Bryan Station faces All ‘A’ Classic champs in loaded Jock Sutherland Classic on Saturday
A top-flight matchup between No. 5 Bryan Station and No. 13 Danville Christian headlines the annual Jock Sutherland Classic’s five-game boys basketball lineup on Saturday at Lafayette High School.
The Defenders (18-4) feature Amari Owens, one of the state’s most dynamic point guards, along with fellow junior Taeshawn Adams, a 6-6 forward.
They’ll be tested severely against Danville Christian (20-2), this season’s All “A” Classic champions, when the final game of the showcase tips at 7 p.m. Saturday. The third game of the day features No. 3 Frederick Douglass (18-2) against defending 13th Region champion Harlan County (17-7) at 3:30 p.m.
Danville Christian has more size than any team in the state with 6-foot-10 junior Geu Leek Ateny and 6-11 senior Lual Ayiel. Led by senior point guard Titus Boyd, DCA has won 13 straight and is among the favorites to win the 12th Region.
“We’ve got some 6-6 guys, so hopefully, we can kind of neutralize their height a little bit, but they’re good,” Bryan Station coach Champ Ligon said. “Usually, we’re pretty high scoring, although we’ve been struggling lately, and they’re pretty strong defensively, so it’s going to be a really good test.”
Ligon acknowledged he hasn’t been able to focus much on DCA since his Defenders have a tough game at Sayre on Friday in 42nd District play. The Spartans nearly upset Bryan Station on the Northside last week before falling 66-62 in overtime.
“That semifinal game in the district (tournament) is going to be a war,” said Ligon, whose team could shore up its tourney seeding with another win over Sayre. “All the teams are really, really good and capable of beating each other.”
Henry Clay (16-5), one of Bryan Station’s 42nd District rivals along with Douglass, opens the Classic at noon against Oldham County (9-13). The Colonels are just two weeks removed from their shocking upset of then-No. 11 Ballard. Host Lafayette (9-13) follows at 1:45 p.m. against Shelby County (2-19).
The game between Douglass and Harlan County at 3:30 p.m. is a rematch of their Jock Sutherland Classic duel last season.
Black Bears coach Kyle Jones credited last year’s 79-69 loss to the Broncos as one of the key moments that helped his team make a run to the Boys’ Sweet 16 finals. He’s hoping the rematch this season can do the same, but maybe in a win this time.
“We’re obviously playing a talented team. We’ve seen some film on them and they look like they’re just super athletic,” Jones said. “For us it’s just getting to see different types of competition like that. We try to play a good schedule to get us ready for tournament time and that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to play them at the end of the season.”
.JPG "LEX_20240323_KHSAA_33 (1).JPG")
Harlan County’s Maddox Huff, a 6-3 senior East Tennessee State signee, has taken over the lead scoring role after the graduation of Trent Noah and averages 30.2 points per game, ranking him among the top scorers in the state.
At 5:15 p.m., another 13th Region contender, South Laurel (16-6), takes on Woodford County (11-8), one of the favorites to win 8th Region.
“We try to get the best teams in Lexington to play some good teams outside of Lexington,” Lafayette coach Vince Sanford said. “The goal is to get it bigger. I want more eastern Kentucky teams involved.”
This is the third year the Jock Sutherland Classic will be co-sponsored by the GLOW Project, an anti-bullying, anti-gun violence and mental health awareness campaign founded in honor of the late Elaina Quinn Mammen, a Lafayette graduate who was killed in a 2022 shooting at the age of 19.
“We’re trying to bring awareness of gun violence and one of the ways we can do that is through sports,” Sanford said. “If we can just reach one, we could help change somebody’s life.”
All five games will be streamed live by Big Things Kentucky on its YouTube.com channel.
Saturday
Jock Sutherland Classic at Lafayette High School
Noon: Oldham County vs. Henry Clay.
1:45 p.m.: Shelby County at Lafayette.
3:30 p.m.: Frederick Douglass vs. Harlan County.
5:15 p.m.: South Laurel vs. Woodford County.
7 p.m.: Bryan Station vs. Danville Christian.
