Fern Creek head basketball coach James Schooler, III talks to his players during a time-out. 16 December 2016
BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS
All times p.m. unless otherwise noted
CITY OF MIDDLETOWN HOLIDAY CLASSIC
At Eastern
* Tuesday – Mayfield vs. Central, 10:30 a.m.; Meade County vs. Eastern, noon; Central vs. Bardstown, 2:30; Beechwood vs. Meade County, 4; Bardstown vs. Mayfield, 6:30; Eastern vs. Beechwood, 8
* Wednesday – Fifth-place game, 2; third-place game, 4; final, 6
WES UNSELD CLASSIC
At Seneca (two gyms)
* Tuesday – Caverna vs. Calloway County, 1; Grant County vs. Seneca, 3; Bryan Station vs. North Hardin, 5; Paducah Tilghman vs. Ballard, 7
* Wednesday – Consolation games at 11 a.m. and 1; semifinals at 11 a.m. and 1
* Thursday – Seventh-place games, 1; third-place game, 3; fifth-place game, 5; final, 7
MITCHELL IRVIN CLASSIC
At South Oldham
* Tuesday – Kentucky Country Day vs. Fern Creek, 2; North Oldham vs. Dixie Heights, 4; Danville vs. Atherton, 6; South Oldham vs. Shawnee, 8
* Wednesday – Consolation games at 2 and 4; semifinals at 6 and 8
* Thursday – Seventh-place game, 2; fifth-place game, 4; third-place game, 6; final, 8
BETH HAVEN HOLIDAY CLASSIC
* Wednesday – Collegiate vs. Evangel Christian, 4:30; Beth Haven vs. Portland Christian, 6; Bethlehem vs. Collegiate, 7:30
* Thursday – Model vs. Portland Christian, 4:30; Bethlehem vs. Evangel Christian, 6; Beth Haven vs. Model, 7:30
* Friday – Fifth-place game, 4:30; third-place game, 6; final, 7:30
GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS
All times p.m. unless otherwise noted
WHITEFIELD ACADEMY CHRISTMAS CLASSIC
* Wednesday – Kentucky Country Day vs. Doss, 2; Beth Haven vs. Sayre, 3:45; Whitefield Academy vs. Rock Creek (Indiana), 5:30; Shawnee vs. Bath County, 7:15
* Thursday – Consolation games at 2 and 3:45; semifinals at 5:30 and 7:15
* Friday – Seventh-place game, 10 a.m.; fifth-place game, 11:45 a.m.; third-place game, 1:30; final, 3:15
LADY TROJANS WINTER TOURNAMENT
At Southern
* Wednesday – Southern vs. Pleasure Ridge Park, 3; Seneca vs. Oldham County, 4:30; Floyd Central vs. Valley, 6; Atherton vs. North Oldham, 7:30
* Thursday – Consolation games at 3 and 4:30; semifinals at 6 and 7:30
* Friday – Seventh-place game, 3; third-place game, 4:30; fifth-place game, 6; final, 7:30
LADY ROCKET HOLIDAY CLASSIC
At Shelby County
* Wednesday – Fern Creek vs. Holy Cross, 6; Shelby County vs. Fleming County, 7:30
* Thursday – Fern Creek vs. Shelby County, 10:30 a.m.; Holy Cross vs. Fleming County, noon; Fleming County vs. Fern Creek, 3:30; Shelby County vs. Holy Cross, 5
Two of the Louisville area’s hottest boys basketball teams in the early weeks of the season are entered in this week’s Mitchell Irvin Classic.
Host South Oldham High School (11-0) and Fern Creek (9-1) – No. 8 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s preseason poll of coaches – are entered in the eight-team field. The event will start Tuesday and run through Thursday’s 8 p.m. championship game.
South Oldham and Fern Creek are on opposite sides of the bracket and could meet in the final.
South Oldham, the reigning Eighth Region champion, is averaging 12.4 made 3-pointers per game and is shooting 42.2 percent from behind the arc. The Dragons are winning by an average margin of 21.3 points per game and are led by senior guard Joe Griffin (23.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg).
Fern Creek finished in fifth place in last week’s King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic at Fairdale. Junior guard Anthony Wales, who has committed to Samford University, was selected to the all-tournament team.
Also in the Mitchell Irvin Classic field will be Kentucky Country Day, North Oldham, Dixie Heights, Danville, Atherton, Shawnee.
Here is a look at where other Louisville-area teams are headed this week (all times Eastern):
BOYS
* Manual is the only Louisville-area team in the field for the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic. The tournament will start Monday and run through Friday’s 7:30 p.m. final. Ranked teams in the field are No. 3 Paul Dunbar, No. 12 Lexington Catholic, No. 14 Cooper, No. 20 Graves County, No. 23 South Laurel and No. 24 Perry County Central.
* No. 15 Pleasure Ridge Park, Moore and Southern are entered in the inaugural Ted Throckmorten Memorial Tournament at Jeffersonville, starting Tuesday and running through Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. final.
* Eastern will host the City of Middletown Holiday Classic on Tuesday and Wednesday (6 p.m. final). Central also is in the field.
