NOTEBOOK: Championship day at KABC Titans Shootout
SHELBYVILLE, Ky. – Day three of the KABC Titans Shootout is were champions of event are crowned. The day began with the 64-team tournament trimmed down to a final four of three Louisville area schools in Male, Manual and St. X, plus Great Crossing from Georgetown.
What was expected to be a collection of great games didn’t disappoint. St. X began the afternoon at Collins High School in Shelbyville with a thrilling late-game, two-point victory over rival Male High with Great Crossing holding off Manual to set up the championship game.
Facing a Great Crossing team that features 6-foot-11 center Malachi Moreno and fellow All-State performer Vince Dawson, St. X head coach Kevin Klein described as the title game opponent as a “final four team in the state.”
Neither team was able to build much of an advantage throughout the four quarters, leaving the game knotted at 52-52 at the end of regulation. An overtime bucket by 2025 guard Chance Dillingham put the Tigers on top for good, yet it was a contest that saw St. X receive key contributions from many on the roster.
“These guys just have so much resilience and fight,” Klein said. “We had our backs against the wall three or four times this week and these guys kept coming,” Klein said, adding that “they play with a championship mentality.”
Dillingham’s late-game heroics was a bit of repeat from his team’s earlier win over Male, when he connected on three important fourth-quarter buckets, including two three-pointers.
“Chance Dillingham is made for those big moments,” Klein said. “There’s not a shot he won’t think is going in when the game is on the line.”
It’s a really exciting day,” Dillingham said. “We had a really tough game against Male. Got to put some shots in the basket when that time comes at the end of the game. Whenever that time comes, I’m glad my teammates and coaches trust me to be able to take that shot and then knock it down to help my team win.”
Dillingham pointed to the team’s final game from last season as a catalyst for the championship mentality mentioned by his head coach. The Tigers had a 13-game streak snapped in the Region 7 semifinals when Seneca bounced them from the postseason, 76-49.
“That put a fire in us,” Dillingham said. “We don’t want to have more games like that.”
St. X teammate Jeremiah Jackson, a 2026 wing, is another key figure on a team filled with important pieces. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound started as a freshman and averaged 8.9 points per game. Year two saw him push his averages to 14.9 points and five rebounds. Now, year three at St. X is now off to an impressive beginning.
“This means a lot,” Jackson said. “Our team came out and played hard. This is big for us going into the next season.”
As a 2026 prospect, Jackson has started to get calls from college coaches. He holds scholarship offers from Cincinnati and Ohio
