Saturday, January 3, 2015

Holiday Tournament Wrap-Ups - At Collinsville

At Collinsville
Lincoln (IL) 47 – Collinsville 24    *Title

Belleville 76 – McCluer North 64    *3rd Place

The host team got off to a heck of a start in the title game leading 19-11 at the end of the first quarter; but the tide soon twisted, Lincoln rattled off the first 16 points of the second quarter.  Lincoln’s sharp shooter Gavin Block led all scorers with 27 points and was named tournament MVP.  This is an event I’ve been attending since the mid 90’s and I still enjoy the atmosphere every year.  The fan base remains strong, regardless of team records or subpar talent on display.  East St. Louis 1:00 pm face-up against McCluer North out of St. Louis drew a packed house on a Monday afternoon a tribute to my point.  The Flyers had their six game winning streak snapped when they couldn’t close out McCLuer North in a quarter final match-up, losing 65-61.  The Flyer’s 6-11 sophomore Jeremiah Tilmon did not disappoint spectators, he grabbed 12 rebounds, scored 24 points and anchored the paint as a big-man should.  “Tilmon, the no. 1 player in the 2017 class is skilled & competes at both ends, I like his upside.”  Belleville Althoff carries a bus load of young talent, beat the breaks off of Decatur Eisenhower 87-62.  Jordan Goodwin a six foot three guard and arguably the 2nd best player in the 2017 class finished with 21, he and his mates were high-fiving & jiving the entire night, 6-6 junior Brendon Gooch finished with 19 points and seven rebounds.  I was impressed with sophomore Marvin Bateman a 6-4 skilled wing who can really stroke-it and Edwyn Brown a smooth ball-handling guard who makes good decisions.  Althoff has a date February 7th against St. Joseph at the O’Fallon Shoot-Out, then we can assess them accordingly.  The next night Althoff got derailed by the host team Collinsville in the semi-final round. Hospitality room graded out at a 3 star.

All-tournament selection
Gavin Block 6-5 SR Lincoln (MVP)
Kenny Berry 6-1 JR Granite City
Demonte Morris 6-2 SR McCluer North      
Brendon Gooch 6-6 JR Althoff
Keymonta Johnson 6-3 JR MacArthur  
Emondre Rickman 6-8 SR Collinsville
Jeremiah Tilmon 6-11 SO East St. Louis  
Anfirnee Wilkerson 5-10 SR Collinsville
Will Cook 5-10 SR Lincoln          
Jordan Goodwin 6-3 SO Althoff

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