article 7th Region Week 8 Review - With David Johnson Back, Trinity Is Looking Strong

[Smallhoops]

Congratulations to the Trinity Shamrocks, winners of the 72nd Louisville Invitational Tournament. Seventh Region teams fared well in the LIT, with the semi-finals made up of four Seventh Region teams (Trinity, Waggener, Ballard, and Seneca). In fact, three of those teams (Trinity, Waggener, and Seneca) are all in the 27th district. Looking ahead, it will be a shame that one of those teams will not make it to the Seventh Region tournament.

 

Congratulations also go out to the Christian Academy Centurions, who advanced to the semi-finals of the 2A tournament in Owensboro. The Centurions continue to get better as the season progresses.

 

We now have four weeks left in the regular season. With several teams getting key players back from injury recently, it is time to gel and get ready for the post-season. It should be fun the rest of the way.

TEAM RANKINGS

1. Trinity Shamrocks (15-5)

 

Led by tournament Most Valuable Player David Johnson and fellow all-tournament team members Jamil Hardaway and Kamari Kenemore, the Trinity Shamrocks were crowned champions of Louisville on Saturday by when it won the 72nd Louisville Invitational Tournament. This was Trinity’s 6th LIT championship, all coming under Coach Mike Szabo since 2005. The Rocks opened the LIT with a 67-47 win over Bullitt Central, a game in which Stan Turnier led Trinity with 15 points. Trinity followed that up with a 61-51 win over Male, with Johnson scoring 25 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Waggener presented a serious challenge to the Shamrocks in the semi-finals before Trinity prevailed 44-41. Trinity was not so challenged in the championship game against Seneca, with Trinity leading throughout while prevailing 57-40. Trinity has won all 5 of the games it has played since David Johnson’s return from injury. Trinity goes out of the Region for all three of its games this week, playing Henry Clay, Madison Central, and Woodford County.

 

2. Waggener Wildcats (17-3)

 

Waggener opened the LIT with an easy 82-49 win over the Valley Vikings, with JJ Kalakon leading the Wildcats with 21 points. In Waggener’s 50-49 second round overtime win over Jeffersontown, Jocobi Hendricks went off for 28 points, including the game-winning shot with 11 seconds left in overtime. Hendricks hit all 5 of his 3-point shots against J’Town. Waggener then went toe-to-toe with Trinity in the semi-finals, and led 39-34 with a little over 6 minutes to play. But a 10-2 run by Trinity to close the game left the Wildcats on the short end of a 44-41 final score. Kevion Hudson led the balanced Wildcats with 11 points in that one. Kalakon and Hendricks made the LIT all-tournament team. Waggener has a nice match-up with the Male Bulldogs on Tuesday and then plays Western on Friday.

3. Ballard Bruins (11-8)

 

Led by Walter Johnson’s 25 points, the Bruins beat the Doss Dragons in the first round of the LIT 73-62. Johnson followed that up with a 16-point performance in the Bruins’ 49-41 win over the PRP Panthers. In the semi-finals against Seneca, Ballard led by 8 early in the 3rd quarter before Seneca went on a run to go up by 5. Still, Ballard battled back to tie the game with about a minute left but then could not respond when Seneca went up 61-59 with 33 seconds left. Lewis Richards led the Bruins against Seneca with 19 points. Walter Johnson and Rashad Bishop made the LIT all-tournament team. Ballard plays Jeffersontown on Tuesday before a match-up with St. X on Friday.

 

4. Seneca Redhawks (13-7)

 

Seneca advanced to the championship game of the LIT for the first time since 2004. Seneca opened the LIT with a 79-56 win over SeSales, with Timothy Gordon scoring 26 points and Richard Ninamou adding 21. The Redhawks then beat Bullitt East 74-54, as Gordon hit 7 of 9 3-pointers on his way to a total of 32 points and Ninamou (19 points, 14 rebounds) and Carl Parker (12 points, 12 rebounds) recording double-doubles. Seneca achieved its best win of the season in the semi-finals against the Ballard Bruins. The teams had gone back and forth for most of the game before Parker’s 2 free throws with 33 seconds left put Seneca ahead 61-59. Despite having a couple of shots, Ballard could not score thereafter. Parker had a terrific game with 25 points and 9 rebounds. Unfortunately, the Redhawks saw their winning ways come to an end in the championship game against Trinity, losing to the Rocks 57-40. Gordon, Ninamou and Parker were all named to the all-tournament team. The Redhawks play Moore on Tuesday and Shawnee on Friday.

5. St. Xavier Tigers (12-5)

 

The Tigers lost in the opening round of the LIT to Pleasure Ridge Park 47-44. St. X came back from being down by 11 going into the 4th quarter and had a shot to tie at the end of the game, but Sebian Dillard’s 3-pointer at the buzzer was off. Dillard led St. X with 15 points. After being eliminated from the LIT, the Tigers scheduled a game against Doss on Thursday night, which the Tigers won 57-55. The Tigers will look to add to its winning ways Tuesday against Eastern and Friday against Ballard.

