article 73rd Louisville Invitational Tournament Preview

[Smallhoops]

The 73rd annual Louisville Invitational Tournament takes place this week at Valley High School. Since its inception in 1948 as a tournament featuring Male, Manual, St. X, and Flaget plus four invited teams from outside Jefferson County, the LIT has been a highlight of the Jefferson County high school basketball season.

 

There have been several format changes to the LIT through the years. In 2009 the practice of limiting the LIT to teams from the Sixth and Seventh regions began, with the number of participating teams being reduced from 20 to 16 in 2018.

 

The 13-3 Male Bulldogs are this year's no. 1 seed. Their only loss to a Kentucky team was to North Oldham in the King of the Bluegrass while Justin Powell was playing. The Bulldogs are still without Howard Fleming but have so much other talent, including the dual outside threats of Tyren Moore and Cam Pope plus the outstanding freshman Kaleb Green.

 

Seneca is the no. 2 seed and comes into the LIT on a 13-game winning streak. The Redhawks have impressive wins over PRP, DeSales, and Fern Creek already this season but in their last game needed three overtimes to beat Central.

 

The no. 3 seed is Pleasure Ridge Park. The Panthers are 3-4 against other teams in the LIT, a record that includes a win over the Ballard Bruins. In its most recent game, PRP lost to Butler 65-62.

 

The Ballard Bruins are the no. 4 seed. The Bruins are 12-2 on the season, with the loss to PRP being their only loss to a Kentucky team. Since the season started sophomore big man Maker Bar was declared eligible and this week the injured Rashad Bishop returned for the Bruins.

 

Each of those four teams have a legitimate shot at winning the LIT. But there are also other potential winners. The next four seeds (Butler, Jeffersontown, Fern Creek, and Eastern) have a combined 39-18 record, with a number of the losses being to each other. Lower seeded teams such as St. X (12th seed) and DeSales (13th seed) are having outstanding seasons and can compete with anyone. And while 16th seed Collegiate probably will not win the LIT, the Titans are having a tremendous season and absolutely deserve to be in the tournament.

 

Play gets under way on Monday at Valley. There are several intriguing first round match ups, including PRP-Manual, Ballard-DeSales, Eastern-North Bullitt, and Butler-St. X. But the highlight may come Friday night when Male and Ballard will potentially meet. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday.

 

The LIT is always a great week of basketball and this year's edition looks like it will be no different. Can't wait!

[Runcible Owl]

This, your weekly 6^th and 7^th region reviews, plus the recent “All A” previews. Excellent.

 

You’re posting up big @Smallhoops, as always.

Edited January 12, 2020 by Runcible Owl

[tcjkbt]

Is there any broadcasting or streaming of the LIT games? It doesn't appear so.

[Smallhoops]

Is there any broadcasting or streaming of the LIT games? It doesn't appear so.

 

Not that I know of.