While others debate its credentials, the Bullitt East High School boys’ basketball team simply continues to win.

Rhett Troutman scored 28 points and Bullitt East overcame an early 10-point deficit to beat Jeffersontown 63-54 on Wednesday in the second round of the Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament at Valley.

Bullitt East improved to 15-1, though some have questioned whether it deserved the No. 1 LIT seed over Ballard or Trinity.

“It doesn’t really bother us,” said Troutman, who missed Friday’s 66-64 victory over Whitefield Academy with a knee injury. “We’re just focused on coming in and getting wins and taking care of business.”

Tyler Sharpe had 12 points and three steals and Tyler Bacon added 10 points as Bullitt East advanced to face Fern Creek (12-4) in Friday’s 4 p.m. quarterfinal.

Brandon Marshall had 19 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals to lead Jeffersontown (7-9), which shot just 33.9 percent and was 5 of 32 from 3-point range.

“There was some frustration,” J’town coach Clay Moody said. “If you’re missing some easy looks, you get frustrated. But there are no excuses. Our guys have to continue to compete and play …”

J’town scored 13 straight points to take a 25-15 lead with 4:48 left in the second quarter, forcing Bullitt East coach Bob Blackburn to call his second timeout of the period.

“We’re a good defensive team when we choose to play that way, but we kind of lost sight of that end of the floor,” Blackburn said. “It’s amazing when your defense improves, along comes your offense.”

Bullitt East got the message, scoring the final 13 points of the half for a 28-25 lead. Troutman scored eight points during the run.

Bullitt East pushed its lead to 32-25 before Marshall scored to end a seven-minute scoring drought with 5:48 left in the third quarter.

Troutman had a 3-pointer and a 3-point play to make it 49-35 with 6:00 before J’town made a final run. Brandon Johnson’s 3-pointer cut it to 53-48 with 2:04 left, but Bullitt East hit 8 of 12 free throws in the final 1:41.

* The Bruins (15-4) rolled as expected, placing five players in double-figure scoring. Ballard 90, Kentucky Country Day 57:

The biggest drama came early in the third quarter when U of L signee Quentin Snider fell and suffered a cut over his right eye. He received two stitches, returned to start the fourth quarter and finished with 15 points and five assists.

“I wasn’t going to back down,” Snider said. “I was just going to stay attacking.”

Butler signee Kelan Martin had a game-high 19 points and added eight rebounds and four steals. Ballard will face Doss (12-3) in Friday’s 8:30 p.m. quarterfinal.

* Daniel Ramser had 13 points, Ray Spalding added 12 points and eight rebounds and the second-seeded Shamrocks (12-2) seized a big early lead, then held off the 18th-seeded Colts (12-5).Trinity 60, DeSales 45:

Trinity, No. 5 in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings, led 24-7 early in the second quarter, but DeSales got within 29-20 at halftime. The Shamrocks then went ahead 54-34 in the fourth before letting the Colts score 10 straight and bring a little cause for concern.

“We play pretty good basketball for spurts, but we just don’t do it long enough,” Trinity coach Mike Szabo said.

He hopes for a more consistent effort when Trinity faces 10th-seeded and 10th-ranked Iroquois in Friday’s 7 p.m. quarterfinal.

Chase Shellman and Nick Phillips scored 16 points apiece to lead DeSales.

Wednesday’s results

(1) Bullitt East 63, (16) Jeffersontown 54

(4) St. Xavier 68, (13) Western 65, OT

(3) Ballard 90, (19) KCD 57

(2) Trinity 60, (15) DeSales 45

Friday’s quarterfinals

(9) Fern Creek (12-4) vs. (1) Bullitt East (15-1), 3:30

(5) PRP (12-4) vs. (4) St. Xavier (13-2), 5:30

(10) Iroquois (13-2) vs. (2) Trinity (12-2), 7

(6) Doss (12-3) vs. (3) Ballard (15-4), 8:30

– Marshall 19, Amos 2, Williams 10, Johnson 14, Starks 2, Stigall 2, Mercer 3, Minor 2.Jeffersontown (7-9)

-Sharpe 12, Rakes 7, R. Troutman 28, Farris 4, E. Troutman 2, Bacon 10.Bullitt East (15-1)

– Marshall, Williams, Johnson 2, Mercer, Sharpe 2, R. Troutman.3-point goals

– Mathis 14, McCray 4, Carter 2, Lyles 13, Ferguson 11, Cavanaugh 2, Tallon 3, Green 6, Semeov 2.KCD (10-6)

– Dow 4, Martin 19, Snider 15, Robinson 12, Berry 7, Perry 11, Wilson 10, Hammonds 1, Kovacevic 9, Ramsey 2.Ballard (15-4)

– Mathis, Lyles, Ferguson, Tallon, Martin, Snider, Berry, Kovacevic 3.3-point goals

: Shellman 16, Phillips 16, Roush 6, Sullivan 6, Tubb 1.DeSales (12-5)

Ramser 13, Spalding 12, Thieneman 9, Stafford 6, Owens 6, Ivory 6, Murphy 5, Schmidt 2, Levich 1.Trinity (12-2):

Phillips 2, Shellman 2, Sullivan 2; Ramser 2, Stafford, Murphy.3-point goals: