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Even with a revamped schedule, the 30th edition of the Canfield Development King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic boys' basketball tournament looks to be a special one.

Tournament director Lloyd Gardner announced Thursday night that Friday's first-round action was postponed because of the snow and ice that fell in the Louisville area Thursday morning. Jefferson County Public Schools canceled Friday's classes, meaning Fairdale, Eastern and Iroquois could not play in the KOB Friday.

So Friday's four KOB games have been moved to Sunday, starting at 4:30 p.m. Sunday originally was scheduled to be an off day in the tournament. The event now will start at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, with Warren Central facing Sacramento (Calif.) Sheldon in the opening game.

The final is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The KOB annually features some of the top teams from Kentucky and beyond, but many believe this year's field is one of the best ever put together by Gardner.

th annual KOB at Fairdale High School, starting

"It's loaded, no question," Jeffersontown coach Jeff Morrow said.

J'town (6-0), ranked No. 19 in the nation by USA Today, is one of nine teams in the field listed among the Top 25 in the state in The Courier-Journal's preseason poll of coaches. Joining No. 1 J'town is No. 2 Eastern, No. 3 Christian County, No. 5 Warren Central, No.7 Bowling Green, No. 11 Pleasure Ridge Park, No. 12 Trinity, No. 13 Iroquois and No. 21 Boone County.

And there's plenty of individual talent as well, with what many consider the state's top five seniors in the field -- Bowling Green's Chane Behanan (Louisville signee), Jeffersontown's Zach Price (Louisville) and Tony Kimbro Jr., Warren Central's George Fant (Western Kentucky) and Eastern's Remy Abell (Bradley).

"Usually the top players have come from the out-of-state teams ... but our senior class in Kentucky is so strong this year," Eastern coach Jason Couch said. "It's always worth the price of admission, but it's a heck of a deal if you're paying to watch the King of the Bluegrass this year."

But the talent isn't limited to the Kentucky teams, as Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral, Madison (Ala.) Bob Jones, Pearl (Miss.) and Sacramento (Calif.) Sheldon all feature talented players.

Chaparral, ranked No. 1 in Arizona's Class 5-A Division II, is led by senior Zeke Chapman, the son of former University of Kentucky star Rex Chapman.

Chapman was unable to play for Chaparral in last year's KOB because of an injury.

"This is the first time since his sophomore year that Zeke is 100 percent healthy, which is great," Chaparral coach Aaron Windler said. "It was his call whether we were going to come back there or not, and Zeke said he wanted to go. It's a lot of pressure, but Zeke is used to it. It doesn't bother him."

Bob Jones is No. 6 in Alabama's Class 6-A and is led by 6-foot-6 senior guard Levi Randolph. He's the No. 29 prospect in the Class of 2011 by Rivals.com and has signed with Alabama.

Pearl features 6-5 forward Tymond Howard, ranked No.31 among the nation's top juniors by Rivals.com.

Then there's the Sheldon program ranked No. 1 in the Sacramento area by the Sacramento Bee. Two Sheldon seniors have signed with NCAA Division I teams -- 6-5 Darius Nelson (Texas-El Paso) and 6-8 Ramon Eaton (Pepperdine).

One story line is a possible meeting between No. 1 J'town and No. 2 Eastern in Wednesday's final -- although both teams face obstacles to get there.

The 28thth District rivals are scheduled to meet Jan. 7 at J'town and could meet five times this season.

"I'm sure it's something the fans are thinking about," Morrow said. "But they have a tough bracket, and we have a tough bracket. If it happens, it happens. If not, we'll definitely see them on Jan. 7."

Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046.

http://www.highschoolsports.net/local/lo...ll-loaded/