BLOOMINGTON – Top seeded Normal Community High School’s Boys’ team had a fairly easy first round in their effort to advance during the annual State Farm Holiday Classic Monday at Shirk Center on Illinois Wesleyan University’s campus, doubling up on 16th seed North Chicago, 58-29, to advance to the tourney’s second round. The win meant NCHS faced another Chicago-based team in the second round when Chicago North Lawndale took to the court against NCHS in Normal Community West High School’s gym Tuesday for a 4p.m. game.

Those in attendance got the impression they weren’t watching a team sport so much as a two-man show as NCHS senior forward Zach Cleveland and opening round opponent North Chicago senior guard Nasir Za Kai Young were the only players to reach double-figures in scoring on the night – Cleveland with 21 points, Young with 18.

After jumping to a fast 15-4 lead after the first quarter, fouls by North Chicago sent Ironmen senior Famious French and Cleveland to the free throw line, each man going 1-for-2. In between those shots, senior center Tyler Dwinal sank a basket, extending the Ironmen lead 19-4, prompting North Chicago head coach Gerald Coleman to call for timeout.

NCHS extended that lead to 22-7 on a free throw by French followed by an officials’ timeout, giving North Chicago another needed chance to regroup. Following that timeout, Young managed to score back-to-back unanswered deuces cutting NCHS’ lead in half, 22-11, but the Ironmen pulled the same trick shortly after that, increasing their lead to 26-11. North Chicago managed to cut NCHS’ in half, 26-13, before a pair of free throws by junior guard Robbie Brent followed pushed the Ironmen in front, 28-13 followed by three more points giving NCHS a 31-13 lead. Senior center Tye Niekamp went 1-for-2 from the free throw line after being fouled, and Cleveland scored a basket to close out the half, improving NCHS’ lead to 34-15.

A deuce by sophomore guard Matthew Brooks led off scoring for the Warhawks, cutting NCHS’ lead in half, 34-17, before the Ironmen went on a 6-0 swing which included a pair of unanswered baskets by Cleveland increasing NCHS’ lead to 40-17. A pair of Chicago baskets by Young cut the lead to 40-21 at the 3:03 mark in the third quarter, but Young’s basket would be the last one of the quarter for the Warhawks. From there, a trey by senior guard Braylon Roman, a deuce by Cleveland, and another Niekamp free throw would help the Ironmen close out the quarter owning a 46-21 lead.

Young opened the fourth quarter with a basket, cutting NCHS’ lead in half, 46-23, but the Ironmen quickly, going on an 8-0 run which included deuces by Benson, Cleveland, and Roman all pushing NCHS to owning a 54-23 lead. A trey by Young stopped that drive but at the 4:25 mark, and both teams were able to take advantage of an officials’ timeout with 3:01 left in the contest before senior guard Andre Illidge, Jr. hit a deuce coming out of the break, reducing NCHS’ lead, 54-28. But NCHS would add two more baskets, one from Niekamp, one from Pogge, followed by a free throw for North Chicago by Young in going 1-for-2 from the line, resulting in the final score, allowing the Ironmen to advance.

BLOOMINGTON – University High’s boys’ basketball team faced a faster East St. Louis Senior High School team to open the State Farm Holiday Classic at Shirk Center on Illinois Wesleyan University’s campus Monday night. The 14th seeded Pioneers found themselves in chase mode for the entire opening session, dropping the contest to the number 3 seeded Flyers, 69-45.

As a result, the Pioneers are heading for the event’s Large School Boys’ consolation bracket with a 5-8 record where there next scheduled opponent was to be 6th seed Bradley Bourbonnais. The Boilermakers wound up in the consolation bracket by losing their opening round game to 11th seed Peoria High, 61-51. This victory improved East St. Louis’ season record to 9-2.

The tone of the contest was set by the ability of the Flyers’ defense to keep the Pioneers from scoring for close to the first five minutes of the first quarter while jumping out to a 12-0 lead on a treys by Christian Jones, a pair of deuces and two free throws by Macaleab Rich, and a trey from Jaden Hale. Only a deuce by Oliver Cade and a trey by Mason Funk would be scored in the first quarter, but East St. Louis owned a 17-5 lead heading into the second quarter.