* No. 2 Trinity will play in the Arby’s Classic in Bristol, Tennessee, starting Tuesday and running through Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. final.
* No. 6 Ballard and No. 10 North Hardin headline the field for the Wes Unseld Classic at Seneca, starting Tuesday and running through Thursday’s 7 p.m. final.
* Butler, Holy Cross and Oldham County are entered in the Apollo Holiday Invitational, starting Tuesday and ending with Thursday’s 8 p.m. final. No. 19 Newport Central Catholic headlines the field.
* No. 25 Bullitt East and DeSales are entered in the 62nd annual Ashland Invitational Tournament, starting Tuesday and running through Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. championship game.
* Christian Academy, Collins and Shelby County are entered in the Henry County Invitational, starting Tuesday and ending with Thursday’s 8:30 p.m. final.
* Jeffersontown will play in the Lake Cumberland Holiday Hoops Classic in Somerset, starting Tuesday and ending with Thursday’s 8:15 p.m. final. No. 13 Pulaski County leads the field.
* Bullitt Central is entered in the South Central Bank Halton Classic at Allen County-Scottsville on Wednesday and Thursday (5 p.m. final).
* St. Xavier will travel to Orlando, Florida, for the Jim Clark Hornet Holiday Classic, starting Wednesday and running through Friday’s 9 p.m. final.
* No. 11 Doss and Male will represent Louisville in the Meijer Holiday Classic at Bowling Green, starting Wednesday and ending with Friday’s 8:45 p.m. final. No. 1 Bowling Green and No. 22 Franklin-Simpson also are in the field.
* Waggener will travel to Sarasota, Florida for the 25th annual Suncoast Holiday Tournament, starting Wednesday and running through Friday’s 7:45 p.m. final.
* North Bullitt will travel to the Magnolia Bank Holiday Classic at LaRue County set for Wednesday-Friday (7:30 p.m. final).
* Western will travel to the Joe Machens Great 8 Classic in Jefferson City, Missouri, set for Wednesday-Friday (8 p.m. final).
* The 33rd annual Beth Haven Classic is set for Wednesday-Friday (7:30 p.m. championship). Joining the Bearcats in the field will be Model, Portland Christian, Collegiate, Bethlehem and Evangel Christian.
* Iroquois will play in the Nelson County Classic, a round-robin event set for Wednesday-Friday.
* Fairdale will travel to Panama City, Florida, for the Bay Barnstorm Christmas Classic set for Thursday-Saturday.
GIRLS
* Assumption will travel to Charleston, South Carolina, for the Carolina Invitational, starting Tuesday and running through Thursday’s 2 p.m. final.
* No. 1 Butler will play in the Winterfest Shootout in Sevierville, Tennessee, running Tuesday-Friday (7 p.m. final).
* Collins and Spencer County are entered in the Citizens National Bank Classic at West Jessamine, starting Tuesday and running through Thursday’s final.
* Brown will play in the Christmas at the Capital Classic at Frankfort running Tuesday-Thursday (7:15 p.m. championship game).
* No. 17 Eastern is entered in the Lake Cumberland Holiday Hoops Classic set for Tuesday-Thursday (5:15 p.m. final).
* No. 5 Male (Starfish Bracket) and North Bullitt (Sand Dollar Bracket) are both entered in the Destin (Florida) Holiday Classic set for Wednesday-Friday.
* No. 4 Sacred Heart will play in the Naples (Florida) Holiday Shootout starting Wednesday and running through Friday’s 5 p.m. final.
* No. 7 Bullitt East is entered in the Ruby Division of the Queen of Palms Basketball Classic set for Wednesday-Friday (8:30 p.m. final) in Fort Myers, Florida.
* Collegiate and Western will play in the Villa Madonna Holiday Invitational, a round-robin event set for Wednesday-Friday.
* No. 13 Mercy will play in the Farmers National Bank Holiday Bash set for Wednesday-Friday (8 p.m. final) at No. 16 South Warren.
* Fairdale will travel to Panama City, Florida, for the Marlins Holiday Classic set for Wednesday-Friday.
* Christian Academy will travel to West Palm Beach, Florida, for the Palm Beaches Holiday Classic, starting Wednesday and running through Friday’s final.
* The Whitefield Academy Christmas Classic will start Wednesday and run through Friday’s 3:15 p.m. final. Also in the field are Kentucky Country Day, Doss, Beth Haven, Sayre, Rock Creek (Indiana), Shawnee and Bath County.
* Presentation and South Oldham will play in the North American Stainless Basketball Tournament set for Wednesday-Friday (7:15 p.m. final).
* Southern will host the Lady Trojans Winter Tournament, starting Wednesday and running through Friday’s 7:30 p.m. championship game. Also in the field will be Pleasure Ridge Park, Seneca, Oldham County, Floyd Central, Valley, Atherton and North Oldham.
* Shelby County will host the Lady Rocket Holiday Classic, a round-robin event set for Wednesday-Friday and also including Fern Creek, Holy Cross and Fleming County.
* No. 11 Manual will face St. Joe’s Catholic of West Virginia at 2:40 p.m. Thursday in the Braggin’ Rights Classic in Cincinnati.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.