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01-02-2013, 05:02 PM
Fresh off a tournament championship in Florida, the Ballard High School boys' basketball team was named Tuesday as the No. 1 seed for the Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament.
(VIEW THE BRACKET | Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament)
The Bruins (10-3) will join 19 other Sixth and Seventh Region squads in the tournament set for Jan. 14-19 at Valley High School's new J.C. Cantrell Gymnasium.
Ballard is 5-0 against Kentucky competition this season and knocked off Deerfield Beach (Fla.) 72-67 in Saturday's championship game of the Kingdom of the Sun Tournament in Ocala, Fla. The Bruins were runners-up in their other Christmas tournament, falling to Nashville (Tenn.) Christ Presbyterian 83-71 on Dec. 23 in the final of the King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic at Fairdale.
Ballard will face the DeSales-Southern winner at 8:15 p.m. on Jan. 16 in the LIT's final second-round game. The other top-four seeds are No. 2 Butler, No. 3 Trinity and No. 4 Central.
"It's nice to be the No. 1 seed, and with the schedule we've played and how we've fared we're probably deserving with Bullitt East not in it," Bruins coach Chris Renner said. "But the big picture is that we're getting better ... and we're looking forward to getting back to playing local and state teams and seeing where we stand."
The field was determined by the Seth Power Rankings, a formula developed by Jerry Wyman, director of athletics for Jefferson County Public Schools.
Bullitt East (12-3) would have been the No. 1 seed for the LIT but opted out of the event this year to participate in the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions set for Jan. 17-19 in Springfield, Mo.
"The LIT has been good to us, and I think we've been good for the LIT," Bullitt East coach Troy Barr said. "It's a great tournament. But I think the opportunity presented by the Tournament of Champions is something we couldn't pass up. It comes down to the kids, and we wanted to do what's best for them.
"The only argument I have against the LIT is that you're going in and playing teams you're already seeing in the regular season or the (King of the Bluegrass). It becomes monotonous at a certain point. That led to our decision to go in a different direction."
Wyman said the LIT committee will decide at a later date whether Bullitt East will be considered for future LITs.
"I was kind of surprised ... but they have to do what they think is best for them," Wyman said.
With a Seth Rating of 62.25, Iroquois and Valley tied for the 20th and final spot in the LIT field, with the Raiders winning the tiebreaker. Since Iroquois and Valley have not played each other this season, common opponents (Southern, Fern Creek and Portland Christian) were used for the tiebreaker. Iroquois is 3-0 against the trio; Valley is 2-1.
"Valley was excited for the opportunity to play on its home floor, but it is what it is," Wyman said.
The top four teams left out of the LIT, according to the Seth Rankings, were Valley, Waggener, Fern Creek and Atherton.
Wyman said he's excited about the new venue for the LIT after playing at Bellarmine University's Knights Hall the past four years. He encouraged fans to visit jcpsathletics.com to view a parking plan for the event.
"There is parking there, but it's just a matter of people finding their way around," Wyman said. "It's just one of those things where the lot fills up quickly ... but we'll have signs up to tell people where to go."
http://www.usatodayhss.com/louisville/ar...3301010073
(VIEW THE BRACKET | Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament)
The Bruins (10-3) will join 19 other Sixth and Seventh Region squads in the tournament set for Jan. 14-19 at Valley High School's new J.C. Cantrell Gymnasium.
Ballard is 5-0 against Kentucky competition this season and knocked off Deerfield Beach (Fla.) 72-67 in Saturday's championship game of the Kingdom of the Sun Tournament in Ocala, Fla. The Bruins were runners-up in their other Christmas tournament, falling to Nashville (Tenn.) Christ Presbyterian 83-71 on Dec. 23 in the final of the King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic at Fairdale.
Ballard will face the DeSales-Southern winner at 8:15 p.m. on Jan. 16 in the LIT's final second-round game. The other top-four seeds are No. 2 Butler, No. 3 Trinity and No. 4 Central.
"It's nice to be the No. 1 seed, and with the schedule we've played and how we've fared we're probably deserving with Bullitt East not in it," Bruins coach Chris Renner said. "But the big picture is that we're getting better ... and we're looking forward to getting back to playing local and state teams and seeing where we stand."
The field was determined by the Seth Power Rankings, a formula developed by Jerry Wyman, director of athletics for Jefferson County Public Schools.
Bullitt East (12-3) would have been the No. 1 seed for the LIT but opted out of the event this year to participate in the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions set for Jan. 17-19 in Springfield, Mo.
"The LIT has been good to us, and I think we've been good for the LIT," Bullitt East coach Troy Barr said. "It's a great tournament. But I think the opportunity presented by the Tournament of Champions is something we couldn't pass up. It comes down to the kids, and we wanted to do what's best for them.
"The only argument I have against the LIT is that you're going in and playing teams you're already seeing in the regular season or the (King of the Bluegrass). It becomes monotonous at a certain point. That led to our decision to go in a different direction."
Wyman said the LIT committee will decide at a later date whether Bullitt East will be considered for future LITs.
"I was kind of surprised ... but they have to do what they think is best for them," Wyman said.
With a Seth Rating of 62.25, Iroquois and Valley tied for the 20th and final spot in the LIT field, with the Raiders winning the tiebreaker. Since Iroquois and Valley have not played each other this season, common opponents (Southern, Fern Creek and Portland Christian) were used for the tiebreaker. Iroquois is 3-0 against the trio; Valley is 2-1.
"Valley was excited for the opportunity to play on its home floor, but it is what it is," Wyman said.
The top four teams left out of the LIT, according to the Seth Rankings, were Valley, Waggener, Fern Creek and Atherton.
Wyman said he's excited about the new venue for the LIT after playing at Bellarmine University's Knights Hall the past four years. He encouraged fans to visit jcpsathletics.com to view a parking plan for the event.
"There is parking there, but it's just a matter of people finding their way around," Wyman said. "It's just one of those things where the lot fills up quickly ... but we'll have signs up to tell people where to go."
http://www.usatodayhss.com/louisville/ar...3301010073
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