IBCA E-Newsletter

Indiana-Kentucky Challenge Cup

The seventh annual Indiana-Kentucky Challenge Cup was played on Dec. 14 at two sites – Scott County High School and Great Crossing High School, both located in Georgetown, Ky. The event was a seven-game competition between teams from Indiana and Kentucky, coordinated by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association and the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches. It had been a five-game competition in the previous six seasons.

In the 2019-2020 season, Kentucky claimed a 4-3 triumph for its sixth series victory over the seven seasons.

Here are the results from this past season:

At Scott County High School

• Boys: LaRue County, Ky., 75, Christian Academy of Indiana 55
• Girls: East Central 63, Scott County, Ky., 53, OT
• Boys: Scott County, Ky., 77, Jeffersonville 72

At Great Crossing High School

• Boys: Great Crossing, Ky., 87, Cambridge City Lincoln 53
• Boys: Collins, Ky., 79, Southridge 42
• Girls: Silver Creek 57, Ryle, Ky., 42
• Girls: Covenant Christian (Indianapolis) 68, Great Crossing, Ky., 57

Over seven seasons, Kentucky has won 24 games and Indiana has prevailed in 13 games. Kentucky won the first five Challenge Cups – 4-1 in 2013-14, 3-2 in 2014-15, 3-2 in 2015-16, 3-2 in 2016-17 and 5-0 in 2017-18. Indiana claimed the Cup in 2018-19 with a 3-2 advantage. Kentucky rebounded with the 4-3 edge in 2019-2020.

Veterans and their immediate families were admitted at no charge, and proceeds benefited the Indiana and Kentucky basketball halls of fame. In seven years, the event has raised about $30,000 for charities, including the Wounded Warrior program as well as the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame.

The eighth Indiana-Kentucky Challenge Cup will return to the five-game, one-site format on Jan. 9, 2021, in the New Castle Fieldhouse. An IBCA committee will choose the teams from Indiana for the event. If your team is interested, please contact IBCA assistant director Tom Beach at tabeach@anderson.edu.

This is not an “exempt” event, so playing in this event must be within the IHSAA schedule limits.