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[DEC. 31, 2001]   High school boys and girls holiday tournament results

Boys

Clinton Holiday Tournament

At Clinton

(Seventh-place game)

Hartsburg-Emden             7 20 37    56
Arcola                            15 23 46    65

Westen 0-1-1; Ko. Leesman 0-3-3; Ke. Leesman 1-3-5; Fletcher 3-0-8; Anderson 4-4-12; Gleason 6-1-15; Jones 2-0-4; Wrage 3-4-10

Totals 19-16-58

Three-point field goals: Hartsburg-Emden (4) – Fletcher 2, Gleason 2.

Girls

State Farm Holiday Classic

(Consolation championship)

Blue Ridge                  8 18 33     36
Olympia                      9 20 30     42

Floyd 4-5-14; Prager 1-0-2; Short 2-0-4; Brand 1-0-2; Gaither 4-3-12; Goebel 3-2-8

Totals 15-10-42

Three-point field goals: Olympia (2) -- Floyd, Gaither.

[to top of second column in this article]

Lady Tiger Holiday Classic

At Pickerington, Ohio 

Nitro, W. Va.                 13 26 39     56
Lincoln                           15 29 44     62

Dawson 6-5-17; Verderber 2-1-5; Robbins 1-3-6; Ingram 7-0-18; Froschauer 1-1-3; Carey 4-0-8; Whalen 1-0-3; Bunch 1-0-2

Totals 23-10-62

Three-point field goals: Lincoln (4) -- Lincoln (6) – Ingram 4, Robbins, Whalen.

Okaw Valley Holiday Tournament

At Bethany 

Edwards County                 7 14 28     42
Mount Pulaski                   11 27 37     57

Moske 2-2-6; Howe 3-1-7; Faith 4-4-13; Jason 2-2-6; Rucks 0-5-5; Sanders 7-6-20

Totals 18-20-57

Three-point field goals: Mount Pulaski (1) – Faith.

[DEC. 29, 2001]   High school boys and girls holiday tournament results

Boys

State Farm Holiday Classic

At Bloomington

Lincoln                         6 14 21     27
Thornwood                10 28 39     49

Mount Pulaski                  17 37 50     66
Sherrard                           15 24 40     60

Argenta-Oreana                  4 20 43     59
Olympia                            10 17 21     38

Macomb-Western Tournament

At Macomb

Illini Central                  8 22 34     55
Macomb                    15 31 46     60

Illini Central                  16 30 36     50
Farmington                   13 25 33     53

[to top of second column in this article]

Clinton Tournament

At Clinton

Roanoke                  13 24 39     64
Hartsburg                   6 24 41     62

Girls

State Farm Holiday Classic

At Normal (U High Gym)

CPCI                        2  7 14     32
Olympia                  16 28 38     42

Lady Tiger Holiday Classic

At Pickerington, Ohio

Wheeler, Ga.                  15 35 45     59
Lincoln                           10 18 31     41

Okaw Valley Tournament

At Okaw Valley

Arthur                              9 15 24     41
Mount Pulaski                  9 20 22     26

[DEC. 28, 2001]   High school boys and girls holiday tournament results

Boys

State Farm Holiday Classic

At Shirk Center

Olympia                    10 30 47     62
Kewanee                  15 23 28     45

Dillenburg 2-0-4; Elliott 6-1-13; Olson 6-0-14; Wise 4-1-9; Schultz 2-1-5; Sherman 1-1-4; Kieser 2-2-6; Kendrick 1-0-2; Cheek 1-0-3; Hayes 1-0-2

Totals 26-6-62

Three-point field goals: Olympia (4) -- Olson 2, Sherman.

Mount Pulaski                           9 19 31     52
Quincy Notre Dame                19 37 52     67

N. Tierney 1-2-4; Anderson 5-0-13; Blaum 4-1-9; Coers 4-0-8; Clements 4-4-12; Schilling 1-0-2; Deibert 1-0-2; Waymire 1-0-2

Totals 21-7-52

At Bloomington

Peoria Notre Dame                  22 24 31     41
Lincoln                                     16 29 43     60

Farmer 6-1-17; Komnick 1-1-4; Schonauer 3-0-7; Schrader 3-2-9; Welch 1-0-2; Young 7-5-19; Gallagher 1-0-2

Totals 22-9-60

Three-point field goals: Lincoln (7) -- Farmer 4, Komnick, Schonauer, Schrader.

Macomb-Western Tournament

At Macomb

Hamilton                      18 28 35     60
Illini Central                  21 31 44     73

Miller 5-1-11; Tra. Scott 0-2-2; Williams 6-3-15; Grimsley 5-9-20; Clark 5-2-12; Gisler 4-1-13

Totals 25-18-73

Three-point field goals: Illini Central (5) -- Giesler 4, Grimsley.

[to top of second column in this article]

Clinton Tournament

At Clinton

Hartsburg-Emden                  14 36 46     72
Peru St. Bede                        18 29 36     61

Ke. Leesman 7-3-17; Anderson 4-4-13; Gleason 4-3-14; Ko. Leesman 4-0-8; Jones 2-0-4; Wrage 3-1-7; Fletcher 2-1-5; Sherwood 0-4-4

Totals 26-17-72

Three-point field goals: Hartsburg-Emden (4) -- Gleason 3, Anderson.

Girls

State Farm Holiday Classic

At Normal

Camp Point                  7 19 26     33
Olympia                     12 27 37     50

Wilcox 2-0-5; Floyd 8-5-22; Prager 4-0-8; Short 2-0-4; Brand 0-1-1; Canopy 2-0-4; Goebel 2-0-4; Litwiller 1-0-2

Totals 21-6-50

Three-point field goals: Olympia (2) -- Wilcox, Floyd.

South Fulton Holiday Tournament

At Astoria

Illini Central                  10 23 32     49
Peoria Heights              10 20 26     39

Montgomery 4-2-10; Damm 7-5-21; Oney 1-1-4; Bitner 5-0-10; Hankins 0-1-1; Klassen 1-0-3

Totals 18-9-49

Three-point field goals: Illini Central (4) -- Damm 2, Oney, Klassen.

Lady Tiger Holiday Classic

At Pickerington, Ohio 

Lincoln                           7 18 21     32
Pickerington                 18 30 44     67

Dawson 0-1-1; Hoffert 1-0-2; Robbins 1-2-5; Washam 1-0-2; Freesmeir 1-0-2; Ingram 1-2-4; Froschauer 1-0-3; Schonauer 1-0-3; Carey 1-2-5; Whalen 0-3-3; Verderber 1-0-2

Totals 9-10-32

Three-point field goals: Lincoln (4) -- Robbins, Froschauer, Schonauer, Carey.

[DEC. 28, 2001]   

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[DEC. 27, 2001] High school boys and girls holiday tournament results

Boys

State Farm Holiday Classic

At IWU (Shirk Center)

Lincoln                            19 38 53     70
Buffalo Grove                    9 18 31     46

Farmer 3-0-8; Schonauer 6-0-17; Schrader 8-2-21; Welch 1-0-2; Young 4-1-9; Gallagher 2-2-7; Heidbreder 1-2-4; Carnahan 1-0-2

Totals 26-7-70

Three-point field goals: Lincoln (11) -- Schonauer 5, Schrader 3, Farmer 2, Gallagher 1; Buffalo Grove (none).

At Bloomington

Olympia                           11 26 41     50
Mount Pulaski                  20 31 43     67

Olympia -- Dillenburg 8-1-23; Sheman 2-3-6; Kieser 3-0-6; Olson 1-0-2; Thornton 3-0-7; Schultz 1-2-4; Slager 1-0-2

Totals 19-5-50

Mount Pulaski -- Coers 2-8-12; N. Tierney 1-1-3; Blaum 5-2-12; Anderson 9-1-25; Schilling 1-0-2; B. Erlenbush 1-0-3; Clements 3-2-8; J. Tierney 0-2-2

Totals 22-16-67

Three-point field goals: Olympia (7) -- Dillenburg 6, Thornton. Mount Pulaski (7) -- Anderson 6, B. Erlenbush

Macomb-Western Tournament

At Macomb

Illini Central                  19 32 50     67
Knoxville                      11 18 24     31

Miller 4-0-8; Grimsley 7-0-17; Clark 6-2-14; Giesler 1-1-3; Tra. Scott 2-1-6; Williams 3-1-7; Cremeens 1-0-3; Heronymus 1-1-3; Swaar 0-1-1; Dodson 1-1-3; Sickmeyer 1-0-2

Totals 27-8-67

Three-point field goals: Illini Central (5) -- Grimsley 3, Tra. Scott, Cremeens.

[to top of second column in this article]

Girls

State Farm Holiday Classic

At Normal

Alleman                  9 19 27     38
Olympia                  8 20 25     33

Floyd 4-0-8; Prager 2-0-5; Gaither 6-0-14; Goebel 2-0-4; Litwiller 1-0-2

Totals 15-0-33

Three-point field goals: Olympia (3) -- Gaither 2, Prager.

South Fulton Holiday Tournament

At Astoria

Illini Central                  11 26 35     57
LaHarpe                      17 25 38     60

Montgomery 4-5-14; Damm 7-2-23; Oney 2-4-9; Bitner 3-0-6; Klarren 2-0-5

Totals 18-11-57

Three-point field goals: Illini Central (10) -- Damm 7, Montgomery, Oney, Klarren.

[DEC. 27, 2001]  The Christmas holiday is finished, New Year’s Day is just around the corner, and all is well in Illini Land! The football team is ranked No. 7 in the country, just completed a 10-win regular season for the first time in eighteen years, won an outright conference title, and is getting ready to play in one of the top four bowl games on New Year’s Day. The men’s basketball team is also starting to show signs of progress in their quest to repeat as Big Ten conference champions. The hoopsters are also ranked No. 7 in the country, have already claimed 10 wins in 12 games, and just beat their border war rival Missouri in one of the great rivalry games in all of college basketball. LDN wanted to catch you up on what was happening in both camps as 2002 approaches:

Illinois football:

• The team arrived in New Orleans for Sugar Bowl preparation on Christmas Eve night. The Illini practiced early Christmas morning and celebrated the holiday together.

• Illinois has a chance to win eleven games in a season for the first time ever!

• Illinois appears to be healthy, as both RB Antonio Harris and LB Jerry Shumacher are healthy again and planning on starting in the Sugar Bowl.

• Illinois is receiving commitments from some very good high school seniors, including New Jersey RB Ibrahim Halsey (one of the top five RB’s in the nation) and LB Brandon Archer of St. Paul, MN.

• Illinois’ opponent, LSU, will be playing on Jan. 1 just 40 miles from their campus in Shreveport and should have quite a home crowd advantage.

• Illinois has announced plans for a football version of the Busch Braggin’ Rights game to be held in St. Louis the next two seasons. The Illini will line up against Missouri at the TWA dome, home of the St. Louis Rams, on Saturday, Aug. 31.

• Illinois last played the Tigers during the 1994 season, defeating them in Champaign with the score 42-0.

[to top of second column in this article]

Illinois men's basketball:

• Illinois plays Loyola of Chicago Saturday at 7 p.m. in Champaign. The game can be seen on WCIA-TV, Channel 3.

• Illinois will open conference play on Wednesday night Jan. 2 at the Assembly Hall against Minnesota. The game will also be seen on channel 3, WCIA.

• Illinois has a very favorable start to the Big Ten season. After the Minnesota game, Illinois plays two straight road games against Wisconsin and then Purdue, two teams who are really struggling early this year. Illinois then plays three straight home games against Michigan (the worst team in the conference this season), Iowa and then Wisconsin.

• The Iowa game will be played on Tuesday night Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN.

• Illinois will only play Iowa, Penn State, Northwestern and Ohio State one time this conference season. The Illini will play the Hawks and the Nittany Lions in Champaign and the Wildcats and Buckeyes on the road.

• Illinois forward Lucas Johnson appears on target for a Feb. 1 return from his torn ACL injury.

Look for more Illini news and notes in the days ahead.  And look for live reports from New Orleans as Illinois prepares for the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1!

[Greg Taylor]

[DEC. 26, 2001]   

Andrew Mitchell scored 12 of his game-high 17 points in the second half as Kent State defeated Illinois State 61-48 at Redbird Arena. Shawn Jeppson led the ’Birds in scoring with 12 points.

