The 2022-2023 season may be looked at as one where the Christian County Colonels were ‘on the verge’, so to say. A season that saw the Colonels finish 19-13 with seven of those losses coming by 8 points or less. A season where the Colonels could have just as easily been 26-6 which would have given the year an entirely different perspective.
Forward the calendar now to the 2023-2024 season. The Colonels have one of the best players in the state in Derrell Bateman. Around him, a talented experienced core for Coach Toby Miles to build with. If the Colonels can elevate their shooting some and get some production from their younger players, it would be no stretch at all to say Christian County could be one of those teams to have a shot at knocking off two-time defending regional champion Lyon County come 2nd Region tournament time.
Any look at this year’s Colonels has to begin with Derrell Bateman. The senior big man had a spectacular summer and placed his name on a large number of collegiate radars. Bateman averaged a double-double last season with 17.5 points and 10 rebounds per contest. Those numbers could increase this year, even with the increased attention he is expected to draw from opposing defenses.
Christian County will look to the experience of Jordan Miles to run the point again this season. Miles averaged 11.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game last season and makes the offense go when the steering wheel is in his hands.
JaSean Riley and Prince Northington both saw action in more than 30 games last season for the Colonels and with the loss of Breland Morrison, George Sanders, Trey Blanton, and Kevarius Vaughn, they both will need to pick up some additional load for the Colonels to have a shot at the 8th District and 2nd Region championships this year.
Outside of the ‘core of four’, Christian County will be looking to some of its talented young players to contribute fairly quickly this year, especially out of the sophomore class, which is 13 players strong.
Defense and rebounding figure to be strengths of the Colonels again in 2023-2024. Now, if they can get more shots to fall, they become a whole different level of threat in the region. Last year, the Colonels hit 46.9 percent from the field and ran into some dry spells at critical moments. And, Christian County connected on 58 percent of its free throws on the season. It does not take much improvement in either of those categories to turn some of those close losses into wins and put the Colonels in a regional contending position.
If Christian County heats up from the outside, the game will open up even more for Bateman inside, which is something that will cause opposing coaches to lose significant sleep when preparing to take on the Colonels.
The schedule is full of marquis matchups, as you would expect. In addition to the ‘fun’ of the 8th District, the Colonels will face Butler County, Madisonville, Rowan County, Bowling Green, Owensboro Catholic, Male, Lyon County, Henderson County, McCracken County, Evangel Christian, and defending state champ Warren Central.
The Colonels will officially open the season December 2 against Butler County in the Jersey Mike’s Classic at Great Crossing High School.
Coach Toby Miles looked ahead at the upcoming season during this year’s Media Day.
