player that refuses to lose and will compete all four quarters.

The surprise throughout the regional tournament was sophomore guard Santonio Waide. Waide is listed at 5-foot-10, but even that could be a stretch. However, he controls the pace of the game and has terrific vision. In Woodford’s championship win over Collins, Waide was the X-factor — the main reason the Yellow Jackets were able to punch their ticket to Rupp. As a result, Woodford County is my pick for the upset team of the tournament.

Brady’s Pick: Woodford County by 9

1:30 PM | Elizabethtown (23-9) vs. McCracken County (29-5)

The second matchup of the day features the McCracken County Mustangs and the Elizabethtown Panthers. Frankly, neither team is a heavy favorite to bring home the crown at Rupp Arena this season. However, both teams have worked hard to get where they are, which is the true Cinderella story. McCracken County sported an outstanding 29-5 record this season while also going 16-2 within the 1st Region. E-Town went 29-5 this season, with a 16-2 record as well in the 5th Region.

Senior Jack McCune leads the Mustangs. The guard averaged 18.1 points per game this season and had an outstanding regional tournament. This season, senior Ian Hart, senior Carson Purvis, and junior Connor Miller have been standouts for the Mustangs. Many throughout the Commonwealth are sleeping on McCracken County’s ability to make a run in the state tournament. This can provide a much-needed boost to a squad entering the most challenging parts of their season.

E-Town is ranked 15th out of 16 teams by KSR in the Sweet 16 power rankings; talk about motivation. The Panthers have also suffered an up-and-down season, defeating the teams they were supposed to beat but dropping some games that could have put Kentucky on notice. Junior Ayden Evans is a top-10 player in the state, and I firmly believe that — Elizabethtown will go as far as Evans takes them. The Panthers are no cakewalk and should not be taken as such. Senior Obian Howard, along with brothers Jujuan (Sr.) and JQuan Williams (So.), flank Evans. If those three can provide good games, then I see no reason the Panthers cannot compete with the Mustangs on Wednesday.

Brady’s Pick: McCracken County by 11

6:00 PM | No. 1 Warren Central (32-1) vs. Pulaski County (27-6)

The big dogs are coming out to play in the third game of Wednesday’s slate. The No. 1 ranked team in the entire state will play its first game on Rupp’s court this year. The 4th Region champion Warren Central Dragons are the favorite to cut down the nets on Saturday, and for a good reason.

The Dragons went 32-1 this year and 14-0 within their region. Warren Central’s only loss came back on DECEMBER 27th to Madison Central. It has been two and a half months since Warren Central has felt the taste of defeat. The powerhouse of the west will walk into Rupp Arena with the weight of expectation on their shoulders, like a team that usually plays on Rupp’s court. Senior Chapelle Whitney will end the week as one of the talks of the tournament. Whitney averaged 16.8 ppg this season but did a million things other than score to help the Dragons win.

Throughout the season, his partners have been junior Kade Unseld, senior Damarion Walkup, and senior Omari Glover. However, as KSR’s very own Piper McCoun has pointed out throughout the season, it isn’t just the talent that jumps off the page for Warren Central. How the talent plays together separates Warren from the rest of the field. It is incredibly rare in high school basketball to find 12 guys that can all mesh together and dominate the way the Dragons have. So fair warning to the rest of the field — Warren Central is not satisfied with anything less than a championship.

Their opponents will be the 12th Region champion Pulaski County, ranked eighth in KSR’s Sweet 16 power rankings. Pulaski County is a sleeper team in this tournament which just got the unfortunate draw of Warren Central. However, you know what they say, to be the best, you must beat the best. The Maroons can do so when they walk through the tunnel on Wednesday night.

To help them achieve the upset, it will be one of the best one-two punches in the field. Seniors Cayden Lancaster and Barek Williams averaged 19 points a piece throughout the season. Once January hit, these two began to wreak havoc on the entirety of the 12th Region. This continued into a regional championship matchup against talented Lincoln County, where Pulaski pulled off the seven-point win. But, as we’ve seen in March, much crazier things have happened. This is no 16 vs. 1; this is two talented teams matching up in the best event in the state.

Brady’s Pick: Warren Central by 15

8:30 PM | Owensboro (19-10) vs. Ashland Blazer (22-11)

The final matchup on the Wednesday slate will be the 3rd Region champion Owensboro Red Devils facing off against the 16th Region champion Ashland Blazer Tomcats.

Owensboro is the 16th-ranked team in KSR’s power rankings; safe to say the expectations are low throughout the state. However, as we have mentioned in this article many times, an underdog is dangerous. The Red Devils will enter Adolph Rupp’s establishment with a ginormous chip on their shoulder. A chip that led to them defeating the favored Owensboro Catholic in their regional championship game.

Leading the Red Devils is senior Kenyatta Carbon, who averaged 22.1 ppg with only 12 made threes all year. Carbon is an old-school player that has played especially well for Owensboro in recent weeks, and they will need an excellent performance from him to pull off the monumental upset.

Ashland Blazer had a great season with a 22-11 record, including 12-2 in the 16th Region. However, their performance in March opened the state’s eyes to the Tomcats’ talent. Ashland Blazer has won seven of their last eight games; getting hot at the right time is crucial in March. Leading the Tomcats is a duo of sophomore Zander Carter and senior Rheyce Deboard. Carter averaged 22.3 points per game while Deboard added 17.3 ppg to the Tomcats’ totals.

As you can see, Ashland Blazer has the scorers to compete with anyone in the field. The key to the Tomcats’ game is if their defense is clicking. They will have no problem scoring and scoring from all three levels. However, they have been prone to giving up big games from more talented teams. This will be a key that head coach Ryan Bonner will be focused on leading into Wednesday night’s matchup.

Brady’s pick: Ashland by 16

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