2012 Bluegrass-Buckeye Charity Classic

December 4, 2012

CLASSIC DONATES $18,000 TO THREE LOCAL CHARITIES AT 11TH ANNUAL HIGH SCHOOL EVENT

Organizers of the 11th annual Bluegrass-Buckeye Charity Classic high school basketball games donated $18,000 to three local charities during Sunday's event at Thomas More College.

The money raised by corporate sponsorships and gate receipts will be divided among Ruth Lyons Children's Fund, Neediest Kids of All and Chicks-n-Chucks, a breast cancer awareness group.

The BBCC has now raised more than $128,000 for local charities over the last 11 years.

This year's classic schedule had three games between boys' basketball teams from Ohio and Kentucky. The final scores were:

Holmes (Ky.) 58, Oak Hills 42

Purcell-Marian (Ohio) 70, South Laurel (Ky.) 67

Taft (Ohio) 58, Lexington Dunbar (Ky.) 56.

A videotaped replay of each of those games is now available on the TBNK website at http://tbnk.pegcentral.com/

During halftime of each game, fans were chosen for a shooting contest. Each winner received $100 cash and both participants received gift certificates from our sponsors.
Here's a look at each of the six teams in this year’s BBCC:

OAK HILLS HIGHLANDERS

Jake Richmond is the top returning starter for the Highlanders. The 6-foot-2 senior forward averaged 13 points and five rebounds last season. He was also the team’s best 3-point shooter, hitting 26 of 58 for 44.4 percent. Senior Cody Herbig and juniors Ben Laumann and Matt Elliott are the other Oak Hills players who have varsity experience.

HOLMES BULLDOGS

The Bulldogs have senior forward Chris Englemon and senior guards B.J. Coston and Quan Palmer returning from last season’s 23-7 team. Palmer averaged seven points and three assists as a starting point guard. Coston was the team’s best perimeter shooter and Englemon averaged eight points and six rebounds inside.

PURCELL-MARIAN CAVALIERS

There are only two players with varsity experience on the Cavaliers’ roster, but one of them is senior forward Dwayne Wilson, who had team-high averages of 11.8 points and 9.9 rebounds last season. Senior guard Isaiah Johnson is the other returning varsity letterman. Coach Bryan Laake said the five freshmen on his roster will get “considerable minutes” of playing time.

SOUTH LAUREL CARDINALS

Coach Jeff Davis has a varsity veteran in every position with guards Blake Sanders and Zac Baxter and forward Matt Slavey heading the list. Baxter is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard who earned a starting position as a freshman last season. Sanders is a senior point guard who missed most of last season with a severe concussion.

TAFT SENATORS

Nine seniors were on the Taft team that posted a 21-5 record and made it to the Ohio Division II state quarterfinals last season. The returning player who saw the most action is junior Marcus Scott, who averaged 5.8 points in eight games. The Senators’ other returning varsity players are Robert Smith, Kenny Kaufman and Tamarick Washington.

LEXINGTON DUNBAR BULLDOGS

Scott Chalk begins his first season as Dunbar’s head coach with a talented team led by senior guards Mike Smith and William Gary, who averaged 19 and 18 points per game last season. The Bulldogs also have 6-foot-7 senior center Taylor King back in the lineup. Last season, he averaged eight points and six rebounds per game while shooting 57 percent from the field.

MISSION STATEMENT

It is the mission of the BBCC to instill in our young athletes the importance of giving back to their community whenever and wherever they can.

Our logo depicts the bringing together of both sides of the Ohio River through high school basketball to benefit the less fortunate. It signifies the united efforts of all of our teams and volunteers who are working to make a difference.

It is hoped that the skill, team work and unselfish play exhibited on the court will be carried over to a life-long habit of helping those who are less fortunate.

It is equally important to teach our athletes that they can have fun while at the same time do something very good for those in need.

All of the money raised, after expenses, has gone to the various charities and the participating schools.

Over its 10-year history, this event has raised over $112,000 for local charities. Many needy children have benefited from our efforts throughout this time.

BBCHC HISTORY

The BBCC started in December 2001 with four teams (Covington Catholic, Bishop Brossart, Louisville Trinity and Owensboro Catholic) in the gym at Covington Catholic. It was originally called the Catholic Social Services Classic and benefited Catholic Social Services in Latonia.

In the second year, it expanded to twelve teams and moved to the Thomas More College gym. The proceeds were donated to Catholic Social Services of N. KY as well as C.S.S. of Southwest Ohio since Ohio teams were now part of the event.

In 2003 and 2004, the name was changed to Bluegrass-Buckeye Holiday Classic and the games were played at the Cintas Center on the campus of Xavier University.

In 2003, there were sixteen schools from Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky participating in the event. The charity list was expanded to include the Neediest Kids of All and the Ruth Lyons Children’s Fund. This change was made because of the area-wide appeal of these charities to ALL members of the community who were supporting the event.

From 2005 to 2010, the games were played at two sites on the campus of Northern Kentucky University. Regents Hall was the site from 2005 to 2007 and Bank of Kentucky Center hosted the event from 2008 to 2010. The charity list over the those six years included NKOA, Ruth Lyons Children’s Fund, Queen City Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, WSNS Academy and Chicks & Chucks, a breast cancer awareness organization.

Last season, the classic was played on Jan. 14 and renamed the Bluegrass-Buckeye Charity Classic since it was not played during the holidays. To make the classic more accessible for fans, games were played at high schools in both states -- Dixie Heights High School in Kentucky and Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati.

The charities benefiting from last year's classic were NKOA, Ruth Lyon's Children's Fund and Chicks & Chucks.

2012 Bluegrass-Buckeye Charity Classic

December 4, 2012

CLASSIC DONATES $18,000 TO THREE LOCAL CHARITIES AT 11TH ANNUAL HIGH SCHOOL EVENT

2012 GAME SCORES / Dec. 2 at Thomas More College

MVP AWARDS

ACADEMIC AWARDS

BBCC INFORMATION

SLIDE SHOW: Photos from last season's BBCC

BBCC TICKET PRICES

MISSION STATEMENT

BBCHC HISTORY