St. Xavier stays No. 1 in Elite 16 basketball media poll after LIT

St. Xavier kept the No. 1 spot in this week’s Kentucky High School Boys Basketball Elite 16 media poll.

The Tigers (14-4) beat Jeffersontown 72-56 on Saturday to become the first program in history to win three straight Louisville Invitational Tournament titles.

St. X received 15 of the 16 first-place votes in the poll and is followed by Madison Central, Male, Covington Catholic and Daviess County.

St. X will play at Male on Friday in the third meeting this season between the teams.

The Kentucky High School Boys Basketball Elite 16 is conducted by 16 sports journalists — one from each of the state’s 16 basketball regions. The poll will be released online each week throughout the regular season.

Along with the statewide top 16, voters will provide top-five rankings for their respective regions.

Here are the rankings:

Boys statewide poll

First-place votes in parentheses; records through Monday’s games

Rank-school (FPV)                Record       Pts        LW

1. St. Xavier (15)                     14-4           255       1

2. Madison Central                18-1            225       3

3. Male (1)                             13-5             223       2

4. Covington Catholic            17-1            219       4

5. Daviess County                  16-3            192       5

6. Warren Central                   14-1            169       6

7. George Rogers Clark          13-3             154       7

8. Frederick Douglass             10-4             132       8

9. North Laurel                        14-4              93        9

10. Jeffersontown                    11-3              78      T12

11. Boyd County                      15-4              76      T12

12. McCracken County           14-3              72       11

13. Ballard                                 10-5              66       14

14. North Oldham                     11-5              59       10

15. Eastern                                15-4               23       NR

16. Lexington Catholic            10-5               22       15

Others receiving votes: Highlands 15, Bryan Station 13, Butler 13, Caverna 12, Bell County 10, Seneca 9, Pikeville 8, Covington Holy Cross 7, Marshall County 5, Ashland Blazer 4, Christian Academy 4, Ohio County 4, Pleasure Ridge Park 4, Campbell County 3, Adair County 2, Grayson County 2, Manual 2, Ryle 1.

First Region

Steve Springer, Murray Ledger & Times

1. McCracken County

2. Marshall County

3. Murray

4. Carlisle County

5. Mayfield

Second Region

Edward Marlowe, WKDZ-FM

1. Lyon County

2. Henderson County

3. Hopkinsville

4. Hopkins County Central

5. Union County  

Third Region

Mark Mathis, Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer

1. Daviess County

2. Grayson County

3. Ohio County

4. Apollo

5. Owensboro Catholic

Fourth Region

Micheal Compton, Bowling Green Daily News

1. Warren Central

2. Clinton County

3. South Warren

4. Glasgow

5. Greenwood

Fifth Region

Josh Claywell, Bardstown Kentucky Standard/LaRue County Herald News

1. Adair County

2. LaRue County

3. Caverna

4. Nelson County

5. Taylor County

Sixth Region

Demetrius Stanton, DeadStock Visuals

1. Jeffersontown

2. Butler

3. DuBois

4. Pleasure Ridge Park

5. Evangel Christian

Seventh Region

Jason Frakes, The Courier Journal

1. St. Xavier

2. Male

3. Ballard

4. Manual

5. Christian Academy

Eighth Region

James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer

1. North Oldham

2. South Oldham

3. Woodford County

4. Simon Kenton

5. Anderson County

Ninth Region

Brendan Connelly, Cincinnati Enquirer

1. Covington Catholic

2. Highlands

3. Lloyd Memorial

4. Ryle

5. Covington Holy Cross

10th Region

Evan Dennison, LinkNKY.com

1. George Rogers Clark

2. Montgomery County

3. Campbell County

4. Nicholas County

5. Bishop Brossart

11th Region

Jared Peck, Lexington Herald-Leader

1. Madison Central

2. Frederick Douglass

3. Bryan Station

4. Lexington Catholic

5. Great Crossing

12th Region

Mike Marsee, Danville freelancer

1. Danville Christian

2. Wayne County

3. Somerset

4. Pulaski County

5. Somerset Christian

13th Region

Les Dixon, 13thRegionMediaNetwork.com

1. North Laurel

2. Bell County

3. Clay County

4. Corbin

5. South Laurel  

14th Region

Brendon Miller, Bluegrass Sports Nation

1. Letcher County Central

2. Breathitt County

3. Powell County

4. Hazard

5. Knott County Central  

15th Region

Randy White, Appalachian News-Express

1. Martin County

2. Pikeville

3. Johnson Central

4. Paintsville

5. Floyd Central

16th Region

James Collier, WLGC-FM

1. Boyd County

2. Ashland Blazer

3. Russell

4. Lewis County

5. Raceland

More high school sports: Vote for Louisville-area boys athlete of the week

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; [email protected]; Follow on X @kyhighs.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: St. Xavier basketball stays No. 1 in Elite 16 media poll after LIT