State
Farm Holiday Classic
Boys
Class AA - At Bloomington HS
Thornwood 13 27 32
50
Lincoln
4 11 22 34
Lincoln: Farmer 1-3-5, Bunch 3-0-7, Gallagher 0-0-0, Komnick
0-0-0, Young 6-3-15, Schrader 1-5-7, Heidbreder 0-0-0, Whalen 0-0-0,
Charron 0-0-0, Peters 0-0-0. Totals 11-11-34.
Three-pointers: Bunch 1.
[Photos by Bob Frank]
Class A - At Shirk Center
Mount Pulaski 22 42
58 76
Rock Falls
17 34 47 75
Mount Pulaski: Erlenbush 5-0-14, Anderson 0-9-9, N. Tierney
5-3-13, Olson 8-3-20, J. Tierney 2-2-6, Blaum 2-3-7, Milner 1-0-2,
Waymire 0-2-2, Coers 0-3-3. Totals 23-25-76.
Three-pointers: Erlenbush 4, Olson 1.
Olympia
4 10 20 32
University High 6 15
37 43
Olympia: Thornton 0-0-0, Kieser 3-0-6, Schmidgall 0-0-0,
Criswell 2-4-8, Olson 1-0-2, Williams 1-0-2, Elliot 3-3-9, Boudeman
2-1-5, Schultz 0-0-0. Totals 12-8-32.
Other tournaments
At Williamsville
Warrensburg-Latham def. Springfield Calvary 66-63.
At Macomb
Illini Central def. Macomb 64-45.
Canton vs. Illini Central (championship)
At Erie
Illini Central def. Abingdon 70-53.
[to top of second column in this article] |
Girls
Class AA - At Normal West HS
Galesburg 8 17
24 35
Lincoln
6 15 20 24
Lincoln: Robbins 2-0-4, Presswood 2-3-7, Hoffert 2-0-4,
Humbert 0-1-1, Carey 1-0-3, Verderber 2-1-5. Totals 9-5-24.
Three-pointers: Carey 1.
Class A - At Horton Fieldhouse
CPCI 6
17 29 37
Olympia 9 13
27 36
Olympia: Floyd 5-1-13, Prager 2-1-5, Brand 0-0-0, Canopy
4-0-8, Litwiller 4-0-8, Logsdon 1-0-2, Heiser 0-0-0, Crabtree 0-0-0.
Totals 16-2-36. Three-pointers: Floyd 2.
Other tournaments
At Astoria
Illini Central def. South Fulton 49-42.
Boys' games today
State Farm
Mount Pulaski vs. Quincy Notre Dame, 6 p.m., Shirk Center,
championship.
Sherrard vs. Olympia, 4:30 p.m., Normal West South Gym, third place.
Lincoln vs. Chicago St. Rita, 4:30 p.m., Horton Fieldhouse, third
place.
Williamsville
CPCI vs. Warrensburg-Latham, 8 p.m., championship
Girls' games today
State Farm
Olympia vs. Tolono Unity, 3 p.m., at Normal West, South Gym,
third-place consolation.
Peoria Notre Dame vs. Lincoln, 3 p.m., Horton Fieldhouse, third
place. |
Illinois State (1-8, 0-1 MVC) shot only
37 percent (15-of-41) from the field in the game, and Greene and
Arnold were the only two Redbirds in double figures. The 'Birds were
out-rebounded 33-18 and committed 18 turnovers.
[Photos by Bob Frank]
SMS (4-5, 1-0 MVC) made 28 of its 47
shot attempts (60 percent) and was able to score 27 points off
Redbird turnovers. Terrance McGee led the Bears with 17 points and
five assists, while Merrill Andrews contributed 13 points. Nine
players on the SMS roster scored at least three points each in the
game.
SMS opened the game with eight
unanswered points, including two 3-pointers by McGee. Greene got the
Redbirds on the scoreboard with a trey at the 16:33 mark, but the
Bears continued to put up the points, outscoring Illinois State 21-7
in the game's first 10 minutes.
Rebert Harris came off the bench and
hit a jumper with 6:08 remaining in the first half to spark a 5-0
run for the 'Birds, but Illinois State could manage only free throws
the rest of the way and went into halftime down 38-18, following a
3-point bucket by Jason Gilbert as time expired. The 18 points was
ISU's lowest point total in a half for the season.
[to top of second column in this article] |
The Redbird offense came alive in the
second half, scoring 10 points in the first three minutes, including
six points by Arnold. However, the 'Birds could not keep the points
coming, and SMS went on a 10-1 run over next five minutes to give
the Bears their largest lead of the game at 23 points, 52-29.
The Bears were able to extend their
lead to over 30 points during the remainder of the game before
sealing a 28-point victory.
Illinois
State returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 4, for another Valley
matchup. The game at Southern Illinois is scheduled to begin at 3:05
p.m.
[Todd Kober, director of media
relations,
Illinois State University]
|
I know that Illini fans were
disappointed with Illinois' 74-77 loss to the Memphis Tigers, but I
wasn't all that devastated. Don't get me wrong... If we could go
33-0 and they would just hand us the national championship banner
right now, I would gladly display it; but I also don't think that
that is very realistic. This team will be up and down, but I predict
more highs than lows.
I think this game was brilliantly
scheduled. Especially if you've glanced at a schedule and already
discovered that four of the first six Illini Big Ten games are on
the road. That would be tough for a veteran team… multiply
exponentially for a young team. Another reason I'm glad we played
the Memphis game. Maybe we won't like that taste in our mouth and it
will pay off in a couple of close wins somewhere down the road.
Lots of opportunity for the Illini to
show how much they can grow up over the next two to three weeks.
Next up: Coppin State tonight at 7. Plenty of seats still available!
The Railers got stung by -- you guessed
it -- the South Holland Thornwood bunch. They can end the tourney on
a happier note with a third-place trophy today at the Horton
Fieldhouse at 4:30. Thornwood gets a tough Normal Community at the
Shirk at 9 p.m.
The Lady Railers had a nice run in the
tourney, and they also will play for third place in the Horton prior
to the boys' contest at 3 p.m.!
[to top of second column in this
article] |
The Bears' season mercifully came to an
end last night at the hands of Tampa Bay, 15-0. As my friend Greg
Taylor says, the Bears are tough to watch. Playoff predictions: In
the NFC I'm going with one of the Bays… probably the green one. In
the AFC… I'll say either the Titans or the Jets. The safe money is
to go with somebody else!
[Photos by Jeff Mayfield]
For you "FANdamonium"
fans, there is a holiday treat in store. To give our outstanding
production crew (Tim Rogers, Celeste Rogers and Jim Ash) a little
break, we will be replaying the interviews we did with Illini coach
Bill Self and with Brian Cook. Hope you enjoy them or enjoy them
again, and Happy New Year to everyone!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
|