Top-ranked Warren Central goes down in first day of Lexington Catholic tournament
It was a packed schedule of high school hoops action on Tuesday at Lexington Catholic.
The 2022 White, Greer, & Maggard Holiday Classic tipped off early yesterday morning to begin an eight-game first-round slate that featured a last-second win, a handful of the state’s most talented and prolific scorers, and a packed crowd from the afternoon session on. Lexington Catholic High School’s Bueter Gym is playing as the host site for this event, which rolls right into quarterfinals play on Wednesday.
Kentucky commit Reed Sheppard easily guided his North Laurel squad to the second round while Travis Perry, a Kentucky target, did the same for Lyon County. The headliner, though, was No. 1 Warren Central going down big to a Madison Central squad that came into the tournament with a 4-4 record. We also saw Jacob Meyer (Holy Cross) and Blake Reed (Bracken County) score from everywhere possible, combining to drop 97 points in their respective matchups.
But that wasn’t all. Check out everything else that went down on Tuesday below. Quarterfinals action is set to begin Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. EST. A full schedule can be found at the bottom of this article. Tickets to attend Wednesday’s games cost $10 at the door of Lexington Catholic HS, or you can watch them all live ($) on PrepSpin.
Tuesday, Dec. 27 | First-round results
West Jessamine 54, #10 North Oldham 72
In the first contest of the day, North Oldham saw four Mustangs finish in double-figures as they cruised past West Jessamine by 18. North Oldham shot over 57 percent from the field as a team in the win as senior forward Ian Higdon, who recorded 10 points and nine rebounds, scored his 1,000th career high school point in the process. Mustangs starting point guard, senior Dallas Roberts, contributed 12 points and eight assists.
Woodford County 73, #T5 Ballard 90
Despite 21 points and six rebounds from nationally ranked sophomore point guard Jasper Johnson (who is receiving interest from UK), the Woodford County Yellow Jackets fell by 17 to a talented Ballard squad. For the highly-ranked Bruins, three-star senior Gabe Sisk led the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds while MIles Franklin added 23 points and five rebounds. Makhi Smith, who doubles as a football star and is hearing from Kentucky in that regard, contributed 20 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists for Woodford County.
#12 Bowling Green 62, Fern Creek 45
There wasn’t much drama in Bowling Green’s 17-point win over unranked Fern Creek, as the Purples were powered by 27 points from junior guard Makayelus Wardlow. Fern Creek cut the Bowling Green led to as few as four in the second half but the Purples closed out the Tigers with a 14-5 run down the stretch. Fern Creek’s leading scorer was Jaden Johnson, who finished with 16 points and six rebounds.
#1 Warren Central 43, Madison Central 60
Easily the most stunning result of the day was Madison Central pulling off an unexpected upset over the previously unbeaten and top-ranked Warren Central Dragons. Madison Central came into the tournament just 4-4 on the season, but with respectable losses along the way. The Indians used that motivation to fuel them to a shocking 17-point victory over last year’s state runner-up.
Jaylen Davis was the star for Madison Central, posting 22 points while making all eight of his free-throw attempts. Hagan Harrison chipped in 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and six steals for the Indians. Warren Central was previously 9-0 on the season and looked like the clear-cut No. 1 in KY before running into Madison Central.
#8 Lexington Catholic 77, Christian Academy-Louisville 43
In the biggest blowout of the day, the host team Lexington Catholic Knights dominated the Christian Academy of Louisville by 34 points. Hudson Sparks powered the Knights with 17 points on four made 3-pointers while Tyler Doyle went for an additional 15 points and four rebounds.
#19 Lyon County 95, Holy Cross (Covington) 79
In a battle between two of the state’s top scorers, it was Travis Perry and the Lyon County Lyons that came out on top. Perry, who is considered a four-star recruit from the class of 2024, contributed 27 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists on five made triples. He is now fourth all-time on the Kentucky high school boy’s basketball scoring list.
Perry was aided by 27 more points from his teammate Jack Riddick, while Brady Shoulders led the Lyons with 28. On the other end, Holy Cross senior guard Jacob Meyer exploded for 49 points (making 17 of his 19 shots from inside the arc) and five rebounds in the loss.
#T5 North Laurel 71, Campbell County 56
Kentucky signee Reed Sheppard finished with a near-quadruple-double stat line consisting of 22 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, six steals, and three blocks as North Laurel cruised past Campbell County by 15. The future Wildcat shot 10-21 from the floor, missing all five of his shots from long range. Sheppard was aided by a team-high 28 points from his cousin, Ryan Davidson, who also chipped in four rebounds and two assists despite dealing with a minor injury. North Laurel won the first and third quarters by a combined 17 points, which proved to be the difference as the Jaguars move on to the quarterfinals.
RV Bracken County 63, #T5 Mason County 65
In what was easily the game of the day, the Mason County Royals were able to hold off the Bracken County Polar Bears (which is receiving votes in KSR’s most recent Top 25 rankings) thanks to senior forward Terrell Henry, who hit a jumper just outside of the paint in the closing seconds to secure the win.
Henry finished with a team-high 27 points and eight rebounds for Mason County on a 12-18 shooting clip. On the other end, Bracken County junior guard Blake Reed was borderline unstoppable, pouring in 47 points for the Polar Bears on a 16-29 mark overall, going 6-12 from beyond the arc. Reed joined the 3,000-point club in the state of Kentucky, becoming the third player in the tournament (joining Sheppard and Perry) who has actively scored over 3,000 career high school points.
Wednesday, Dec. 28 | Quarterfinals
*All games will be played at Lexington Catholic’s Bueter Gym*
3:30: Madison Central vs. #T5 Mason County
5:00: #12 Bowling Green vs. #8 Lexington Catholic
6:30: #T5 North Laurel vs. #10 North Oldham
8:00: #T5 Ballard vs. #18 Lyon County
Semifinals: Thursday, Dec. 29 (Bueter Gym)
6:30 PM: #12 Bowling Green/#8 Lexington Catholic vs. #T5 Ballard/#18 Lyon County
8:00 PM: Madison Central/#T5 Mason County vs. #T5 North Laurel/#10 North Oldham
Championships: Friday, Dec. 30 (Bueter Gym)
Third-place Game: 5:30 PM
Championship Game 28: 7:00 PM
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