Male’s Emilia Sexton (5), shoots between the defense of Bullit East’s Lauren Masden (10), left, and Emmy Ralph (24) during the championship game of The Queen of The Commonwealth tournament, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016 in Mt. Washington KY. (Timothy D. Easley/Special to the C-J)
Nine of the top 20 girls basketball teams from Kentucky and several out-of-state powers will compete in this weekend’s Raatz Fence/O’Shea’s Basketball Classic at Mercy Academy.
The event set for Friday and Saturday will include a total of 12 games and feature teams from Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
Nine teams in the top 20 of The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings will be in action – No. 1 Butler, No. 2 Male, No. 3 Mercer County, No. 4 Manual, No. 6 Sacred Heart No. 8 Mason County, No. 9 Mercy, No. 13 Bullitt East and No. 18 Eastern.
Kentucky’s top four teams will play in consecutive games Saturday when Manual faces Mercer County at 2:45 p.m., Butler meets Lombard (Illinois) Montini Catholic at 4:15 p.m. and Male faces St. Louis Incarnate Word at 6 p.m.
Montini Catholic is 20-0 and ranked No. 10 in the nation by USA Today. Male, ranked No. 23 in the nation by USA Today, will face an Incarnate Word squad that is ranked No. 1 in the state in Missouri’s Class 4.
Here is the complete schedule (all times p.m. unless noted):
* Friday – Cincinnati Princeton vs. Assumption, 4:30; Huntington (W.Va.) St. Joseph Central Catholic vs. Bullitt East, 6; Mercer County vs. St. Louis Incarnate Word, 7:30; Toledo (Ohio) Rogers vs. Mercy, 9.
* Saturday – Christian Academy vs. Cincinnati Princeton, 10 a.m.; Sacred Heart vs. Huntington (W.Va.) St. Joseph Central Catholic, 11:30 a.m.; Bullitt East vs. Mason County, 1:15; Manual vs. Mercer County, 2:45; Butler vs. Lombard (Illinois) Montini Catholic, 4:15; St. Louis Incarnate Word vs. Male, 6; Mercy vs. Columbus (Ind.) North, 7:30; Eastern vs. Toledo (Ohio) Rogers, 9.