2005 Fifth Third Bank Classic (Girls)
Lexington Catholic High School
Lexington, Kentucky
December 20-23, 2005
© 2005 Ron Harrison

Lexington Catholic athletic director and coach Greg Todd has put together another outstanding field for this year's event.  Seven of the top ten teams in the Lexington Herald-Leader pre-season preview are entered in this event.  They are #1 Lexington Catholic, #3 Christian County, #4 Assumption, #5 Mercy Academy, #6 Shelby County, #8 Christian Academy of Louisville, and #10 Sacred Heart Academy.  Other pre-season ranked teams playing in this event include #12 Mercer County, #13 Washington County, #15 Ballard, #16 Paducah Tilghman, #18 Butler, #19 Clay County, #23 Apollo, and #24 Lexington Christian Academy.

Eighteen of the top twenty-five players in the Lexington Herald-Leader pre-season preview are scheduled to play in this tournament.  The players are #1 Arnika Brown (Christian County), #3 Nikki Davis (Lexington Catholic), #4 Brittany Edelen (Washington County), #5 Anaris Sickles (Lexington Catholic), #6 Amber Norton (Assumption), #8 Merideth Marsh (Christian Academy of Louisville), #9 Lydia Watkins* (Christian County), #11 Kenzie Rich (Monroe County),  #12 Amanda Green (Shelby County), #13 Jayme Gilbert (Clay County), #14 Pam Bell (Paducah Tilghman), #15 Emily Queen (Rose Hill), #17 Latoshia Lawrence (Apollo), #19 Rachel Lantry (Covington Holy Cross), #20 Janae Howard (Owensboro), #21 Brandi Rayburn (West Carter), #22 Tia Gibbs (Butler), and #23 Briana Green (Lexington Catholic).

The Lexington Herald-Leader preview also listed the best players in each region, and the number one ranked player in thirteen of the sixteen regions is scheduled to play in this tourney.  The regionally ranked number one players in this event are (Region 1) Pam Bell, (Region 2) Arnika Brown, (Region 3) Latoshia Lawrence, (Region 4) Kenzie Rich, (Region 5) Brittany Edelen, (Region 6) Tia Gibbs, (Region 7) Merideth Marsh, (Region 8) Amanda Green, (Region 9) Rachel Lantry, (Region 11) Nikki Davis, (Region 12) Chelsea Goodman (Mercer County), (Region 13) Jayme Gilbert, and (Region 16) Brandi Rayburn.

There will be sixty-one games played over a period of four days in two gyms.  I will attempt to provide a capsule report for each game with expanded coverage given to each game I personally view.  Spelling of players names varies from program to program and sometimes the heights of the players are not provided so I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies.

* Lydia Watkins will miss the season due to a back injury.