Two weeks since the George Rogers Clark girls basketball team lost junior star Ciara Byars to a season-ending knee injury, the goals haven’t changed for the Cardinals.

GRC has won six of the past seven 10^th Region championships and expects to make another deep postseason run this March.

“If our goals change, then I’m telling my other players that I don’t have faith in them and I don’t believe in them,” Cardinals coach Robbie Graham said. “Everybody just has to do a little bit more. Is it going to be a tougher task to reach the top? Obviously, it will be without your best player. But we’re going to be max effort and see what happens at the end.”

The Cardinals are 18-1 and ranked No. 2 in the Kentucky High School Basketball Media Poll entering the Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament that will tip off Monday.

All season GRC has been considered the top challenger to knock off No. 1 Sacred Heart and end the Valkyries’ three-year run of state titles.

But the Cardinals suffered a devastating blow Jan. 6 when Byars — a 6-foot-1 junior with multiple scholarship offers from Power Five schools — tore an ACL in a 68-34 victory over 10^th Region rival Montgomery County.

Byars is scheduled to have surgery Thursday and will miss the rest of the season. Graham expects Byars will be ready to play next season, when she’ll be a top contender for Kentucky Miss Basketball honors.

Graham recalled the moment the team learned Byars’ status.

“We basically said, ‘Let’s get our tears out of the way, head up, shoulders back,’” Graham said. “The season still has to be played, and no one is going to feel sorry for us. We still have to go on.”

Byars was averaging 14.1 points and 5.3 rebounds before the injury. With one senior on the roster, Graham said the team most misses Byars’ leadership qualities.

“She’s the captain of our defense,” he said. “She sees things develop, and she’s the one that calls all the switches and is talking all the time. She has a very high IQ … and knows every one of our sets, knows every option, knows every position. We definitely miss that.”

Still, GRC has plenty of weapons and goes nine-deep.

Freshman point guard Kennedy Stamper (11.1 ppg) has started for the Cardinals since she was a seventh grader. Juniors Jailenn Green (9.8 ppg) and Khania Jones (6.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and sophomores Teigh Yeast (9.5 ppg) and Anaya Chestnut (8.7 ppg) are the other leaders.

Sacred Heart coach Donna Moir still sees GRC as a major threat in the LIT and beyond.

“I feel awful for Ciara Byars,” said Moir, whose Valkyries beat GRC 57-53 in last year’s Sweet 16 semifinals. “But if you look at their record, they haven’t missed a beat. Robbie is a really good coach, and I’m sure he’ll have them ready to play. He has some depth. It’s not going to be like having Ciara, but they have some pieces that can help without her in the lineup.”

Along with No. 1 Sacred Heart and No. 2 GRC, No. 3 Cooper also is in the 16-team LIT field. The first two rounds will be played Monday and Tuesday at campus sites. Valley High School will host the rest of the tournament, with quarterfinals on Thursday and Friday, semifinals and final on Saturday.

Graham said the LIT provides a solid rehearsal for the postseason.

“It’s a great opportunity to get in the mental frame of playing in Rupp Arena,” he said. “The competition level is going to be outstanding, and I think it gets you ready for what you’re going to see in district and region and if you happen to make it to Rupp Arena. We know we’re going to see some tough teams and get us ready for the postseason.”

Here’s the LIT schedule:

Monday — Ballard (12-6) at Mercy (8-13), 6:30 p.m.; Pleasure Ridge Park (7-8) at Manual (10-5), 6:30 p.m.; Male (5-8) at Bullitt East (9-9), 6:30 p.m.; North Bullitt (8-11) at Assumption (12-8), 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday — Ballard-Mercy winner at Sacred Heart (11-7), 6:30 p.m.; Pleasure Ridge Park-Manual winner at Central (13-5), 6:30 p.m.; Male-Bullitt East winner at Butler (13-5), 6:30 p.m.; North Bullitt-Assumption winner at Christian Academy (10-6), 6:30 p.m.

Thursday at Valley High School — Ballard-Mercy-Sacred Heart survivor vs. Simon Kenton (14-5), 5:30 p.m.; Pleasure Ridge Park-Manual-Central survivor vs. Cooper (17-3), 7 p.m.

Friday at Valley High School — North Bullitt-Assumption-Christian Academy survivor vs. George Rogers Clark (18-1), 5:30 p.m.; Male-Bullitt East-Butler survivor vs. Frederick Douglass (13-5), 7 p.m.

Saturday at Valley High School — Semifinals, 10 and 11:30 a.m.; championship, 6 p.m.

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Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Follow on X @kyhighs.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA basketball: Cardinals enter girls LIT with lofty expectations