The Redbirds, 4-7, managed only 18 points in the first half, the total tied the record for least points in a half for Illinois State at Redbird Arena. The other 18-point half performance occurred on Jan. 23, 1993, against Bradley, when Illinois State was outscored 24-18 in the first frame. The ’Birds were unable to generate any points in the final 6:38 of the first half.

[to top of second column in this article]

Kent State (5-4) had two other players find double figures, with Trevor Huffman scoring 13 and Demetric Shaw chipping in 10. The Golden Flashes were led on the boards by Antonio Gates with 11.

Baboucarr Bojang was the only other Redbird to reach double figures, with 11 points. Andy Strandmark had another great performance off the bench for Illinois State leading the team in rebounding with seven.

The Redbirds host Creighton to open their conference schedule on Jan. 2.

[Todd Kober, ISU director of media relations]

[DEC. 26, 2001]  For the second time in three days, Stacey White got a key rebound and made two free throws to give Illinois State a three-point lead and ice a victory, this time a 53-50 win over Western Illinois on Saturday at Redbird Arena.

Western Illinois (6-4) was led by Becky Tyo with 20 points and Tugba Palazoglu added 15, but she missed a jumper to take the lead with four seconds left under heavy pressure from Steph Reichle. White got the rebound, got fouled and made the last two free throws with 0.00.9. Taren O'Brien led the Redbirds with 18 points. White added 12.

The win was just what the doctor ordered for the Redbirds, according to coach Jenny Yopp, right down to the final seconds.

"That's two games in a row where we have improved our defensive effort," said Yopp. "Steph played smart defense and got a hard contest [on Palazoglu's shot], then we got a great box out and Stacey White secured the rebound."

"My teammates all blocked out and I knew all I had to do was secure the rebound and I would get fouled," said White, whose similar play netted two free throws with 18 seconds left against NIU, giving ISU a three-point lead before Reichle blocked a last-ditch 3-pointer for the win on Thursday.

ISU has bounced back with two wins in a row after an 0-7 start, and O'Brien believes her team hung in there.

"We were never down on ourselves, even when we were 0-7," said O'Brien. "Now, we've got some momentum going into the conference. We're confident.'

Illinois State (2-7) allowed WIU to hit 11 of its first 18 field goals, but allowed just 5-of-29 after that. The Redbird defense was stifling right to the end.

"We lost our composure and lost our poise," said WIU coach Leslie Crane. "You have to be able to shoot the ball and we had too many people taking forced shots. We've been shooting 45 or 46 percent from the field because we wouldn't take our time."

[to top of second column in this article]

Palazoglu scored five points during an 11-0 WIU run which put Western ahead 15-4 with 12:43 left in the first half.

The Westerwinds had a 28-23 lead thanks to Palzoglu's 12 points. She made her first five shots including a pair of 3-pointers. WIU made 11 of its first 18 field goals in the half and ISU was 7-24 for the first 20 minutes. But the ’Birds forced 12 Westerwind turnovers and made 9-of-13 free throws to stay within five.

In the second half, WIU led by as many as six before O'Brien 3-pointer and a Chris Kutchinski jumper cut the lead to 35-34. Tyo muscled in an answer with 12:20 left to put the ’Winds ahead 37-34.

With 11:21 left, Katie Donovan picked up an offensive rebound and was fouled on the put-back by Somer Easterwood, who also earned a technical foul. White made the two technicals and Donovan's second foul shot put the ’Birds ahead 38-37.

The teams were tied 44-44 from 8:21 to 5:14 left when White beat the shot clock with an off-balance one-hander from 15 feet. O'Brien added a pair of free throws with 4:36 left to give ISU its biggest lead at 4:36. Tyo cut that lead in half with a 15-footer at 4:10 left.

Reichle made a free throw with 3:14 left to put ISU up 49-46. Tyo's ninth and 10th free throws without a miss brought WIU within 49-48 with 1:34 left. O'Brien hit two for ISU with 1:21 left.

Jessica Cook made two free throws with 28.9 seconds left to trim the lead to 51-50. ISU was attempting to run out the clock when Erica Zielinski forced a held ball with 9.2 seconds left, and it was WIU's ball. Palazoglu missed a 12-footer under pressure and White got the rebound and was fouled with 0.9 seconds left and made the deciding free throws.

