Holiday Classic offers possible state tourney preview. Because it almost always does.
The Traditional Bank Holiday Classic girls’ basketball tournament has been a bellwether for the state’s top girls’ teams for years.
Just since 2012, 11 of the 14 teams in the Classic’s finals have made that season’s Sweet Sixteen. And three times in that span, the pre-Christmas event has had the eventual state champion.
Christian Academy-Louisville, a Herald-Leader preseason No. 13, hopes to add its name to that storied list and got a standout defensive performance and some clutch play late to beat No. 11 Simon Kenton, 49-46, in Monday afternoon’s finals at Lexington Catholic High School.
“We’re building, obviously. We have a lot of growing to do but we’re getting better every single game,” said CAL’s Shelby Calhoun, a Virginia Tech signee and Miss Basketball candidate who was named the tournament’s MVP after scoring 14 points with nine rebounds and four assists in the title game. “It’s been fun, so far. We’re 10-1, and we’re going to keep it going.”
Down 30-27 at halftime, the Centurions denied passes and got steals to spark a 10-4 advantage in the third quarter marked by three Calhoun layups. The final one came off a steal and sent her all alone to the basket for a 36-34 lead at the 1:45 mark.
“We knew we weren’t playing the best in the first half and we just kind of gathered ourselves,” Calhoun said. “Defensive possession really stepped up in the second half.”
The Centurions never trailed again.
Sophomore Jaya McClure helped secure the win with a bold dribble out of a double team for a driving layup to extend the lead to 45-39 with 2:16 left and two free throws that helped set the final margin. McClure finished with 13 points and went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
“Simon Kenton is a very good team. They can shoot,” Calhoun said. “We just went out on the court and thought we were better. We pulled it out.”
Simon Kenton, who’s hot shooting and lock-down half-court defense helped thrash No. 8 Elizabethtown a day earlier, struggled shooting against CAL, especially in the second half, going just 7-for-21 from the field and 1-of-7 from behind the three-point arc after the break.
Simon Kenton Coach Jeff Stowers said he felt the Centurions willed themselves to the victory.
“We each played four games, but somebody had to have the gumption to come out there and decide they wanted to play,” Stowers said. “We had too many mistakes early.”
Simon Kenton (7-2) has played a difficult schedule and beaten some top teams, including defending champion and No. 1 Ryle (playing without Maddie Scherr that night) and No. 7 Clark County. Ryle lost this event last year and went on to win the Sweet Sixteen. Butler did the same thing in 2015. That fact was noted.
“That’s what we just discussed in there,” Stowers said pointing to his postgame talk. Stowers said developing his bench will be key to achieving their goals. “We’ll get our stuff together.”
The Centurions have a first-year coach and wins over No. 18 Butler and No. 21 Boyd County as they head into a regular season that will put No. 2 Sacred Heart in their path for the 7th Region crown. Simon Kenton’s only loss before Monday was 59-53 to Sacred Heart.
“(Simon Kenton) has been battle tested. This was really good for us to be tested by a team that has beaten some really good teams,” Christian Academy Coach Cameron Pridemore said.
Pridemore comes to CAL from Memphis and has been getting his crash course in Kentucky girls’ basketball. He did his research before taking over at CAL and liked what he saw. He likes it more, now.
“I think the potential is extremely high,” Pridemore said. “I still think it’s yet to be reached. They’re working hard in practice. … What I love about this team is that they just work hard every single day.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 8:45 PM.
