KHSAA Boys Basketball Sweet 16 Bracket Breakdown: Wednesday Games

The 2026 UK HealthCare Boys Basketball Sweet 16 begins this week in Rupp Arena. By Saturday night, a state champion will be crowned. KSR is here to give you a sneak peek of what’s in store ahead of a jam-packed stretch of high school hoops.

Wednesday kicks off the fun. Seven of the eight teams in action for the opening day of the first round are ranked in KSR’s latest Top 25 update, including a battle between number one and number two, and another between a pair of top 10 schools. The reigning state champion will also compete on Wednesday in hopes of making it back to the championship. It’s going to be a fun time in Rupp.

Dive in below to check out our preview of Wednesday’s first-round games. We’ll be back again tomorrow to preview the remaining first-round games scheduled for Thursday.

11:00 AM | No. 2 Covington Catholic vs. No. 1 St. Xavier

If you’re looking for an argument against how the KHSAA creates the Sweet 16 bracket, this matchup is all you need to look at. The top two teams in the state in KSR’s latest rankings will go head-to-head in the very first game of the state tournament. One of the best teams in the entire Bluegrass will be going home by lunchtime on Wednesday.

The good news? With a normal seeding format, we might not even get this matchup up at all. There won’t be a better way to open a Sweet 16 than this one. The No. 2 Covington Catholic Colonels (31-2) will battle the No. 1 St. Xavier Tigers (26-7) on Wednesday morning. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that.

We’ll start with Cov Cath, which won all three games in the 9th Region Tournament by an average of 37.3 points per outing. Coached by Jake Thelen, the Colonels’ only losses this season came against ranked opponents: Male and Madison Central. Senior Athens McGillis (9th Region Player of the Year) leads the way with 22.8 points per game while senior Donovan Bradshaw chips in 12.2 points and 7.3 boards per contest. Junior Braeden Myrick is one of the best shooters in the state (45.9 percent from deep). Cov Cath ranks second in the state in points per game at 81.7 while holding opponents to just 50.4.

As for St. Xavier, the Tigers have played a tough schedule from start to finish. Kevin Klein’s crew posted seven losses, but more than made up for it with big out-of-state victories and by beating 10 ranked opponents. Senior Jeremiah Jackson (7th Region Player of the Year and a Southern Illinois commit) is averaging 16.5 points per game this season. He’s aided by four-star sophomore Joshua Lindsay and his 14.3 points per game. St. Xavier boasts a top 20 offense in the state, shooting over 50 percent from the field as a team.

1:30 PM | No. 4 Warren Central vs. No. 10 North Laurel

We’ll be treated to a top 10 showdown in game two at Rupp. The Warren Central Dragons (26-3) will face the North Laurel Jaguars (28-7) to keep the fun rolling. Warren Central won the championship not long ago in 2023, while North Laurel is looking for the school’s first title.

The Dragons have been consistently good in recent years under head coach William Unseld. That’s been the case once again with only three regular-season losses in 2025-26, one coming against St. Xavier in December. Warren Central doesn’t have a traditional “superstar” on the roster — this is a team led by committee. Seven different players average more than five points per game, senior Kaleb Prince sitting atop the group with 11.7 points per outing. What they do well as a unit is defend (allowing 50.9 PPG; 18th in the state), rebound (34.6 RPG, 7th), and shoot from deep (36.6 percent; 46th).

Meanwhile, North Laurel is back in the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in five years. Reed Sheppard‘s cousin, Liberty commit Reece Davidson, is the 13th Region Player of the Year for head coach Nate Valentine. The 6-foot-7 senior averages 19.9 points and 8.8 boards per game on 54.8 percent shooting. The Jaguars rank among the state’s top 20 in scoring defense (13th) and win margin (13th) while producing one of the most efficient offenses in the state.

6:00 PM | No. 22 Taylor County vs. No. 11 Grayson County

The Taylor County Cardinals (26-9) and the Grayson County Cougars (25-6) are two of the hottest teams in the state coming into this week. Both teams last lost a game on February 10th before running the table the rest of the way and winning their respective regions. Something will have to give in our third game of the day.

Earlier in the season, Taylor County went through a stretch where it lost five of eight games, most of those defeats against quality foes. But the Cardinals got hot at the right time, easily cruising through the 5th Region. Four different players for head coach Joshua Kays score in double-figures, led by sophomore Cooper Stone (21.5 PPG; 32nd in the state). The Cardinals play sound defense and shoot the ball at over a 51 percent clip, beating teams by an average of 14.6 points per game this season. This is a group that ranks 11th in the state in three-point shooting at 39.5 percent.

Similar to Taylor County, Grayson County also went through early struggles, starting the season with a 3-4 record before hitting a groove. The Cougars have just two losses since Christmas as Travis Johnson coached his team to a big win in the 3rd Region Tournament over a talented Daviess County crew. Four different Grayson County players average more than 12 points per game, highlighted by 20.2 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game from junior Jack Logsdon, who leads the entire state in free-throw shooting (88.9 percent). The Cougars feature a high-octane offense that has beaten opponents by nearly 20 points per game this season.

8:30 PM | RV Danville Christian Academy vs. No. 12 Great Crossing

Wednesday’s action will close out with the defending state champions on the Rupp hardwood. The Danville Christian Academy Warriors (23-7) will try to knock the Great Crossing Warhawks (23-11) off its perch in the final game of the day.

Still a relatively new school, Danville Christian made it to the Sweet 16 a year ago before losing in the opening round. The Warriors returned this season as head coach Shaun Busick led them through the 12th Region once again, capped off with a low-scoring 37-33 win over West Jessamine in the title bout. 6-foot-10 senior Geu “Leek” Ateny runs the show with 18.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per outing. DCA is efficient at getting to the line while shooting right under 50 percent from the field.

As for Great Crossing, Malachi Moreno won’t be walking through that door after leading the Warhawks to the school’s first Sweet 16 championship last season, but there is still plenty of talent to go around for head coach Steve Page. The Warhawks stunned the central Kentucky area by winning the 11th Region, including victories over Lexington Catholic and Frederick Douglass — all this after starting the season 3-6. Sophomore Brady Orem is playing above his age with 21.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest — both top 35 numbers in the state. The Warhawks will lean heavily on an efficient offensive approach to make a run at a second straight championship.

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