Funk had two straight treys to help U-High find double-digits, cutting the Flyers’ lead, 23-11. Minor hit a trey at the 3:09 mark for the Pioneers, reducing Flyers’ lead to 11, 25-14, but Jones helped his team power through to the half going 4-for-4 from the free throw line and hitting a deuce. That gave East St. Louis a 31-15 lead at the half.

Rich nearly single-handedly helped his team manage to double his teams score to open the third quarter with a trey to open the period and follow it with a couple baskets, and topped it off with two free throws, giving the Flyers a 40-20 lead. A couple of Funk treys helped U-High to stay in pursuit but East St. Louis owned a 56-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.

A pair of Funk three-pointers opened the fourth quarter for the Pioneers followed by one by Aaron Eiker to help U-High come within 20, 58-38, which prompted Flyers head coach Mark Chambers to call time with 5:50 left in the contest. Eiker hit two threes on the night, the second one coming in the game’s last three minutes. Following the timeout, Rich hit a pair of deuces while Hale and Falconer were sent to the free throw line only to each go 1-for-2, and help close out the Flyers’ scoring.

Funk was the Pioneers’ lone double-digit scorer, pocketing 21 points, all of them from treys. Rich led all scorers with 32 points and was followed for the Flyers in double-digits by 20 from Jones.

NORMAL – By a 6-1 count, Normal Town Council members approved upcoming spending for the Town’s Community Investment Plan approved the Community Investment Plan expenditures for fiscal years 2021-22 through 2026-27. Council Member Stan Nord cast the lone opposing vote. Council Member Karyn Smith reminded that Council members hold a work session in January to lay out projects needing attention, and those items can be added to the Town budget. Council members vote on a final Town budget in March.

The plan lays out for Council members a total of 403 projects in need of Town attention over the next six year CIP of over $157 million. Nord asked City Manager Pam Reece how would the Town be able to see that changes have taken place on projects from the first year of the Plan to the next year. Reece directed Town Budget Director Andrew Huhn to give an explanation to how the Town does that.

Huhn told Nord the Town has an idea of how it spent money courtesy of the previous six-year CIP in order to anticipate what items the Town was likely to spend dollars on for the next six years. Added to the dollars from the Town’s pocketbook it will have available to spend, Normal will also have available incorporated in its CIP funds dollars from the Federally-sponsored American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). President Joe Biden signed ARPA into law in March.

Among the expenses Normal has earmarked for projects are roughly $65 million planned for transportation projects. That includes money for the Town’s proposed underpass project. A total of $24 million is earmarked for that project which will be built near Uptown Station.

In response to a question from Council Member Chemberly Cummings, Reece said the Town has only sought out projects the Town currently has knowledge of in order to seek out grants which would aid in paying for the projects. Reece said if, after Council approves the budget, the Town learns of available grant funds which could be used for a project, she would approach Council members to amend the budget.

Council Member Kathleen Lorenz said the new tool will help residents know what projects are underway in their neighborhoods.

Huhn also showed Council members a newly-created online dashboard for users of the CIP website. The dashboard was created by the Town’s technology staff, which is headed by Town Technology Director Vasudha Gadhiraju.

Mayor Chris Koos, called the dashboard “an incredible tool” as he praised Gadhiraju and her staff for their efforts. The dashboard employs geographic information systems technology, or GIS, to give Town residents, Town officials, and others the opportunity to see what projects are among the Town’s current projects and where in Town they are being worked on.

Huhn said the information about the CIP can be found on the Town’s website at: https://www.normal.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID•2403.

Ordinance Adopting Codes Related To Public Safety: Council members voted 5-2 to approve an ordinance adopting the 2021 International Codes, 2020 National Electric Code, 2021 National Fire Protection Association #1, and Amending Chapters 6 Fire Code, Chapter 11 Building Code, and Chapter 17 – Misdemeanors of the Municipal Code of the Town of Normal. Council Members Scott Preston and Nord cast opposing votes.

