[Stardust]

Dixie Heights
Coach: Ken Chevalier (8th season, 128-87).

Last Season: 29-4 (Won 34th District championship; won Ninth Region championship; lost in first round of Sweet 16 State Tournament to Lexington Catholic, 69-60).

Key Players: Soph. G Brandon Hatton (18.5 ppg); Sr. F Parker Stansberry (12 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 50 blocked shots); Sr. G Jordan Hassel (7 ppg); Soph. G Jordan Fox (transfer from Jackson County where he averaged 13 ppg, 5 apg).

What's New: A uniform that has a deeper shade of gray as its base color.

Outlook: The Colonels appeared loaded for not only a run at a repeat regional title, but perhaps a state title, too, as all but one key player returned from last year's team and the highly-regarded Fox transferred to the school, but then last year's starting center Zeke Pike elected to skip basketball to enroll early at Auburn. Even without Pike, who averaged 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, this is still the team to beat in the region. Hatton is a Division I college recruit, Stansberry is at least a Division II recruit and Fox may have the biggest upside of all. The key won't be making up for Pike's absence offensively, but defensively and on the boards and that's where Chevalier is hoping last year's top sub Juwan Evans should help despite being only 6 feet, along with 6-foot-4, 240-pound junior Alex Milligan and 6-3 freshman Nick Niehaus.