Several of the state’s best girls’ basketball teams and two squads ranked among the top five in the nation will compete in this weekend’s Raatz Fence/O’Shea’s Classic at Mercy Academy.
The two-day event will tip off with three games Friday, starting at 6 p.m. Seven games are scheduled for Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.
Eight teams in the Top 20 of The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings are in the field: No. 2 Anderson County, No. 3 Butler, No. 4 Bullitt East, No. 8 Ballard, No. 9 Sacred Heart, No. 16 Manual, No. 18 Eastern and No. 20 Mercy.
The marquee game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday when St. Louis Incarnate Word faces Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Blackman. Incarnate Word is No. 1 in USA Today’s Super 25, and Blackman is No. 5. Incarnate Word beat Blackman 53-44 on Jan. 1 in the American Division final of the Naples (Fla.) Holiday Shootout.
Tickets for adults are $6 on Friday and $7 on Saturday. Tickets are $5 for seniors and high school students, $3 for 12 and under and free for preschool children.
Here is the schedule:
Notre Dame vs. Ballard, 6 p.m.; Twinsburg (Ohio) vs. Mercy, 7:30; Anderson County vs. Huntington (W.Va.) St. Joseph Central Catholic, 9Friday:
* Christian Academy vs. North Bullitt, 11 a.m.; Butler vs. Notre Dame, 12:30 p.m.; Manual vs. Twinsburg, 2; Mercy vs. St.Joseph Central Catholic, 3:45; Sacred Heart vs. Anderson County, 5:15; St. Louis Incarnate Word vs. Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Blackman, 7; Bullitt East vs. Eastern, 8:30Saturday:
Joe B. Hall Classic on Saturday
Eight boys’ basketball teams in the Litratings’ Top 20 will compete in Saturday’s Joe B. Hall Classic Kentucky Prep Classic at Montgomery County.
The five-game event will be capped at 8:30 p.m. by a meeting of the state’s only two undefeated teams: No. 10 Wayne County (18-0) and No. 13 Montgomery County (16-0). Both teams also have games Friday, with Wayne County playing at Pulaski County and Montgomery County traveling to Bourbon County.
Also in the Joe B. Hall event will be No. 4 Trinity, No. 5 Hopkinsville, No. 8 Holmes, No. 11 Knott County Central, No. 15 Henry Clay and No. 18 Perry County Central.
Henry Clay vs. Hopkinsville, 1:30 p.m.; Perry County Central vs. Pulaski Southwestern, 3:15; Fleming County vs. Knott County Central, 5; Holmes vs. Trinity, 6:45; Montgomery County vs. Wayne County, 8:30The schedule:
Top wrestlers to compete at South Oldham
Several of the state’s highest-ranked wrestling teams will be in the 21st annual Dragon Invitational on Saturday at South Oldham.
Twelve of the 17 teams are in the KentuckyWrestling.com Top 25: No. 3 Woodford County, No. 4 Trinity, No. 5 St. Xavier, No. 6 Moore, No. 10 Henry Clay, No. 12 Walton-Verona, No. 13 Oldham County, No. 14 Fern Creek, No. 16 Scott, No. 17 Lafayette, No. 22 Southern and No. 24 North Oldham.
Weigh-ins are scheduled for 8 a.m., with wrestling to start at 10. Admission is $8 for adults and $4 for students.
St. X’s Parker honored
St. Xavier senior rugby player Wes Parker has been named a high school All-American and will compete in this weekend’s USA Sevens Rugby Tournament in Las Vegas. He was added to the roster after his performance in an invitation-only camp last month in Tempe, Ariz.
“Being selected to attend the … camp in Tempe, Ariz., and then to actually be selected for the Sevens team to compete in Las Vegas against teams from all over the world is thrilling,” Parker said in a release. “I am very honored.”
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Parker was one of 24 players selected to the USA squad.
