Pierre Rondo, No. 16 North Oldham handle business against Trinity with 65-57 win

On Friday night, the No. 16 North Oldham Mustangs (10-4) took care of business at home against the Trinity Shamrocks (5-6), winning 65-57.

The Mustangs jumped out to a 21-13 cushion after the first quarter and never looked back. They led by as much as 19, leading 50-31 late in the third quarter. The Shamrocks put up a fight in the fourth though, going on a 7-0 run midway through to cut the lead back to single digits, but North Oldham regrouped to hold them off.

Eighth-grade guard Pierre Rondo, son of former Kentucky player Rajon Rondo, dished the rock well for North Oldham, posting eight assists to zero turnovers while adding 10 points, but it was the performance of Thomas Gregg and the streaky shooting of Eli Green that really put the game to bed. Gregg finished with 23 points (10-14 FG; 3-5 3FG), six rebounds, and two steals, while Green scored 15 points, shooting 5-for-8 from beyond the arc.

“We’ve been really working on offensive tempo,” said North Oldham coach David Levitch. “We had 14 threes in our last game, 10 tonight, so we’re starting to pick up our offense a little bit more.”

Jaidan Bartlett led Trinity with 16 points and already eclipsed his season average of 9.5 points per game by halftime with 12 at the break. Thomas Hornek and Garrison Gilvin also scored double-figures for the ‘Rocks, putting up 12 and 10, respectively.

Despite the loss, Trinity has the return of Jayden Johnson to look forward to. The three-star recruit transferred back to Trinity from Wasatch Academy (UT) at the beginning of the calendar year, and is awaiting his eligibility ruling from KHSAA.

Louisville Invitational Tournament

Both schools are slated to play in the Louisville Invitational Tournament (L.I.T.), which starts Sunday, Jan. 11, at Valley High School. North Oldham earned the top seed, with Trinity slated as the nine-seed, setting a possible rematch between these two in the second round.

North Oldham is one of four teams making their L.I.T. debut, which also includes Oldham County, South Oldham, and W.E.B. DuBois.

“It’s an honor to be in the tournament,” said Levitch. “Everybody one to 16 is good, so it’s exciting to us.”

A 35-second shot clock will be used for the games, which was implemented in last year’s L.I.T.

Here is the first-round schedule below:

Sunday, Jan 11:

• No. 1 North Oldham vs. No. 16 Oldham Co. at 2 p.m.
• No. 4 Butler vs. No. 13 W.E.B. DuBois at 3:45 p.m.
• No. 2 St. Xavier vs. No. 15 Fairdale at 5:30 p.m.
• No. 3 South Oldham vs. No. 14 Atherton at 7:15 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 12:

• No. 8 Jeffersontown vs. No. 9 Trinity at 6 p.m.
• No. 7 Manual vs. No. 10 Ballard at 7:45 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 13:

• No. 5 Eastern vs. No. 12 Seneca at 6 p.m.
• No. 6 Male vs. No. 11 PRP at 7:45 p.m.

The seeding was calculated with SETH Ratings, a system developed by former JCPS Director of Athletics Jerry Wyman. It’s drawing controversy as Male, KSR’s number one-ranked team and reigning King of the Bluegrass champions, was seeded sixth.