2006 Fifth Third Bank Classic (Girls)
Lexington Catholic High School
Lexington, Kentucky
December 20-23, 2006
© 2006 Ron Harrison

Lexington Catholic athletic director Andy Listerman and the Lady Knights’ coach Jeff Hans have put together another great four days of basketball.  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 Sacred Heart Academy, #4 Rose Hill, #6 Elizabethtown, #8 Montgomery County, #9 Butler, and #10 Mercy Academy.  Other pre-season ranked teams in the tourney are #12 Manual, #15 Assumption, #16 Henry Clay, #20 Clay County, #23 Lexington Christian Academy, and #25 Mason County.

Many of the top players in the state are scheduled to play in this star-studded event.  Fourteen of the top twenty-five players in the Lexington Herald-Leader pre-season preview are featured in this tournament.  The players are #2 Emily Queen (Rose Hill), #3 Laura Terry (Rose Hill), #4 Natalie Novosel (Lexington Catholic), #5 Keyla Snowden (Lexington Catholic), #7 Tia Gibbs (Butler), #8 Elizabeth Campbell (Sacred Heart Academy), #10 Thia Gholson (Assumption), #11 Briana Green (Lexington Catholic),  #12 Ashley Rainey (Warren East), #14 Gwen Rucker (Henry Clay), #20 Ceira Ricketts (Fairdale), #22 Brittany Wilson (Manual), #24 Whitney Odom (Apollo), and #25 DeSarae Chambers (Mason County).

The Lexington Herald-Leader preview also listed the best players in each region, and the number one ranked player in seven of the sixteen regions is scheduled to play in this tourney.  The regionally ranked number one players in this event are (Region 4) Ashley Rainey, (Region 6) Tia Gibbs, (Region 7) Elizabeth Campbell, (Region 9) Shannon Klei (Newport Central Catholic), (Region 10) DeSarae Chambers, (Region 15) Hayley Ratliff (Pike County Central), and (Region 16) Emily Queen.

There will be a total of 57 games played in two gyms over a four day period, culminating in an overall championship game to be played on December 23rd.  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.