It's time once again for Louisville's unofficial city championship, the LIT. I love this event and really wish my schedule permitted me to attend as much of it this year as I did last year.

 

Tournament Schedule

All Games at Valley High School

 

Monday, Jan. 13

(20) Holy Cross vs. (13) Western, 3:30; (19) Kentucky Country Day vs. (14) Butler, 5:00; (17)Male vs. (16) Jeffersontown, 6:30; (18) Seneca vs. (15)DeSales, 8:15

 

Tuesday, Jan. 14

(10) Iroquois vs. (7) Manual, 3:30; (11) Eastern vs. (6) Doss , 5:00; (9) Fern Creek vs. (8) Waggener, 6:30; (12) Fairdale vs. (5) Pleasure Ridge Park, 8:15

 

Wednesday, Jan. 15

Male-Jeffersontown winner vs. (1) Bullitt East, 3:30; Holy Cross-Western winner vs. (4) St. Xavier, 5:00; Kentucky Country Day-Butler winner vs. (3) Ballard, 6:30; Seneca-DeSales winner vs. (2) Trinity, 8:15

 

Friday, Jan. 17

Quarterfinals at 4:00, 5:30, 7:00, 8:30

 

Saturday, Jan. 18

Semifinals at 10, 11:30 a.m.

Championship at 8:00 p.m.

 

 

Ranking the Teams

1) Ballard

2) Trinity

3) Doss

4) DuPont Manual

5) PRP

6) Bullitt East

7) St. Xavier

? Eastern

9) DeSales

10) Iroquois

11) Waggener

12) Fairdale

13) Western

14) Fern Creek

15) Jeffersontown

16) Male

17) Seneca

18) Butler

19) KCD

20) Holy Cross

 

 

Predictions

 

Quarterfinals

Bullitt East over Waggener

- There's little about their resume to suggest to me that Bullitt East should actually have been anywhere above the six seed in this year's tournament. I've been wrong before, but they simply don't have an encouraging list of games by which anyone can make a determination. In the end, they'll benefit greatly from that top seed and march to the semifinals. Waggener is having its best season in many years, compiling a 10-3 record. If they can get past Fern Creek in their opening game, a matchup with Bullitt East will provide an excellent measuring stick for the young Wildcats as they continue their resurgence in the Seventh Region.

 

PRP over St. Xavier

- This is a really intriguing possible quarterfinal and this could go either way if St. Xavier is playing at top form. If it happens, the Tigers will depend greatly on center Daniel Cecil to combat what will be a significant size advantage for a very long and athletic Panther squad.

 

Ballard over Doss

- In all the talk over Bullitt East's status as the greatest beneficiary of the SETH rankings, there's something to be said for Doss being the system's biggest loser. The Dragons are quite probably the best team in the Sixth Region and have ended up a No. 6 seed, situated in the pod with the No. 3 seed, Ballard, the tournament favorite.

 

Trinity over DuPont Manual

- This is another intriguing matchup, if only for the idea of finding out just how good DuPont Manual might be. Aside from the win against Bardstown, much of the analysis of Manual's best performances is derived from how well they've played in their losses rather than a list of their wins. Again like the Bardstown game, Manual's first round game in the tournament could allow them another revenge moment against a team the Crimsons lost to earlier in the season, Iroquois, who slid past Manual by a nose in a 77-76 game back on Dec. 19.

 

Semifinals

PRP over Bullitt East

- PRP's resume includes wins over Newport Central Catholic and Henry Clay as well as an impressive performances that came up just short against Scott County and Doss. PRP is long, athletic and skilled. The frontcourt that won the Sixth last year will only continue to come together as the season goes on.

Ballard over Trinity

- Anyone with a pair of eyeballs and a newspaper subscription could have seeded this tournament better than the SETH rankings. Ballard and Trinity are unquestionably the two best teams in Louisville and should this matchup happen on Saturday morning, it'll be must-see basketball once again. Pity this can't be the championship. Once again, Ballard's supremely talented senior duo of Quentin Snider and Kelan Martin will be the difference, though with Trinity's Ray Spalding playing a full game, don't expect another double-digit Bruin victory.

