Reed Sheppard, Maker Bar Headline White, Greer and Maggard Classic

The King of the Bluegrass tournament may be over, but tournament time is just beginning around the state. Lexington Catholic will host the 2021 White, Greer and Maggard Holiday Classic beginning Dec. 26 through Dec. 29, hosting 15 of the best squads Kentucky has to offer. To be a great team, you have to have great players—here are four to keep an eye on ahead of Sunday’s action: Reed Sheppard, Maker Bar, Nick Spalding and Malachi Moreno.

Reed Sheppard, North Laurel

Reed Sheppard solidified himself as the rightful owner of the King of the Bluegrass title after averaging 29.8 points, seven rebounds, 8.3 assists and 6.3 steals per game during last week’s KOTB tournament, earning him MVP honors.

The Kentucky commit dropped 70 points and 18 rebounds in the tournament’s final two games against Dorman and Covington Catholic alone.

This season he’s averaging 23 points per game and six boards in North Laurel’s six victories this season and 31 points and nine rebounds per loss. The point difference per wins to losses can be chalked up to having Sheppard sit during blowout victories.

Sheppard is currently a four-star recruit, per On3 Sports. He ranks No. 1 in Kentucky, the No. 6 combo guard in the nation and No. 22 overall.

North Laurel will tip-off against Trinity Sunday at 7 p.m. for their opening round matchup

Maker Bar, Ballard

The 6-foot-9 South Sudan native earned himself a three-star rating over the past season, and last month committed to the University of Missouri-Kansas City over EKU, WKU and Iona.

He averaged 15 points per game, 11 boards, three assists, three blocks and two steals at Ballard last season. Thanks to the level of Ballard’s competition this season, Bar still maintains his 15-point average, but hauls in just eight rebounds a game.

Bar has been busy in Fort Myers, Florida competing in the City of Palms Classic, widely regarded as the top high school basketball tournament in the country. Despite this, Bar along with teammate Gabe Sisk has led their team to a 6-3 record—two of those losses coming to national powerhouses in Prolific Prep and IMG Academy, the other to Dr. Phillips (FL). Ballard and Bar remain undefeated against KHSAA opponents heading into this Sunday.

Ballard is set to battle Great Crossing in opening round action Sunday afternoon.

Take a look at his highlights vs. DeSales last season:

Nick Spalding, Dunbar

Nick Spalding has been a bright spot during a surprisingly rocky start for the Dunbar Bulldogs this season.

The junior combo guard averages 21.3 points per game, which ranks third in Region 11 this season. He trails Only Sayre’s Zander Collett (22.9) and Frankfort’s Caleb Hack (21.9).

Spalding doesn’t just shoot from range, he lowers his shoulder and creates shots for himself down low, more often than not drawing a foul. He’s 23-26 (89 percent) from the line and has helped Dunbar rank in the top 10 in Kentucky in free throw percentage (50-66, 76 percent).

He scored 25 points in three of the first four games of the season. Not so coincidentally, Dunbar (3-4), is 3-0 when Spalding scores at least 25 points. Dunbar plays through him and if he’s on, so are the Bulldogs and vise versa.

Spalding and Dunbar are set to take on Pleasure Ridge Park in the first round.

Click here to watch his highlights from last season:

Malachi Moreno, Great Crossing

Can you be more imposing than being 6-foot-10 as a freshman?

Malachi Moreno has led Great Crossing (7-1) to their best start in program history thanks to his ability to crash the boards and score. He currently ranks No. 2 in Kentucky with 14.6 rebounds per game.

He’s grabbed at least 11 rebounds in every game this season and has a double-double in six of the first eight games of his high school career, not to mention a triple-double against Western Hills that saw him score 13 points, 19 rebounds and 11 blocks. The triple-double is the only one recorded in Great Crossing history—he’s sure to get more.

To put the absurdity of his triple-double into perspective, only 29 times in KHSAA history has a player blocked more shots than Moreno did against Western Hills. The record is 17 by Trey James of Sheldon Clark set back in Dec. 2017.

Moreno will matchup with the aforementioned Bar in the first round on Sunday—a matchup fans, players, coaches and scouts alike will all have an eye on.

Below are some highlights from his game against Bryan Station earlier this week:

Malachi Moreno with the block to keep his team in front here in the second. pic.twitter.com/Jt7tsYHM1p

— Barkley Truax (@BarkleyTruax) December 22, 2021

Too easy for Malachi Moreno. Warhawks lead 60-58 with 2:22 left in regulation pic.twitter.com/HzktcEOUSJ

— Barkley Truax (@BarkleyTruax) December 22, 2021