Lexington Christmas Classic: Top 6 Performers

This year's rendition of the Lexington Christmas Classic featured a slightly larger field than last season's version. In addition, it changed its format where the 20 varsity teams were sorted into brackets of four.    This year's also occurred later in the month than last year's and games were split between Friday, Dec. 21 and Monday, Dec. 23. Along with the 20 varsity teams, the home of the Wildcats also welcomes 12 assemblings from the junior varsity ranks.   We at Prep Girls Hoops were on site at the Midlands 5A school for the Monday slate of games that determined bracket champions. Without further ado, here is our list of performers who came through for their respective teams.    Whalen makes a way to make plays all day. In defensive-minded contests such as Monday morning's Blue Bracket championship get-together between SCISA 4A Ben Lippen and 2A Eau Claire, every point counts. The 12 that Whalen placed on the scoreboard certainly did in the Falcons' 36-35 overtime victory over the Shamrocks. Whalen also had the most important bucket of the game – the go-ahead bucket in overtime that put Ben Lippen ahead for good. While Whalen primarily plays as a small forward, she can also give a team productive minutes as a guard. Much of what she gets accomplished is in the painted area between her rebounding and scoring.     More Moody means more wins for Megan Assey's team. On paper, a contest between fellow 5A combatants Spring Valley and Mauldin would come down to the final seconds. The actuality on Monday at Lexington was anything but. Moody scored 31 points to lead her Vikings to an emphatic 82-43 victory over the Mavericks. Moody had 21 at the half. The six-foot Spring Valley senior is not only a consistent scorer, but she delivers plenty of rebounds and utilizes her length to reject plenty of shots. Once this season concludes, Moody will bring her many talents to the Pee Dee for her collegiate ball – Francis Marion to be exact.     Teamwise, Leamon's Mauldin assembling would sooner forget how its Green Bracket championship contest with Spring Valley went given it was the first loss for the Mavericks since a Dec. 10 defeat at 4A Westside. Leamon still had herself a great game for Mauldin with a 23-point performance. The 23 for Leamon included 16 that were scored in the first half of play. An accurate 3-point shot is a central point of her offensive game but can throw defenses off balance with her rim attacking abilities. Connecting on floaters, getting to the line and all-around veteran instincts also make Leamon is task to game plan against.     Given Godfrey once wore the blue and gold Lexington uniform, she had to have some fond memories returning to the Wildcats' home court. Godfrey made even more memories out at Lexington for her Northside Christian team as the Crusaders put together a rout of 2A Saluda with the final score being 46-22. Godfrey scored 18 points. Defensively, she will intercept an opposing team's passing attempts. On the offensive end of the floor, Godfrey is quick with the ball in her hands, will find lanes to the rim and is willing to draw contact to put herself at the free throw line.     Anderson already made one of our Top 6 lists from the CNHY Showcase at Cardinal Newman. She did so again with another stellar performance against a tough Fort Mill team. In a game that saw overtime, Lexington defeated the Yellow Jackets by a final score of 60-53 and Anderson led the charge with a 25-point performance. She played with her back to the basket and was virtually an automatic two points when she had an opportunity to make a play in the interior. The 6-foot-1 veteran fuses together consistent scoring and rebounding prowess to be a consistent double-double possibility on a game-by-game basis.     There are not too many teams across the state that can make a 5A juggernaut like Dutch Fork look average. That is what Grant and her North Augusta squad did on Monday afternoon at Lexington. Grant led the Yellow Jackets with 18 points and North Augusta won this year's Gold Bracket championship at the Lexington Christmas Classic. Grant will keep her hands outstretched on defense and can arrive from seemingly out of nowhere to deliver clutch defensive plays that will give her team additional offensive possessions. She displays impressive handles and showcases her toughness with her willingness to fall to the floor to complete a play.

This year's rendition of the Lexington Christmas Classic featured a slightly larger field than last season's version. In addition, it changed its format where the 20 varsity teams were sorted into brackets of four.