Resolutions, Ordinance Pulled From Agenda: Koos announced two resolutions and an ordinance originally placed on the Council agenda days before the meeting related to Vineyards Subdivision were being removed from the agenda at the request of the project developer. Koos said it was done because the developer sought more time before bringing the items to Council. A hearing related to this matter scheduled for prior the Council session was cancelled as a result.

Omnibus Agenda Items Approved: Omnibus agenda items approved by the Council included:

• Approval of minutes of the work session special meeting of Dec. 6, 2021.

• Approval of minutes of the regular Council meeting of Dec. 6, 2021.

• Report to receive and file Town of Normal expenditures for payment as of Dec. 15, 2021.

• A resolution conditionally approving the twelfth edition to Pheasant Ridge subdivision (Raab Rd.).

• A resolution to award the bid for the North Booster Station installation to Bloomington-based George Gildner, Inc.at a total cost of $304,415.

• A motion to initiate a zoning text amendment pertaining to Sec. 15.7-2 (Off-Street Parking and Loading Regulations) – Outdoor Dining In Required Parking.

• A motion to initiate a zoning text amendment pertaining to Sec. 15.7-2 (Off-Street Parking and Loading Regulations) – Location of Off-Street Parking.

Last year, the Coronavirus kept the annual State Farm Holiday Classic Tournament, the annual four-day post-Christmas affair featuring a number of area, regional, and sometimes, out-of-state teams, from taking place. Organizers of the event compensated for not having the tourney by hosting a one-day food drive, thus helping others in need during these sometimes trying times.

Dave Oloffson, who has been vice president of the event for a number of years, explained event organizers “are planning to go with 64 teams with contingency plans in place in case a team calls us at the last minute in case there is a Covid outbreak at their team or school and they can’t play. We’re going to keep going and eventually crown four champions.”

The Tourney gets underway Monday, Dec. 27 with games starting at 10:30a.m. The four brackets of Small School Boys teams, Large School Boys teams, Small School Girls teams, and Large School Girls teams are how teams are classified. Determining champions for those brackets would be take place on “Champions Day” at Shirk Center on Illinois Wesleyan University’s campus on Thursday, Dec. 30. On that day, Small School Girls Championship game would tipoff at 3:30p.m.; Large School Girls championship would start at 7p.m.; Small School Boys Championship would start at 5:15p.m.; and Large School Boys Championship would start at 8:45p.m.

He said the tournament has again lined up the same four venues which have played host to teams in the past for this event. Normal Community West High School and Shirk Center for Boys’ games, and Normal Community High School and Bloomington High School for girls’ contests.

Winnebago Is Small School Girls’ Top Seed: Tournament organizers, having sized up teams this year, tapped Winnebago, from near the Illinois-Wisconsin line, as the top seed in the Small School Girls Bracket. But there are local teams who will be in that bracket, as well, all hoping they can face the team nicknamed Indians for a shot at the annual title Dec. 30. Local teams who will play in the Small School Bracket are: 13th seed Normal University High, who takes on 4th seed St. Joseph-Ogden Dec. 27 at 1:30p.m. at Normal Community High School; 15th seed El Paso Gridley taking on second seed Brimfield at 9:30p.m. at NCHS; and 10th seed Bloomington Central Catholic facing 7th seed Rock Falls at 8p.m. at NCHS.

Morton Is Large School Girls’ Top Seed: NCHS has the number 2 seed the Large Girls Schools bracket and will face 15th seed Plainfield North at 5p.m. at Bloomington High School. Normal West is seeded 13th and will start the day facing 4th seed Geneseo in a 10:30a.m. game at BHS. BHS is seeded 16th and will start their Tournament action playing host to top seed Morton Dec. 27 in at 8p.m.

Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin Is Small School Boys’ Top Seed: The only local team in the tourney’s Small School Boys Bracket is Bloomington High School where the Purple Raiders are seeded 11th. Their first opponents in the tournament will be the only out-of-state team among the competitors, 6th seed East Dubuque. That game will be played Dec. 27 at 5p.m. at Normal West.

