2004 Fifth Third Bank Classic
Lexington Catholic High School
Lexington, Kentucky
December 18-21, 2004
© 2004 Ron Harrison

Lexington Catholic athletic director and coach Greg Todd has put together another great four days of basketball.  Eight of the top ten teams in the Lexington Herald-Leader pre-season preview are entered in this event.  The teams entered are #1 Lexington Catholic, #2 Sacred Heart, #4 Rockcastle County, #5 Henderson County, #7 Clinton County, #8 Elizabethtown, #9 Louisville Christian, and #10 Bullitt East.  Other pre-season ranked teams appearing in the tourney are #11 Mercy Academy, #14 Paris, #15 Ohio County, #19 South Laurel, #21 Wayne County, #22 Pike County Central, #23 Whitesburg, and #25 Russell.

Many of the top players in the state are also scheduled to play in this star-studded event.  Sixteen of the top twenty-five players in the Lexington Herald-Leader pre-season preview are featured in this tournament.  The players are #1 Carly Ormerod (Sacred Heart), #3 Ashley Hawkins (Henderson County), #4 Taylor Kopple (Sacred Heart), #5 Johnna Abney (Rockcastle County),  #6 Shannon Novosel (Lexington Catholic), #7 Paige Guffey (Clinton County), #10 Amber Guffey (Clinton County), #11 Anaris Sickles (Lexington Catholic), #13 Robyn Jennings (Elizabethtown), #14 Tara Rowe (Rockcastle County), #17 Julie Leach (Ohio County), #19 Brittany Edelen (Washington County), #20 Jamie Thiem (Newport Central Catholic), #21 Ashley Bell (Wayne County), #23 Nikki Davis (Lexington Catholic), and #25 Meredith Marsh (Louisville Christian).

This should be a very interesting tournament as Lexington Catholic and Sacred Heart are in opposite brackets and the different polls are split in the state on which is #1 entering the season.

There will be a total of 61 games played in three gyms over a four day period, culminating in an overall championship between the American Division and the National Division winners.  I will attempt to provide a capsule report on as many games as possible with extended coverage on each game I view in its entirety.  Spelling of names varies from program to program and sometimes the heights of the players are not provided so I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies in these areas.