King of the Bluegrass tips off this week. Here's when teams play and top players to watch

The Chad Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic will tip off Tuesday at Fairdale High School and feature some of Kentucky’s top boys basketball teams and players.

The 16-team event will begin at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and run through Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. championship game.

Tickets are $12 per day. They can be purchased at the door or on the GoFan app under “Fairdale High School.”

Warren Central, last season's KOB and state champion, declined an invitation to this year's King of the Bluegrass.

Here’s a look at all eight first-round games, with players to watch for each team. Rankings are from The Courier Journal’s preseason poll of coaches.

Tuesday’s games

Spencer County (3-4) vs. No. 6 Male (5-1), 4:30 p.m.

Spencer County features the high-scoring backcourt of seniors Luke Erhardt (25.4 ppg) and Camden Cox (19.6 ppg, Ohio Dominican signee). Both are shooting better than 40% from 3-point range. Senior Keaton Baird, a 6-foot-5 forward, adds 12.1 points and a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game.

Sophomore sharpshooter Cole Edelen (22.8 ppg) leads Male. He’s hitting 60.5% from 3-point range (26 of 43) and has offers from Central Arkansas, Jacksonville State and Stony Brook. Senior forward Terrence Hall (13.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg) is an emerging star.

Taylor County (6-3) vs. Fairdale (7-1), 6 p.m.

Junior guard Layken Lyons (18.6 ppg) and senior guard C.J. Johnson (16.9 ppg) lead Taylor County. Johnson transferred to Taylor County from Georgia. Senior forward Keeton Clements adds 12 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game.

Fairdale won its first seven games before a 76-58 loss to Bowling Green on Saturday. Junior Joseph Hurt (17.3 ppg) is the Bulldogs’ leading scorer and is joined by seniors Dalton Hicks (15.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and Jacob Tucker (11.5 ppg) in a solid backcourt.

North Oldham (7-0) vs. No. 2 Great Crossing (6-0), 7:30 p.m.

North Oldham is off to a hot start behind the trio of senior guards Grant Neal (19.4 ppg), Jack Fischer (15.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg) and Ryan Howard (13.6 ppg). Howard is shooting 42.9% from 3-point range (18 of 42).

With victories over Covington Catholic, Manual, Frederick Douglass and Ballard, Great Crossing has made its case as a top state-title contender. Malachi Moreno (16.3 ppg, 13.3 rpg), a 7-1 center, is the state’s No. 1 recruit in the junior class and has a plethora of offers, including from Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Purdue and USC. Juniors Vince Dawson (21.3 ppg) and Junius Burrell (14.8 ppg) comprise a solid backcourt. Dawson has offers from Eastern Kentucky, Miami (Ohio) and Southeast Missouri State.

No. 14 DeSales (6-2) vs. No. 5 Frederick Douglass (4-1), 9 p.m.

Damone King (19.7 ppg) is having a big senior season at DeSales after transferring from Manual. He has offers from Eastern Kentucky, Illinois State, IUPUI, Jacksonville State, Miami (Ohio), Northern Kentucky and Ohio. Senior guard Brady Cummins (12.1 ppg) is shooting 47.1% from 3-point range (16 of 34), and senior forward Will Gibson (7.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg) has signed with Liberty.

Frederick Douglass was a Sweet 16 semifinalist last season and is led by the trio of junior Armelo Boone (21.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg), sophomore DeMarcus Surratt (16.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and junior Aveion Chenault (11.8 ppg). Boone has offers from Eastern Kentucky and Hampton. Chenault is a football star at wide receiver with offers from Kentucky, Michigan, Ole Miss and several others.

Wednesday’s games

Chicago De La Salle (7-2) vs. Little Rock Central (8-0), 4:30 p.m.

Chicago De La Salle returned 10 of 13 players from last season’s 22-12 squad. Leaders are 6-6 senior forward Tavariyuan Williams, 6-4 senior guard Richard Lindsey and 6-6 sophomore guard/forward Charles Barnes.

