[kywldcat01]

10. Lexcath:

Lexington Catholic surprised everyone when they knocked off Scott County, the favorite to win the state championship, 68-67 in the championship game of the Region 11 tournament. The Knights lose one of the states best players in Vee Sanford but coach Brandon Salsman returns a good group of players.

Replacing Sanford's 22.3 points per game won't be easy. The top candidate to replace him is sophomore-to-be Jaylen Beckham. Beckham averaged 11.1 points per game as a freshman. Many consider him the top prospect in the class of 2012. The 6-foot-0 guard is already hearing from several colleges, including Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Joining him in the back court will be junior-to-be Scott Schuette. The 6-foot-3 Scuette averaged 7.4 points per game last season. He shot 38.1 percent fom three point range.

Expect 5-foot-10, William Talbott to get minuets as well.

Taylor Martin, a 6-foot-4 small forward/shooting guard, averaged 10.4 points and five rebounds during his sophomore season. The junior-to-be should have another solid season.

He will be joined in the front court with 6-foot-7, 190 pound forward/center Tanner Peurach. Peurach, who will be a senior next season, averaged 7.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game last season. He must improve his rebounding average but he should get better over the summer.

Expect 6-foot-7, senior-to-be Hall Conrad to get more minutes next season as well.

The development of Beckham will be key to Lexington Catholic's success. If he continues to improve, the Knights will be tough to beat.

Scott County will be the favorite to win the Region 11 championship but don't count the Knights out. They will be very good also and if they can beat them in 2009, who knows what can happen in 2010,