When it comes to the top boys basketball teams in Kentucky this season, perhaps no coach has seen more of them than Trinity High School’s Mike Szabo.
Szabo’s Shamrocks — No. 5 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings — have played or scrimmaged No. 1 Covington Catholic, No. 2 Mercer County, No. 3 Paul Dunbar, No. 4 Henry Clay, No. 8 Bullitt East, No. 10 Ballard and No. 11 Male, along with four other top-20 teams.
And as district tournament play gets set to tip off around Kentucky on Monday, Szabo is in line with most observers this season: The race to the state championship is completely wide-open.
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“There are so many good teams,” Szabo said. “All of those teams (we’ve played) have a great chance in the postseason. A lot of it will depend on how teams match up with each other. That’s going to be really important this year and have an impact on a lot of games.”
District tournaments will run throughout the week, with champions and runners-up advancing to next week’s regional tournaments. The state’s 16 regional champions will advance to the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Sweet 16 set for March 16-20 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.
Determining a favorite for the title has been a season-long exercise in futility.
Taylor County was the preseason No. 1 in The C-J’s preseason poll of coaches but isn’t in the top 20 of the Litratings after a 7-7 start. (It’s worth noting the Cardinals are 12-1 over their past 13 games and recently added 6-foot-4 Dylan Gaines, a transfer from Warren East, to their roster.)
Covington Catholic, Mercer County and Paul Dunbar each have held the No. 1 spot in the Litratings this season, and Christian County (undefeated against Kentucky competition this season) is No. 1 in The Associated Press poll.
Szabo has said all season that Paul Dunbar has the best backcourt in the state with seniors Darius Williams and Jordan Lewis and junior Taveion Hollingsworth. But no team is immune to a bad matchup.
“Some teams like to play against pressing teams and have more success against that,” Szabo said. “Other teams maybe struggle against a half-court zone defense. A lot will depend on what teams are good at … and how those things match up against other teams.
“It’s going to be really interesting.”
Trinity’s own chances took a blow last week when junior guard Lucas Burkman was ruled out for the rest of the season with a foot injury. Burkman ranked third on the team in scoring (11.0 ppg) and first in 3-pointers made (61).
“I think we have as good of a chance as anybody,” Szabo said. “Our schedule was really tough … and in all six of our losses we were right there with a chance to win them all in the fourth quarter. This group always finds a way to compete.”
Here’s a look at three district tournaments to keep an eye on this week:
* Host Ballard and Eastern are favored to come out of the 28th District but could face tough semifinals Tuesday. Ballard will face Christian Academy at 6 p.m., and Eastern will meet Kentucky Country Day at 7:30 p.m. Ballard beat CAL 81-69 on Dec. 11, and Eastern defeated KCD 60-52 on Jan. 8.
* Covington Catholic faces a tough test against Holmes on Tuesday in a 35th District semifinal at Beechwood. The Colonels defeated the Bulldogs 57-49 on Jan. 29.
* Lafayette will host Lexington Catholic on Tuesday in a 43rd District semifinal that will eliminate a top team from the 11th Region championship hunt. The teams split their two regular-season meetings.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.