2008 Republic Bank Holiday Classic (Girls)
Lexington Catholic High School
Lexington, Kentucky
December 19-23, 2008
© 2008 Ron Harrison

Lexington Catholic girls’ coach Tony Talbott has put together a great five days of basketball.  Sixteen of the top twenty-five teams in the Lexington Herald-Leader pre-season preview are entered in this tournament.  They are #2 Lexington Christian Academy, #3 Elizabethtown, #4 duPont Manual, #6 Butler, #8 Montgomery County, #10 Lexington Catholic, #11 Ohio County, #13 Southwestern #14 Mercy Academy, #15 Clay County, #16 Christian Academy of Louisville, #18 Sacred Heart Academy, #20 Madisonville-North Hopkins, #21 Simon Kenton, #24 Highlands, and #25 Warren East.

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 Ashley Rainey (Warren East), #4 Anna Martin (Lexington Christian Academy), #5 Avery Jones (duPont Manual), #6 Alex Jones (Elizabethtown), #8 Antonita Slaughter (Christian Academy of Louisville), #9 Tiara Hopper (Butler), #10 Courtney Clifton (Lexington Christian Academy), #12 Mariah Robinson (Ohio County), #16 Sarah Beth Barnette (Lexington Christian Academy), #17 Mackenzie Lee (Montgomery County), #18 Kendall Noble (Breathitt County), #19 Rachel Greenwell (Owensboro Catholic), #21 Chelsea Tolliver (Simon Kenton), and #24 Natalie Greenwell (Elizabethtown).

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 3) Mariah Robinson, (Region 4) Ashley Rainey, (Region 7) Antonita Slaughter, (Region 8) Chelsea Tolliver, (Region 10) Mackenzie Lee, (Region 11) Anna Martin and (Region 14) Kendall Noble.

This tournament also features two excellent out of state teams in Dayton Dunbar (OH) and Huntington High (WV).  Dunbar should be led by 5-11 Jr. Kenyonna Simmons (18.6 ppg).  Huntington will be led by 6-2 Jr. Whitney Bays (21 ppg, 12 rpg) and 6-0 Jr. Erin Bailes (14 ppg, 8 rpg, 6 apg). 

There will be 51 games played in two gyms over a five 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.