[Nate Bargar, ISU]

The Sugar Bowl adventure begins

By Jeff Mayfield

[DEC. 31, 2001]   As the Decatur Herald-Review sports editor so eloquently said last week, "Everyone thinks that sportswriters get a free ride. We don’t."

Now maybe he and some of our central Illinois favorite writers do have their expenses covered at least. We here at the LDN are on our own. And that’s not such a bad thing. In fact, from an editorializing point of view, that could be liberating at times.

At any rate, for us to make the trip south requires us to pay our own way. And you should have seen all the price gougers out there. Never being all that ingenious or resourceful, a trip like this could be difficult for most people to imagine. Your LDN sports staff, however, is not comprised of most people. It’s a group of dedicated sports writing warriors, who will go to virtually any lengths to provide you loyal readers with every inside scoop that we can uncover.

So, by the time you got back from church yesterday (don’t panic — we went to early service), four of our seven passengers had loaded up the SS Minnow (John Coady’s van) and were readying to make the 12-plus hour voyage to Bayou country. Led by LDN photographer Tom Seggelke, Illini beat writer Greg Taylor (who is also now one of the new voices of Lincoln Railer basketball — congrats, Greg!), Wappella minister Ed Bacon and yours truly, the minnow would definitely be tested on this expedition. The before-mentioned John and his son Craig along with long-time Illini fan Lynn Laughlin were set to join us in the swamp on New Year’s Day.

Some of the gang thinks Illinois will win, while some are not so sure. I think we can win; we certainly have enough firepower, and we have yet to put it all together in one contest. Wouldn’t it be great if we did it on Tuesday night? This writer thinks so.

By the time you read this we will have traveled down beautiful Interstate 55 past St. Louis and Memphis and right on down to the Big Easy.

[to top of second column in this article]

We could have participated in activities as early as Wednesday, but most in our party had responsibilities back here. One guy had to preach, another officiated a wedding, one guy spoke at a Christmas Eve service, a couple had late Christmas celebrations, one guy had to work all week and wants everyone to know it… I don’t know what the other six guys did. HA! Just a little staff humor for your reading enjoyment!

Illinois coach Ron Turner hopefully has his Illini more prepared for this game than we were to take this trip! He gave the boys a couple of days off after they took a cruise on some airboats through the swamp.

I don’t think that’s one of the things you’ll see us writing about. I mean, what if one of those boats hits a stump and knocks you into the drink? Isn’t that how the song Amos Moses was written in the early ’70s? Come on, you ’70s people… Help us out with this one?

Anyway, if all goes well, we’ll be on the scene for you in Louisiana. We’ll be your eyes and ears and hopefully your voice, since this is now shaping up to be a huge road game, thanks to the ticket mess that has been created! I don’t know when and where you’ll hear from us next, but we’ll try to give you some stuff that no other area media outlet can deliver, just like we always do. More than that, we hope our presence helps produce a win, although we can’t guarantee that, of course.

But no matter what happens, this will no doubt be an adventure of a lifetime. Why do I say that? Have you ever been to New Orleans? It’s a trip in itself!

[Jeff Mayfield]

Announcements

[DEC. 29, 2001]  The Quincy United Soccer Club will be hosting a girls indoor soccer tournament on Jan. 19 and 20.  On Feb. 2 and 3 they will host a boys tournament.

Games will be played 6 vs. 6 (including keeper) on the field. Games will run 44 minutes long. Participants in the tournaments will play a total of four games, with two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday. Two fields are designated for use during the tournament.

Age brackets run from U-10, U-11, U-12, U-13, U-14, U-15 up to high school and college.

There will be no parking or admission fee to the tournament.

A full concession stand will be provided.

Deadline for entry is Jan. 8. The cost for entry is $150.00.

Hotel cost at Holiday Inn and Hampton will run $55 to $60. Hotels are located across the street from the facility.

For more information on the tournament contact Matt Longo at soccer@rnet.com or Terry Bower at trbower@dstream.net. Inquiries may also be made by telephone: Matt Longo  (217) 224-8253, Terry Bower at (217) 224-8405.

[LDN]

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