 

6. Male Bulldogs (11-6)

 

Behind Tyren Moore’s 25 points, including the game-winning basket with 3 seconds to go, Male beat Fern Creek 38-36 in the first round of this week LIT. It was not a game of beauty, as the two teams combined to go 0 for 19 on 3-point shooting. In the quarter-finals against Trinity, Moore scored 18 points, and had a 4-point play that pulled the Bulldogs within 4 (55-51) with a little over a minute to play. But Male could get no closer, and Trinity prevailed 61-51. Noah Courtney contributed 14 against Trinity. Moore made the all-tournament team. The Bulldogs will return to action on Tuesday with what should be a good match-up against Waggener. They also play Valley on Friday and at Christ Preparatory Academy in Nashville, TN, on Saturday.

7. Central Yellowjackets (12-4)

 

Central fell 56-48 in the first round of the LIT to Jeffersontown, a team it had beat earlier in the season. The Yellowjackets were down by just 2 with a little over 3 minutes to play, which is somewhat remarkable in light of Central being outrebounded 46-29 and shooting 21% for the second half (which included scoring only 4 points in the 4th quarter). This week, Central plays Atherton on Friday.

 

8. Eastern Eagles (9-8)

 

Eastern climbed over the .500 mark this week with wins over Western (66-63) and Moore (58-36). Seniors Jacob Robinson (14.8 ppg) and Trent Robinson (10.4 ppg) continue to lead the Eagles in scoring. The Eagles have three games on their schedule this week, against St. X, CAL, and Dixie Heights.

 

9. DuPont Manual Crimsons (7-11)

Manual beat CAL 68-51 early to the week, its third victory in a row. Aaron Smith led the Crimsons with 16, while Eli Roberts and Lesther Perez-Garay contributed 11 points each. The Crimsons’ 3-game win streak came to an end when they fell to Fairdale 74-65. Manual has a busy week ahead of it, with games with Portland Christian and Butler before heading to Western Kentucky for games against Hopkinsville and Christian County.

10. Christian Academy of Louisville Centurions (9-11)

 

Before heading to Owensboro for the 2A Classic tournament, CAL lost to Manual 68-51. Stephen Wilson led the Centurions in scoring against Manual with 16 points. CAL opened the 2A tournament in Owensboro with a 47-42 win over Bourbon County. In the semi-finals, CAL played well but came up short against Knox Central 61-55. CAL has a Thursday night game against Eastern between games against Breckenridge County (Tuesday) and Elizabethtown (Friday).

 

11. Louisville Collegiate Titans (10-7)

 

The Titans did not play this week. They will look to rebound from their loss to KCD in the finals of the All A Seventh Region tournament with games this week against St. Francis on Monday and against Bath County on Saturday in Knightstown, Indiana.

 

12. Shawnee Golden Eagles (10-8)

 

Shawnee also did not play this week, and is not scheduled to get back into action until Friday, when they are scheduled to play Seneca. The Golden Eagles also play on Saturday against Whitefield Academy in a game to be played at Knightstown, Indiana.

 

13. Kentucky Country Day Bearcats (10-9)

 

In its only game this week, the Bearcats squeaked past the Atherton Rebels 58-56. KCD has now won 4 games in a row to go over .500 for the season. The Bearcats travel to Richmond to participate in the All A Classic this week, with a first round match-up against Newport from the Ninth Region on Thursday night.

 

14. St. Francis Wyverns (6-9)

 

The Wyverns had a good week, winning both of the games they played. First, St. Francis bested Portland Christian 74-58, and then beat Rock Creek Academy of Sellersburg, IN 69-58. Congratulations go to Senior Ahmad Moore, who recently became the 4th boys player at St. Francis to score 1000 points in his career (the most recent before Moore was James Risley, who achieved the feat in the 2016-17 season). The Wyverns play three times this week, facing off against Collegiate, Frankfort Christian, and Fairdale.

 

15. Portland Christian Eagles (10-8)

 

The Eagles had a busy, and productive, week, winning three of the four games they played. The wins came against Whitefield Academy (63-57), Brown (65-62), and Heritage Academy (83-56). The one loss this week was to St. Francis by a 74-58 margin. Quincy Dye continues to average a double-double at 19.1 ppg and 10.3 rpg. The Eagles host Manual and Covington Latin this week.

 

16. Atherton Rebels (2-16)

 

The Rebels played just once this week, against the Kentucky Country Day Bearcats. Atherton came up just short against the Bearcats, falling 58-56, extending the Rebels’ current losing streak to 6. Atherton plays Central on Friday night.

 

17. Brown Bears (5-13)

 

Brown lost a close one this week to Portland Christian 65-62, but then came back to beat the Walden Wolverines 72-56. The Bears play three times this week, with games against Trimble County, Beth Haven, and Rock Creek Academy of Sellersburg, Indiana.

18. Walden Wolverines (10-5)

 

The Wolverines beat Frankfort Christian in a shoot-out 94-88 before falling to the Brown Bears 72-56. Walden faces off against Eminence and Burgin this week.