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<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What a high school basketball season it has been, and the 13th Region isn\u2019t through just yet with Harlan County ready to make a run for its first state championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With that said, the L4 Security 13th Region Media Network awards will be announced this weekend, and as always, it\u2019s exciting to see who will win the awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, I\u2019m not giving anything away, but let\u2019s talk about the two front-runners for the boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 Player of the Year awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harlan County\u2019s Trent Noah and Knox Central\u2019s Halle Collins have been the most consistent players throughout the 2023-24 campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noah has guided the Black Bears to a 31-4 record and an 18-0 mark against 13th Region competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He currently ranks second all-time behind former North Laurel star Reed Sheppard as the 13th Region\u2019s career points scored leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s averaging 29.7 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game, and has my vote for this season\u2019s Mr. Basketball award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s really impressive is Noah has scored 1,038 points this season alone. Heck, most players would love to score 1,000 points in a career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s shooting 56 percent and 89 percent, that\u2019s right, 89 percent, from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These numbers alone combined with what he has accomplished in his career make Noah, in my book, a great choice for Mr. Basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And let\u2019s get to Collins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collins is a junior standout who has dominated the competition this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just call her Miss Double-Double because she\u2019s a point-scoring and rebounding machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collins played a huge role in Knox Central winning its first 13th Region Tournament game since 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She scored 717 points this season and averaged 23.1 per game during the 2023-24 campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She connected on 53.3 percent of her shots and is an 80 percent free-throw shooter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You won\u2019t find a harder worker than Collins, that\u2019s for sure. She pulled down 416 rebounds this season, good enough for a 13.4 rebounding average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like I said, in my book, I\u2019m going with Trent Noah as the state\u2019s Mr. Basketball, and the way Collins continues to play, she should be considered among the front-runners for Miss Basketball next season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n