Back-to-back champs: Sayre boys, LCA girls repeat as regional All ‘A’ Classic winners
Heading into the 11th Region All “A” Classic basketball tournaments at Frankfort Christian, both Sayre’s boys team and Lexington Christian’s girls team suffered difficult losses to large-school district rivals.
But the Spartans and Eagles righted their ships with convincing wins Sunday to capture their respective small-school region crowns for the second year in a row — Sayre with a 55-41 win over Lexington Christian’s boys team and the LCA girls with a thumping 71-20 win over Berea.
“We’re starting to get better as a team,” said Sayre senior forward Chase Parker, who led the Spartans with 19 points Sunday to help earn tournament most valuable player honors. “We hadn’t been together much because of football, and we’re just getting it together now, and we’re ready to win.”
In the girls finals, Lexington Christian’s MVP, junior Piper Graham, came off the bench to spark the Eagles with 21 points and four steals against the Pirates.
“She’s been incredible,” LCA coach Tim Bradshaw said. “She’s really blossoming and showing what her game is … She’s more than just a distributor, she’s more than just a scorer, or just a rebounder — she can do all of those things. And she’s been a blessing to me. She’s an amazing person to coach and a great teammate.”
Sayre ‘rounding into form’
The Spartans took control of their All “A” Classic final midway through the first period and built a lead that reached 17 points midway through the third after Luke Pennington’s steal and pass ahead yielded a fast-break dunk by Parker.
Sayre held LCA to just 26.5 percent from the field, including 4-of-24 from 3-point range as both Brock Coffman and Jaxson Howard notched double-doubles with 11 and 15 points, respectively, and 10 rebounds each. Caleb Marshall led LCA with 17 points, followed by Saxton Howard’s 14.
Sayre (10-4) has won three straight since falling 63-55 at home to 42nd District rival Henry Clay on Jan. 3, including a 63-53 win over Oldham County the next day and a 71-44 win over Frankfort in the region All “A” semis on Saturday.
“We’re rounding into form. We know the team we can be. We knew it was going to take some time,” Sayre coach Rob Goodman said. “Hopefully, we can continue to find ways to win games like this.”
The 42nd might be the most difficult boys district in the state. Henry Clay was Herald-Leader preseason No. 25. The initial Kentucky High School Boys Basketball Media Poll ranked Frederick Douglass at No. 3 and Bryan Station at No. 4.
“We know we can compete,” Goodman said. “We’ve just got to step on the floor and do it. This gives us a boost of confidence.”
Later this month, Sayre will open the statewide All “A” Classic against 6th Region champion Louisville Holy Cross at 1 p.m. Jan. 23 at the Owesnboro Sportscenter..
Resounding win for LCA girls
A year ago, Lexington Christian needed overtime to topple a veteran Berea team 41-38 in the All “A” region finals.
This year, the Eagles had more experience and more firepower in running away with a game that hit the mercy-rule 35-point margin early in the third quarter.
LCA hounded Berea with its full-court press and grabbed 19 steals among the Pirates’ 31 turnovers. Berea only got off 14 shots to LCA’s 64. In addition to Graham’s 21 points, Claire Roberts added 17, Chapell Brown had 16 and Ella Gabbert chipped in nine. LCA knocked down 10 3-pointers — three each by Graham, Brown and Gabbert and one from Roberts.
LCA (14-3) has won four straight games since its 67-43 loss to 43rd District rival Lafayette on Jan. 3. All four wins have been blowouts — 70-20 over Christian Academy-Louisville, 77-17 over Frankfort, 68-40 over Sayre and Sunday’s 51-point rout of Berea.
The Eagles know the statewide All “A” Classic later this month and the rest of their 43rd District and 11th Region schedule will be tougher.
“It’s a tough district and the region’s also really tough,” said Graham, who had been a home-school player until joining LCA this season. “It’s a lot different, coming from home school, but I’m enjoying it. I knew these girls before, and coming in, they were just so welcoming and that was really encouraging to me.”
Bradshaw’s stated goal is to return LCA to the form the program enjoyed in the late 2000s when it won three consecutive statewide All “A” Classic championships and the 2007 KHSAA Girls Sweet 16. LCA’s second straight regional All “A” crown on Sunday was its first repeat title since the Eagles won 12 in a row ending 2012.
The Lafayette loss showed there’s still some ways to go, but the wins since prove the progress.
“To climb that ladder, it’s not a one-year thing,” Bradshaw said. “It’s instilling belief. It’s getting to work in practice. It’s accountability for the stuff where us as coaches and players fall short — if you can own your stuff where you fall short, all of a sudden, you’ve got an environment where messing up is not the end of the world. It actually is an opportunity for us to get better. … We try to approach every game as if it’s the biggest game we have. I think if we do that, we’ll be in a good place.”
LCA begins play in the statewide All “A” Classic in Owensboro against the 1st Region champion at 1 p.m. Jan. 22.
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 7:58 AM.
