[Stardust]

With a 31-3 record and just one loss to a team from Kentucky, Trinity High School’s basketball team has handled its No. 1 state ranking with poise this season.

If the Shamrocks can continue that run for four more days, many predict they’ll become state champions for the first time.

Trinity — No. 1 in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings all season — is in the PNC/KHSAA Sweet 16 for the first time since 2004 and will open play at 6:30 p.m. today against Bullitt East (27-4) in a highly anticipated first-round game in Rupp Arena.

Many see Trinity as the class of a field that also includes No. 3 Scott County and No. 5 Bullitt East but no other top-10 teams.

“I think it’s Trinity’s to lose,” Scott County coach Billy Hicks said. “They started out No. 1, and they’ve certainly lived up to it. It’s going to take a load to beat Trinity.”

Shamrocks coach Mike Szabo said his team has benefited from playing with the top ranking all season.

“It forces you to really play at a high level night in and night out, because everybody out there is trying to knock you off — not just to win but to beat the No. 1 team in Kentucky,” he said. “This group welcomed that challenge and was up to it.”

History is not on Trinity’s side, however. The 2006-07 Scott County squad is the last No. 1 team in the Litratings to win the state championship. Eastern (2011), Scott County (2010) and Lexington Catholic (2008) all lost in the Sweet 16 semifinals after entering with No. 1 rankings. In 2009 top-ranked Scott County lost to Lexington Catholic in the 11th Region final.

“No matter what happens, Trinity has the best team in the state,” Clark County coach Scott Humphrey said. “They’re head and shoulders above the field, but that doesn’t always mean that team is going to win.”

Trinity will face a tough test out of the gate against Bullitt East, which features one of the nation’s top junior prospects in 6-foot-8 Derek Willis. He is averaging 17.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game and has committed to the University of Kentucky.

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