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<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With summer basketball finishing up for most of our 13th Region boys\u2019 basketball teams let\u2019s take a look at our top 10 heading into the 2025-26 school season to see what has changed since the end of March. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some teams and players have turned heads during the summer, which is going to make for an exciting season this winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boys<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. North Laurel<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Jaguars remain at the top and deservedly so with the top-rated player returning in Reece Davidson. But for North Laurel to be successful, Davidson will need help and he\u2019s got that with players such as Jordan Rawlings, RJ Noble and Cooper Elza returning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Bell County<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No team asserted themselves better this summer than Brad Sizemore\u2019s Bobcats. Blake Burnett and Ethan Buell have put up some HUGE games this summer and I expect big things out of this team. North Laurel might be the favorite, but Bell County is right there as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Clay County<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I really believe folks are sleeping on this team. Mike Jones\u2019 Tigers have turned in a solid summer and is going to be a major player yo see who comes out of the 13th Region in the long run. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adon Grubb has worked hard establishing himself as one of the region\u2019s top players and the addition of sophomore Jacob Rogers will pay off big time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Corbin<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Redhounds are right in the mix of things as well. Any of the top four teams could easily be penciled in as the 13th Region championship this season. Ryder Akins has turned in an impressive summer, and returns as one for her region\u2019s best players while Evan Ellis, and Eli Pietrowski will be right in the mix, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Whitley County<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I Whitley County is talented and coach Eric Swords continues to move the Colonels in the right direction. Plus, having Riley Fuson, Henry Bowling, and Bryson Mahan returning is a huge plus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Best of the Rest<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. Harlan County<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Black Bears might have graduated the last two 13th Region Players of the Year the past two seasons, but that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re going to slow down any. They\u2019ve moved up two spots from my last rankings and could easily be a top four to five team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ve moved cupboard is far from bare with Reggie Cottrell returning along with Trent Cole, and Landon Brock. Also keep an eye out for eighth grader Carson Sanders, and sophomore a Hayden Grace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. Knox Central<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mitchell Madden\u2019s graduated three key players but return one of the region\u2019s top scorers in Grayson Burton. Add a solid nucleus of talent returning and those are plenty of enough reasons to have Knox Central in the top six. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
8. South Laurel<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Cardinals had a good summer with players such as Kaden Taylor and Kaiden McQueen stepping up. Its going to be hard to replace the seniors that graduated but Taylor has shown he could be a top-notch scoring threat with his shooting skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9. Harlan <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After going through some growing pains last season with a starting line-up featuring four freshmen, expect the Green Dragons to be way much better than their 5-25 mark from a year before. Kobe Noe, Izack Saylor, Ethan Huff, Sylan Cox, Eli Noe, and Braxton Rowe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10. Jackson County<\/p>\n\n\n\n