 

Championship

Ballard over PRP

- Ballard will likely continue their march to all major silverware in the city in 2013-14. With the King of the Bluegrass and LIT trophies in hand, the Bruins will begin preparation for March's Seventh Region Tournament.

A special addendum here. Big congratulations due to Louisville Holy Cross.

 

They defeated Moore in a play-in game last week and, by virtue of their win, qualified for the school's first LIT.

 

Congratulations and good luck to the Cougars.

Nice work, Getslow. Very nice.

Nice work, Getslow.

Second Special Addendum

 

Most Intriguing Pre-Quarterfinal Matchup

(6) Doss vs. (11) Eastern; Tuesday Jan. 14, 5:00 pm

-Eastern's rebuilding process has recently started bearing fruit for second-year coach David Henley. The Eagles are riding a five-game win streak into the LIT where they'll meet arguably the best team in the Sixth Region, Doss. This will be a great opportunity to see where both teams stand as we head into the second half of the season.

Great stuff my man.

Great stuff, as always, Getslow.

Good stuff Getslow!!! Wish I could make it again this year.

I wish Louisville was closer. And that I was independently wealthy & could just go to tournaments like this whenever I wanted.

 

Looking forward to how this tourney plays out. Very nice work Getslow. :thumb:

Good work Getslow. Love reading your posts and info. :thumb:

Great info!!!!:thumb:

For all complaining about seeding. Bullitt East has to play the winner of Jeffersontown and Male. Male lost to Ballard by 3. Fern Creek will beat Waggener. Ballard has the easiest draw. They won't be tested until they likely matchup with Trinity.

For all complaining about seeding. Bullitt East has to play the winner of Jeffersontown and Male. Male lost to Ballard by 3. Fern Creek will beat Waggener. Ballard has the easiest draw. They won't be tested until they likely matchup with Trinity.

 

Male is 7-6. That three point loss to Ballard is the best performance they have so far this season. They surprised me with that win over Bardstown in the Republic Bank Classic, but that's definitely their best win. Any victory they put together in this thing is going to come as a surprise to me and will look like an outlier in their resume to this point.

 

As for Ballard having the easiest draw... it didn't matter where they were put because they're miles better than any team in the tournament except for maybe Trinity. But Doss is 11-3 and has already beaten PRP. Doss is certainly better than any team in Bullitt East's pre-semifinal path.

Male is 7-6. That three point loss to Ballard is the best performance they have so far this season. They surprised me with that win over Bardstown in the Republic Bank Classic, but that's definitely their best win. Any victory they put together in this thing is going to come as a surprise to me and will look like an outlier in their resume to this point.

 

As for Ballard having the easiest draw... it didn't matter where they were put because they're miles better than any team in the tournament except for maybe Trinity. But Doss is 11-3 and has already beaten PRP. Doss is certainly better than any team in Bullitt East's pre-semifinal path.

 

I wouldn't put too much stock into records at this point. A few teams on this list haven't really played much competition. Ballard, has played the toughest schedule of course, but I'm not buying into Waggener. They very talented, but still a year away. I'll take Trinity to win it all. Ballard can outscore most teams, but they can't guard anyone. Trinity guards everyone. Trinity lost to Ballard by 11 at the KOB, without Spaulding.

I'll take Trinity to win it all. Ballard can outscore most teams, but they can't guard anyone. Trinity guards everyone. Trinity lost to Ballard by 11 at the KOB, without Spaulding.

 

A game between Trinity and Ballard when each has a full squad will be a sight to behold. It usually is.

 

I still think Bullitt East's path to the semifinals is the easiest in the tournament, if only due to the presence of Doss in Ballard's pod. And despite what you said, your doubt of Waggener's true ability in this tournament would suggest you're pretty close to agreeing with me...