Normal Community Is Large School Boys’ Top Seed: Normal Community High School got off to a fast start, and as of Sunday night owned a 9-1 record and were the top seed in the Tournament’s Large School Boys Bracket. That means they start the tourney against 16th seed North Chicago at Shirk Center for an 8p.m. Monday contest. U-High is the only other local team in this bracket, but the Pioneers are seeded 14th and will face 4th seed East St. Louis in the game that precedes NCHS’ tilt, with U-High playing starting at 6:30p.m.

Knisley 2-Day Special Olympics Tournament Returning, Too: If the four-day tournament is back, so is the two-day Ron Knisley Memorial Shootout featuring Special Olympics Basketball teams from central Illinois, including Special Opportunities Available in Recreation, or SOAR, sponsored by the offices of Parks and Recreation from the City of Bloomington and Town of Normal. The Knisley Tourney will take place on the courts on Shirk Center’s ground floor Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 29 and 30 starting at 10a.m. each day. Not only will SOAR have teams, but so will Tri-Valley Special Olympics, Pekin-based Illinois River Valley Special Recreation Association (IRVSRA), Groveland-based Central Illinois Independents, and Peoria-based Heart of Illinois Special Recreation Association (HISRA). Some of these teams will participate in a halftime demonstration of their basketball skills during halftime of the four championship games. Believe me when I tell you the seats in the main arena are still packed and these athletes deserve and appreciate the cheers when they are on the main floor. Those skill demos are really something to see.

COVID-Related Information: As far as Coronavirus is concerned, Oloffson said, the tournament is following Illinois High School Association and Illinois Department of Public Health guidelines, but it will be up to teams to enforce those with their players. “Kids are supposed to have masks on per IHSA, and the team coaches and staff will be responsible for overseeing that,” he said.

He added if folks are concerned about coming out, all 128 games of the tournament will be streamed on the event’s website, theclassic.org. “If people don’t feel comfortable coming out, they can stream on whatever device they have for the cost of a small subscription fee. We felt it was necessary to make that option available,” Oloffson said.

Livestreaming Games Is An Option: Oloffson said the committee hopes fans who came to games two years ago will return to experience the thrills every one of these games has to offer. But, he said, it’s understood if people consider safety as a priority. For those folks, he said, fans can watch every game by going to the tournament’s website, theclassic.org and looking for the live streaming feature. There is a fee for doing that, whether you opt to watch one game or the whole tourney.

Event Has New Leadership: Something else that is different about the return of The Classic this year is that there is new leadership in charge of the event. Both Highland and Oloffson have stepped away from their posts as President and Vice President to pursue other activities. The new event president succeeding Highland is Kyle Myers, with Hilton-based Home2 Suites Hotel at Normal’s north end, scheduled to open in mid-March. Oloffson said the committee has no vice president, and because of that, the duties that person performed are being divided among the event’s committee co-chairs.

For me, as well as other reporters for whom there was no event last year, it will be a pleasure to be able to cover high school basketball and Special Olympics basketball again. It’s hoped we can all do so safely and try to bring one piece of post-holiday activity back again this year.

NORMAL – University High’s boys’ basketball head coach admitted watching his team while they took on Central State Eight foe Springfield High in the first quarter “was painful to watch.” Neither side seemed to find their stride as the contest began.

“I’m not sure Springfield played real well in the first quarter and I’m not sure we played real well there, either,” Pioneers head coach Andrew McDowell admitted afterward. “The first quarter was a little painful to watch,” he stated, even if by the horn sounding, his team owned a 7-6 lead. But basketball is a game played in four quarters, and by the end of the last one, U-High found themselves losing, 42-37, to the visiting Senators dropping to 3-7 overall and 1-5 in league play on the young season.

The contest opened on a defensive note as both teams didn’t take shots until Pioneers junior guard Mason Funk’s game-opening trey at 4:47 in the first quarter, putting U-High up, 3-0. Springfield junior guard Cooper Burk responded with a deuce, cutting the Pioneers’ lead, 3-2, but he then fouled U-High junior forward Ty Blake, who sank two fast three throws, giving the Pioneers a 5-2 lead at the 2:20 mark. A foul by Pioneers junior forward Oliver Cade sent Burk to the free throw line early where he sank both freebies, cutting U-High’s lead to one, 5-4 with 1:04 left in the quarter.

