Trinity forward David Burton tries to slow down the driving Fern Creek guard Chance Moore on his way to the basket. 18 December 2016
The two hottest boys basketball teams from the city over the first five weeks of the season wrapped up the top two seeds for next week’s Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament.
Top-seeded Fern Creek and No. 2 Trinity – both off to 12-1 starts – lead the way for the tournament to be held Jan. 9-14 at Valley High School.
The event will include the top 20 teams from the Sixth and Seventh regions in the SETH Power Rankings, a system created by Jefferson County Public Schools director of athletics Jerry Wyman.
No. 3 Doss (10-5) and No. 4 Ballard (8-2) round out the top four seeds.
Fern Creek enjoyed a strong showing in its two Christmas tournament, taking fifth place in the Forcht Bank King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic at Fairdale and capturing the title in the Mitchell Irvin Classic, beating host South Oldham 80-67 in Thursday’s final.
The Tigers beat Trinity 65-61 on Dec. 10 before falling to the Shamrocks 66-63 on Dec. 18 in the quarterfinals of the KOB. Four players are averaging double figures in scoring – senior Chance Moore (18.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and junior Anthony Wales (14.4 ppg), Ahmad Price (13.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and Tony Rogers (10.3 ppg).
Trinity is on a nine-game winning streak since its loss to Fern Creek, winning the championships at the KOB and the Arby’s Classic in Bristol, Tennessee. The Shamrocks beat Chattanooga (Tennessee) McCallie 69-50 in Saturday’s final of the Arby’s Classic.
Here is the bracket for next week's boys basketball LIT at Valley High School: https://t.co/gTARoGW84I
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Jason Frakes (@kyhighs) January 02, 2017The Shamrocks are led by junior Jay Scrubb (15.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg), senior Lukas Burkman (14.1 ppg) and sophomore David Johnson (12.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg). Johnson was named the MVP in the KOB and the Arby’s Classic.
Manual (2-9) was the last team to make the LIT field, according to the SETH Rankings. The first two teams left out were Collegiate (11-4) and Kentucky Country Day (4-6).
Ballard is the defending LIT champion, beating Trinity 58-54 in last year’s final.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
Here are the pairings for the boys basketball Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament set for Jan. 9-14 at Valley High School. All times p.m. unless otherwise noted; seeds in parentheses:
* Monday, Jan. 9: Jeffersontown (19) vs. Central (14), 3:30; Manual (20) vs. Christian Academy (13), 5; Moore (18) vs. St. Xavier (13), 6:30; Western (17) vs. Fairdale (16), 8:15.
* Tuesday, Jan. 10: Male (10) vs. Waggener (7), 3:30; Eastern (9) vs. Butler (8), 5; DeSales (11) vs. Valley (6), 6:30; Pleasure Ridge Park (12) vs. Bullitt East (5), 8:15.
* Wednesday, Jan. 11: Jeffersontown-Central winner vs. Doss (3), 3:30; Western-Fairdale winner vs. Fern Creek (1), 5; Manual-Christian Academy winner vs. Ballard (4), 6:30; Moore-St. Xavier winner vs. Trinity (2), 8:15.
* Friday, Jan. 13: Quarterfinals at 4, 5:30, 7 and 8:45.
* Saturday, Jan. 14: Semifinals at 10 and 11:30 a.m.; final at 8.