Little Rock Central is one of the top teams in Arkansas and is led by 6-6 senior forward Annor Boateng, who has signed with Missouri. Luke Moore, a 6-2 junior point guard, has offers from Drake, Old Dominion and St. John’s.

No. 24 Washington County (6-0) vs. No. 9 Newport (6-1), 6 p.m.

Washington County features one of the state’s top sophomores in 6-7 wing Gabe Weis (15.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg). He has offers from Cincinnati, College of Charleston, Illinois, Iowa, Liberty, Lindenwood, Louisville, LSU, Nebraska, Penn State, Tennessee Tech, Texas A&M and West Virginia. Seniors Beau Baker (15.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg) and Riley Brown (13.2 ppg) are other top scorers. Baker, a 6-7 tight end, has committed to play football at South Dakota State.

Newport is the defending Ninth Region champion and features one of the state’s top sophomores in Taylen Kinney (18.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg). The 6-foot guard has offers from Cincinnati, Louisville Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue, Xavier and several others. Seniors DeShaun Jackson (12.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Jabari Covington (10.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and sophomore James Turner (10.1 ppg) are the other leaders. Turner has offers from Charleston, IUPUI, Jackson State, Kent State, Radford and Stony Brook.

No. 18 Harlan County (7-0) vs. No. 7 Bowling Green (5-2), 7:30 p.m.

Harlan County enters off a 92-83 overtime victory over DeSales on Saturday. Senior guard Trent Noah (32.2 ppg, 11.2 rpg) is one of the state’s top scorers and has signed with South Carolina. Junior guard Maddox Huff adds 13 points per game.

Bowling Green is led by the 1-2 scoring punch of seniors M.J. Wardlow (19.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and Mason Ritter (15.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg). Ritter, a 6-9 forward, has committed to Columbia. Junior guard Deuce Bailey (11.0 ppg) is one of the state’s top football prospects as a quarterback.

Butler County (5-1) vs. No. 3 Trinity (5-1), 9 p.m.

Butler County features one of the state’s top scorers in junior guard Ty Price (26.2 ppg). He’s shooting 37.7% from 3-point range (20 of 53) and has offers from Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Southeast Missouri State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Lawson Rice, a 6-6 junior forward, adds 18 points and 12 rebounds per game.

Trinity features one of the state’s top seniors guard in Drae Vasser (15.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg). He has offers from Akron, Bellarmine and Jacksonville State. Other leaders are juniors Julius Edmonds (11.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Josiah Lawson (10.0 ppg), and sophomore Jayden Johnson (11.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg). Edmonds has offers from Ohio and Southeast Missouri State, and Johnson has offers from Cincinnati, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio State, Texas A&M, West Virginia and Xavier.

Reach Jason Frakes at jfrakes@courier-journal.com and follow him on X @kyhighs.

Chad Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass

When: Tuesday-Saturday

Where: Fairdale High School

Tickets: $12 per day

Webcast: NFHS Network

Friday – Spencer County vs. Male, 4:30 p.m.; Taylor County vs. Fairdale, 6 p.m.; North Oldham vs. Great Crossing, 7:30 p.m.; DeSales vs. Frederick Douglass, 9 p.m.

Saturday – Chicago De La Salle vs. Little Rock Central, 4:30 p.m.; Washington County vs. Newport, 6 p.m.; Harlan County vs. Bowling Green, 7:30 p.m.; Butler County vs. Trinity, 9 p.m.

Thursday (two gyms) – consolation games and quarterfinals at 4:30, 6, 7:30 and 9 p.m.

Friday (two gyms) – consolation games at 4:30, 6, 7:30 and 9 p.m.; semifinals at 7:30 and 9 p.m.

Saturday – consolation final, 3 p.m.; fifth place, 4:30 p.m.; third place, 6 p.m.; final, 7:30 p.m.

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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: King of the Bluegrass schedule: Top high school basketball players