2023 BRACKET

 

2023 GARDNER LAW KING OF THE BLUEGRASS

December 19-23, 2023

Fairdale High School
1001 Fairdale Road
Fairdale, KY 40118

Games will be 4:30pm – 6:00pm – 7:30pm – 9:00pm
DOORS WILL NOT OPEN FOR FANS UNTIL 4:00pm.

Bracket will not be set until mid-November.

PARTICIPATING TEAMS:

Bowling Green High School (Bowling Green, KY)

Butler County High School (Morgantown, KY)

DeSales High School (Louisville, KY)

Fairdale High School (Fairdale, KY)

Frederick Douglass High School (Lexington, KY)

Great Crossing High School (Georgetown, KY)

Harlan County High School (Harlan, KY)

Male High School (Louisville, KY)

Newport High School (Newport, KY)

North Oldham High School (Goshen, KY)

Spencer County High School (Taylorsville, KY)

Taylor County High School (Campbellsville, KY)

Trinity High School (Louisville, KY)

Washington County High School (Springfield, KY)

De La Salle Institute (Chicago, IL)

Little Rock Central High School (Little Rock, AR)

We do not take teams out of our tournament unless the team request.
Warren Central will not be attending due to the injury of Cade Unseld.

CONGRATULATIONS

 CONGRATULATIONS TO 2022-23

KENTUCKY HIGH SCHOOL STATE CHAMPION

WARREN CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Final Bracket

 

2022 All-Tournament Team

Bob White Most Valuable Player

Kade Unseld (Warren Central)

Stanley Hardin Most Outstanding Player

Travis Perry (Lyon County)

2022 All-Tournament Team

Andrae Vasser - Trinity

Trent Noah - Harlan County

Daniel Allen - LaRue County

Carson Childress - LaRue County

Tyan Becker - Sagemont (FL)

Ashton Smith - Sagemont (FL)

Dallas Roberts - North Oldham

Ian Higdon - North Oldham

Dalton Hicks - Fairdale

Jerone Morton - George Rogers Clark

Brady Shoulders - Lyon County

Crew Gibson - DeSales

Chappelle Whitney - Warren Central

Vince Dawson, III - Great Crossing

Malachi Moreno - Great Crossing

Warren Central 89, Great Crossing 56

The 2022 Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass came to a close with our Championship featuring top ranked Warren Central, the defending state runner-up, taking on No. 4 Great Crossing. The matchup marked just the second time in the last 15 years that two non-Louisville schools from Kentucky would meet in the championship. Warren Central came into the game having a dominant tournament outscoring their opponents by an average of 13 points, a tournament high. Unfortunately, for Great Crossing the Dragons were just getting started in their dominance. 

A pair of early three-pointers by senior Damarion Walkup got the Dragons off to a hot start leading 10-2 less than three minutes into play. A timeout by Great Crossings helped slow Warren Central as the Warhawks battled back to within 11-13 following a basket by Jeremiah Godfrey. Walkup added a basket to give him 10 first quarter points and put Warren Central ahead 16-11 at the quarter break. Vince Dawson's basket to open the second quarter pulled Great Crossing back with three points, but the Warhawks wouldn't get closer than four for the rest of the half. Warren Central ended the half on a 14-3 run to take a dominating 40-25 lead into the half.

Midway through the third quarter the Warren Central lead swelled to as many as 20 points following a basket by Damarion Walkup. The Warhawks would not get closer than 18 points for the remainder of the game. A final basket by Walkup pushed the Dragons lead to 32 points before both benches were emptied and reserves entered the game. A three-pointer by Cade Hammer with thirty seconds to play would give Warren Central their biggest lead at 89-54. The Dragons would hoist their first KOB trophy moments later with the 89-56 victory. 

All-Tournament Team selection Chappelle Whitney led the way for Warren Central with a game-high 26 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists. Bob White Most Valuable Player honors went to Warren Central's Kade Unself after a 14 point and 6 rebound performance for the Dragons. Damarion Walkup added 18 points for Warren Central. Warren Central. All-Tournament Team selections Vince Dawson and Malachi Morano had 11 points and 10 points respectively for the Warhawks. Gage Richardson led the way for Great Crossing with 13 points.

[Click to View Box Score]

Consolation Bracket Results - 12/20/22

3rd Place Final

North Oldham def. Lyon County 107-73
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5th Place Final

Sagemont (FL) def. LaRue County 79-55
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Consolation Final 

Trinity def. Harlan County 74-62
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Updated Bracket

 

Consolation Bracket Results - 12/19/22

5th Place Semifinals

LaRue County def. George Rogers Clark 72-71
[Click to View Box Score]

Sagemont (FL) def. DuPont Manual 80-73

[Click to View Box Score] 

Consolation Bracket

Trinity def. DeSales 55-48
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Harlan County def. Male 62-59
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Fairdale def. Spencer County 82-78
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Central Catholic (PA) def. Woodford County 49-47
[Click to View Box Score]

Warren Central 71, North Oldham 57

Our second semifinal of the evening featured another battle of regional favorites as defending state runner-up and 2nd ranked Warren Central battled 15th ranked North Oldham. A tight back-and-forth first three minutes of play found the two teams all tied up at 6-6. Omari Glover's three-pointer with 3:25 remaining in the quarter capped a 7-2 run for Warren Central to put the Dragons ahead 13-8. North Oldham responded holding the Dragons scoreless for nearly three minutes as they went on a 5-0 run to tie the game with 38 seconds remaining in the quarter. Tay'vion Wells three-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarter put Warren Central ahead 16-13. Warren Central kept their momentum going in the second quarter with a 9-5 run to extend their lead to 25-18 with 5:27 remaining in the half. Ian Higdon's basket pulled North Oldham back within one point with 2:27 remaining following a 6-0 Mustang run. North Oldham would miss their final three shots of the half going scoreless for nearly 2:30 as Warren Central jumped back ahead 32-24. 

A Dallas Roberts three-pointer two minutes into the second half looked to give North Oldham some life as they pulled with six points at 30-36. Warren Central would jump back ahead by 9 points before A Grant Neal three-point pulled the Mustangs back within six points. Warren Central would end the quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 52-37 lead into the final quarter. The Warren Central lead grew to 17 points in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. An 8-4 run by North Oldham was capped by a Jack Scales three-pointer to give the Mustangs their last chance trailing by 13 points with 5:47 remaining in the game. North Oldham would never get any closer and Malik Jefferson's basket with 1:23 remaining in the game would send the Warren Central lead to as many as 20 points. North Oldham closed the game on an 8-2 run to cut the final score to 57-71, but Warren Central advanced to their first KOB Championship in history.

Chappelle Whitney earned Central Bank Player of the Game honors with a 16 point and 6 rebound performance for Warren Central. Kade Unseld led the Dragons in scoring with 17 points and Damarion Walkup and Omari Glover each added 11 points. Dallas Roberts led all scorers with 22 points for North Oldham. 

Warren Central advances to Tuesday's Championship to play Great Crossing at 7:30pm. North Oldham will take on Lyon County at 6:00pm on Tuesday for third place.

[Click to View Box Score]