Lexington Catholic Crowned 2022 WGM Holiday Classic Champions
2022’s edition of the White, Greer, & Maggard Holiday Classic concluded Friday night with Lexington Catholic running the table and taking down North Oldham by a score of 55-47.
Lexington Catholic proved that they may be worthy of the #1 spot in the next edition of KSR’s Kentucky High School Basketball Top 25 Rankings. Wednesday night, the Knights easily handled #12 Bowling Green 61-44 and then blew out #18 Lyon County 73-53 Thursday night. After knocking off #10 North Oldham Friday night, Catholic now holds four victories over team’s currently ranked in the Top 25, possibly good enough for the best resume in the entire state after Warren Central got trounced by Madison Central in the first round of the Holiday Classic on Wednesday.
“Christmas tournaments are great, but in the end, you’re just trying to get better,” said Lexington Catholic coach Brandon Salsman after the game. “I think we did that this week.”
Although they may have come up just short, the North Oldham Mustangs opened some eyes as well this week. After blowing out West Jessamine on Tuesday night, the Mustangs trounced both #T5 North Laurel and #T5 Mason County by 14 points each on Wednesday and Thursday night. Look out for the Mustangs possibly moving into the five-seven range when the next set of rankings are released.
Lexington Catholic 55, North Oldham 47
Lexington Catholic jumped out to a hot start Friday night, hitting three of their first four shots. 7’1″ Miami (OH) commit Reece Potter was getting anything he wanted early, going right at North Oldham’s Luke Anderson for six early points on two easy layups and an open jumper. Two consecutive three-pointers from junior John Reinhart had the Knights up early.
The story of this game was Catholic’s suffocating defense. The North Oldham offense would disappear for minutes at a time due to Coach Salsman’s devastating press. If the Mustang offense was able to find a seam, they had zero luck scoring on the big 7-footer down low. North Oldham’s all-time leading scorer Dallas Roberts single-handedly kept the Mustangs relatively close in this matchup thanks to his shiftiness and ability to create open shots for himself. A 4-0 run by the senior near the end of the second quarter cut the deficit to 11 at halftime.
The start of the third quarter was a brutal watch, as both teams combined for only five points over the first four and a half minutes. Roberts once again flipped a switch and sparked his team with a 6-0 run, pulling the Mustangs within five. For most of the game, North Oldham couldn’t get past that five-point deficit. After winning the quarter 16-10, the Mustangs found themselves only down five at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
While the Catholic offense flowed smoothly through Potter, junior Tyler Doyle, and senior Hudson Sparks, the North Oldham offense relied solely on Roberts, which would ultimately doom them. After a tough behind-the-back layup and a long three-pointer, Roberts had the Mustangs within striking distance with a minute remaining in the game.
After two clutch Catholic free throws, a missed three from North Oldham senior Jack Scales and a rebound by Lex Cath junior Rowan Williams sealed up a Knights victory. While Lexington Catholic had three players finish with double-digit scoring in Potter (16), Doyle (14), and Reinhart (10), North Oldham only had Roberts’ 24. Other than Roberts, only four other Mustangs scored. In North Oldham’s victory over Mason County Thursday night, they had three players score in double figures. The Lexington Catholic defense is just that good.
“We’ve played in two tournaments so far and won them both,” said coach Salsman. “Hopefully we’re getting better, and I really think our defense is going. We’ll get there.”
Lexington Catholic junior Tyler Doyle was named MVP of the 2022 WGM Holiday Classic. Doyle averaged 15.5 PPG over their four victories this week.
Lexington Catholic improves to 13-1 and will play Lexington Christian Academy in the annual “Holy War” Game on January 3rd. North Oldham falls to 11-5 and looks to regroup when they host Seneca on January 3rd.
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