Senators junior forward Brendann Robinson sank a deuce with 10 seconds left to put Springfield up, 6-5, but funk hit a jumper at the buzzer giving U-High a 7-6 lead going into the second quarter.

Junior guard Artez Hanson’s trey at 6:01 in the second quarter put Springfield up, 9-7, and was followed by Senators sophomore Paul Hartman fouling Pioneers junior forward Ty Minor, who sank two free throws, tying the game at 9-all with 5:50 left in the half. Hartman and Minor exchanged two-pointers, tying the game at 11-all, and were followed by another bucket from Minor giving Springfield (8-4 overall, 3-3 in CS8) a 13-11 edge, prompting Senators head coach Joby Crum to call time at the 4:01 mark.

Senior guard Aaron Eiker’s trey at 2:14 until halftime gave the Pioneers a quick lead which was immediately overtaken by back-to-back unanswered deuces, both from Robinson, pushing the Senators up, 17-14 with inside a minute until half. Pioneers junior guard Jace Berndt’s trey with 5.4 seconds left tied the score at 17-all, but didn’t last long because Senators Burk, while shooting a 3-pointer, was fouled by Pioneers’ Eiker, giving Eiker three opportunities at the free throw line, where he hit 2-of-3, giving the Senators a 19-17 halftime lead.

Robinson and Funk exchanged opening baskets for their respective teams as the third quarter began, giving Springfield (7-4) a 21-19 advantage which they were able to extend thanks to back-to-back unanswered treys by Robinson, pushing the Senators up, 27-19. Funk was able to help U-High stay close with a trey, during which he was fouled, followed by sinking three free throws, cutting Springfield’s lead, 27-25, followed by his adding an unanswered deuce, tying the game at 27-all with two minutes left in the quarter. Hanson hit a trey for Springfield at 1:40 to put the Senators up, 30-27, and U-High’s Blake responded with a deuce closing out the quarter, reducing Springfield’s lead to one, 30-29, going into the fourth quarter.

Robinson opened the fourth quarter by fouling Minor, who only sank 1-of-2, tying the contest at 30-all with 6:53 remaining. Another Robinson bucket followed by an unanswered basket by senior guard Mitchell Logan helped Springfield take a 34-30 lead, and prompted McDowell to take a Pioneers time out with 3:47 left. But the rethink only aided the Senators, as senior guard Peyton Webster hit back-to-back unanswered deuces extending Springfield’s lead, 38-30. Although they had the lead, the Senators took a timeout with 3:47 left in the contest. Following the timeout, Webster hit two more unanswered back-to-back deuces, adding to the Senators’ advantage, 38-30.

Springfield took a 30-second timeout with 2:07 left and from there both team amped up their defensive play, prompting the Pioneers to call time with 1:35 left. Coming out of that timeout, Minor hit a trey, cutting Springfield’s lead, 38-33. A Pioneers foul sent sophomore Carlos Day to the free throw where he missed a free throw. That was followed by a deuce for the Pioneers by Funk, cutting Springfield’s lead, 38-35, prompting U-High to call timeout with 30 seconds remaining.

Funk fouled Hanson with 24.6 seconds left, and Hanson made both free throws, extending Springfield’s lead, 40-35. At that point, the Senators took a 30-second timeout. When they came back to the court, Funk hit a deuce, cutting Springfield’s lead, 40-37. But two fouls, both against Webster, sent him to the free throw line for four possible free throws, of which he only made two, resulting in the final score.

“We’re not the best outside shooting team, and U-High packed everybody in the paint,” Crum said afterward. He said Logan has been averaging 20 points a game, but U-High defenders seemed to spend the evening in the paint, making Logan’s task tougher. “U-High had a man on him and around him, so they took away what we do best.”

“U-High takes away what you do best,” Crum summed up. “I give them credit at the end of the day.”

McDowell characterized his team’s effort as “a step in the right direction. I think we played much better basketball tonight than we did this past weekend.” Last weekend for the Pioneers was

Pioneers Junior Varsity Wins: U-High’s junior varsity team took on the Senators JV squad in a contest prior to the varsity game, in what turned into a tight match, coming away with a 44-42 win.