4 days, 16 games, 5 things: What we’ve learned about Kentucky high school basketball
High school basketball junkies could get a crash course on some of the best teams in the state in Lexington last weekend between the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic and the Central Bank Classic at Lexington Christian.
Personally, I watched 16 games and parts of others in four days. Here are five things I think I’ve learned.
No clear favorite
Our Herald-Leader preseason poll of coaches ranked their best guesses as to who would be the top contenders come March. That might bear out yet, but it was a rocky December for many. And that’s by design.
No. 1 Male lost to No. 20 North Oldham in Louisville’s King of the Bluegrass.
North Oldham saw its Auburn commit, Justin Powell, get hurt and its team fall to a rising Frederick Douglass on the first day of the LexCath event.
No. 3 Madisonville lost to No. 5 Collins at the King of the Bluegrass by a single point but looked unbeatable for a half against No. 17 Bourbon County on Sunday night in Lexington. Then the Maroons lost on a miracle shot to undefeated No. 22 Lexington Catholic in overtime in the Classic title game.
Collins also had a quality win over No. 10 Trinity before nearly getting beaten by Tates Creek on Friday and then falling to Bourbon County on Saturday.
“Sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn’t,” said Madisonville Coach Matt Beshear after his Maroons lost on a crazy tip-in at the buzzer Monday night. “I can sleep good at night if I know we’ve given a great effort. And I feel like we have. The last eight days, playing at the King of the Bluegrass and then coming up here and playing four more, I’m really proud of my guys’ mental and physical toughness.”
Douglass looks dangerous
Frederick Douglass knocked off preseason No. 6 Henry Clay in the season opener and went 2-2 at the LexCath event with wins over No. 20 North Oldham and No. 19 Bardstown.
In their 86-80 win over Bardstown, Douglass’ Dashawn Jackson scored 35 points and Jaylin Green added 16. In beating North Oldham, the pair had 26 and 21, respectively. Bardstown had five double-figure scorers, led by Louisville signee JJ Traynor, and it didn’t matter.
Despite losses in the next two games to Bourbon County and LexCath, Coach Kurt Young drew positives.
“These are all teams that are quality that are hopefully going to help us prepare for the future,” Young said. “They’re stepping up. That’s what we’ve been telling them. ‘Accept that challenge.’”
Other city teams show fight
After losing a heartbreaker to Collins, 65-63, Friday, Tates Creek rolled through the consolation bracket with wins over Cooper, Central and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
“We learned to stay together as a team and play through adversity and play our roles to a T,” said Creek’s Amari Taylor. “We’ve got to get back to practice and work hard still — take no more days off. We feel like we played good in this tournament and finished it out strong.”
Coach Jarrod Gay valued the adversity the tournament brought as it offered the opportunity to learn and get better. Now, it’s back to work on the practice court.
“A lot of times, these kids, they watch film for highlights and they’re not watching for to correct a mistake or things like that,” Gay said of how they’ll get better from here. “We drill them on everything, if it’s a jump stop, if it’s taking charges, boxing out, denying — we’re going to drill it.”
Dunbar has size and athleticism, but remains young with nine sophomores, including leading scorer Tim Hall. Despite a 4-7 record, the Bulldogs battle and went 2-2 in the tournament.
“We’ve just got to learn how to play,” Coach Scott Chalk said. “Our basketball IQ is going to get better every game, so we’re going to get better every game. Our whole goal is by the end of the year, we’re pretty competitive in our district.”
Over at Lexington Christian at the Central Bank Classic, the host Eagles were down 10 points with less than three minutes to play against No. 24 Lincoln County and rallied to a 56-55 win. Tanner Walton scored 25 in that semifinal, including the layup and foul shot to put them in the lead with seven seconds left.
These guys are good
Last weekend’s tournaments showed off 10 of the Herald-Leader preseason list’s top 25 players. Some showed out.
Madisonville’s Kenny White had a triple double against Bourbon County with 22 points, 11 boards and 10 blocks on Saturday. His teammate Ksuan Casey’s best night was against Lexington Catholic with 25 points.
LexCath’s Ben Johnson showed why he’s regarded as one of the best juniors in the state with 35 points against the Maroons.
Dayvion McKnight, the preseason No. 1 player, hit a clutch shot with two second left to beat Tates Creek and exchanged leading scoring honors each game with teammate Marcellus Vail who had a high of 21 against Simon Kenton. McKnight put 25 on Beechwood.
Beechwood’s Scotty Draud had 21 against Paintsville. Martin County’s Trey James, a 6-10 junior who has an offer from Wake Forest, helped salvage a win against Madison Central, the Cardinals’ only victory in a brutal stretch of six holiday tournament games.
JJ Traynor averaged more than 18 points per game for Bardstown, though the Tigers went 1-2 in Lexington. Justin Powell’s injury in the second half against Douglass derailed North Oldham’s weekend. The Auburn commit had been held to five points.
McCracken County’s Jackson Sivills looked like a Mr. Basketball contender against a Clark County team that will contend for the 10th Region title. The Murray State commit scored 33 against the Cardinals, including going 5-for-9 from three-point range.
Hail Catholic
Lexington Catholic has benefited from same late-game fortune in keeping its record unblemished at 12-0.
In knocking off No. 2 Covington Catholic in its opener, a late foul call put LexCath at the free-throw line in the final seconds. Against No. 3 Madisonville, the game was decided on an answered prayer.
Fortune or not, the Knight are for real. They rarely hurt themselves and apply just enough pressure to make opponents uncomfortable. There’s no question Johnson makes the Knights go and when he gets hot, he seems unstoppable.
But Lexington Catholic takes nothing for granted.
“We play in the toughest district in the toughest region in the state of Kentucky,” Coach Brandon Salsman said after the Knights’ first crown in their own tournament since 2013. “As much as we want to celebrate stuff like this and do things that are a lot of fun with it, in the end, we’ve still got a district game on Tuesday and another one the next Tuesday. We’ve got a lot of things to focus on. … We’re going back to work.”
Next: Girls’ shootout
Some of the top girls’ teams in the state will be showcased Saturday at Franklin County High School in the Centria Metals/Penn Station Shootout.
Matchups include No. 1 Ryle vs. No. 4 Scott County at 8 p.m., No. 2 Sacred Heart vs. No. 6 South Laurel at 3:30 p.m. and No. 5 Southwestern vs. No. 12 Bethlehem at 12:30 p.m. The host, No. 9 Franklin County, takes on Dixie Heights at 6:30 p.m. There are 10 games total.
