[kidlexington]

It will be tough for them to replace the 3 senior starters (Floyd, Woomer, and Keller) from last year. They will be weaker at outside scoring, point guard, and athleticism compared to last year. Defenses will be able to concentrate on Whitman more than last year.

Your remarks are certainly reasonable, but things are not that glum. Big Tom Banahan should start at the 5 this year, moving Whitman to the 4 where he can use even more of his skills, which include some of the outside shooting. Banahan was usually the most efficient and impactful player per-minute in his reserve roll last year, and is a big strong senior who’s really conditioned himself well for this year and has plenty of experience. Avare was the key outside shooter, and he’s back.

So LexCath really has 2 holes to fill, not 3 - point guard and wing. There are multiple candidates vying for the pt at both positions, all homegrown talent with several years in the system and good basketball credentials. They’ll probably start the year with an 8 or 9 man rotation with 2 juniors and 4 sophomores if I had to guess, and develop more as they go along. The first two point guard candidates were the guards on the middle school team everyone loved to hate, that went 100-1 in middle school. At least three candidates on the wing, with different skill sets, enabling them to give different looks – they can have everyone up front be 6-6 or more, or add another deadly 3-point shooter, or put in a great all-around athlete. All these kids have continued to excel at the freshman and jv levels and should be ready to step up, and all play 2 or even 3 positions, so depth is adequate. With 3 high-level tournaments in December and playing in the 11th region, they should be pretty well seasoned and in the mix by district tournament time.

The 43rd’s always a tough 5-team district – Lafayette, LexCath, Lexington Christian, Tates Creek, and Dunbar. Lafayette’s gotta have the biggest frontline in the state at 6-10, 6-8, and 6-8, if you believe their measurements, and everyone returns. Dunbar could be the sleeper this year that everyone’s overlooking. They added an experienced coach and two athletic senior transfers to a team that already has two of the state’s best scorers in Smith and Gary and several experienced and competent role-players. 3 or 4 of their seniors were together this spring and summer on the same travel team, which can’t hurt. Look for a wild district tournament