Saturday’s draw for the Seventh Region boys basketball tournament seemed destined to produce an epic first-round matchup, and it didn’t disappoint.
Trinity and Male, both among the top 12 teams in the state in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings, will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a Seventh Region quarterfinal at the Shamrocks’ Steinhauser Gymnasium.
No. 4 Trinity defeated No. 12 Male 67-51 on Jan. 16 in a semifinal of the Louisville Invitational Tournament at Valley.
“That’s what everyone was saying: ‘Is there a good draw?’” Male coach Willie Feldhaus said. “There’s really not. We’ll have to play well, especially going on the road.”
Male-Trinity will be one of two top-20 matchups in the Seventh Region, as No. 19 Central will host No. 10 Ballard at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Central, Ballard, Trinity and Male all drew into the top half of the Seventh Region bracket. There are no ranked teams in the bottom half of the bracket, though the consensus is that St. Xavier, Waggener, Eastern and Manual are all capable of taking the title.
“If I stay here 10 years, I don’t know that you’ll have a region that’s more balanced than it’s going to be this year,” Feldhaus said.
The majority of regional-tournament draws were held around the state Saturday. Here’s a look at how the Louisville-area regionals shape up:
BOYS
All four Seventh Region quarterfinals will be rematches from the regular season.
Trinity used a strong fourth quarter to break open a tight game with Male in the LIT. Feldhaus said Trinity’s defense was the key.
“We had a hard time getting good looks,” Feldhaus said. “But this time of the year I’m not looking to change a whole lot. Our identity is set. We just need to do it better.”
MORE COVERAGE | Boys basketball regional tournament pairings
Ballard defeated Central 71-58 on Feb. 9 as junior Clivonte Patterson had 21 points and 12 rebounds.
The other quarterfinals will match Waggener at St. Xavier and Manual at Eastern. Waggener defeated St. X 53-49 on Dec. 15. Eastern beat Manual twice during an eight-day stretch, 53-47 on Jan. 5 and 56-54 on Jan. 12.
In the Sixth Region, No. 9 Bullitt East and No. 14 Doss drew on opposite sides of the bracket and could meet in the championship game.
Bullitt East will play at rival North Bullitt at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Chargers defeated the Eagles 80-71 on Feb. 12.
“What an atmosphere, hopefully, it’s going to be,” North Bullitt coach Korey Craddock said. “At this time of the year, everybody’s good. You’re going to have to beat somebody good at some point.”
Doss, the defending Sixth Region champion, will host Valley at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Dragons, who have won 11 of their past 12 games, defeated Valley 76-59 on Jan. 5.
Tuesday’s other 7 p.m. matchups will be Moore at Fern Creek and DeSales at Pleasure Ridge Park. Moore defeated Fern Creek 61-47 on Feb. 19. DeSales and PRP did not meet this season.
The Eighth Region draw is set for Sunday.
GIRLS
No. 8 Mercy got a tough quarterfinal matchup at North Bullitt at 6 p.m. Monday, but the Jaguars drew opposite of No. 2 Butler and No. 16 Bullitt East in the Sixth Region bracket.
“When you see the No. 2 team in the state draw opposite of you, that’s always a relief,” Mercy coach Keith Baisch said. “But we’re not going to be overlooking anybody. We know North Bullitt and PRP are teams to reckon with.”
Butler and Bullitt East could meet in a semifinal at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday at Valley. The Bearettes defeated the Chargers 72-52 on Dec. 8.
MORE COVERAGE | Girls basketball regional tournament pairings
The Seventh Region draw appeared balanced, with Wednesday’s possible semifinal matchups being No. 3 Male against No. 13 Sacred Heart and No. 7 Eastern against No. 12 Manual. Male will host the highest-rated district runner-up, Christian Academy, at 6 p.m. Monday.
The Eighth Region Tournament will start Monday at Shelby County. No. 15 Simon Kenton is the top-ranked team in the field and will face Collins in a quarterfinal at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.