Basketball Notebook: A look at the tournament winners, all-tournament teams

With the finals of the Thanksgiving tournaments completed, here’s a rundown of champions of area events.

At Ottawa - Princeton swept its pool and then beat Pontiac 73-47 for the title of the Dean Riley Shootin’ The Rock.

At Wethersfield - Putnam County went 4-1 in the Wally Keller Invite, claiming the head-to-head tiebreaker over Elmwood on the first night. Bureau Valley finished fourth.

At Seneca - The host Irish beat Newark 66-43 in the Seneca Thanksgiving Tournament. Serena topped Hall, 61-47, for third place.

Route 17 Classic - Momence beat Ridgeview, 60-47, for first place at Dwight. St. Bede beat Dwight, 54-49, for third place.

Orion 10 & 32 Classic - Mercer County beat Monmouth-Roseville, 62-50, for the title at Orion. The tournament was renamed in 2015 in memory of former Orion Chargers Danny DeBacker (10) and Andy Adams (32), who died in a car accident 2014.

At Oregon - Rockford Christian beat Newman, 74-56, in the championship game of the Oregon Thanksgiving Tournament.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS

Several area players received All-tournament recognition.

At Wethersfield: Bureau Valley’s Cooper Balensiefen and Corban Chhim were named to the all-tournament team in the Wally Keller Invite. Jackson McDonald of Putnam County was named as MVP, joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Austin Mattingly and Mason Heitzler of Annawan.

At Seneca - Hall’s Mac Resetich made the all-tournament team in the Seneca tourney.

Route 17 Classic - St. Bede’s Isaiah Hart and Callan Hueneberg were both named all-tournament team of the Route 17 Classic hosted by Woodland and Dwight. Hart’s brother, Paul, was named to last year’s team.

COLMONE CLASSC

The Colmone Classic will take center stage next at Hall High School with games starting Saturday, Dec. 3 and running through Saturday, Dec. 10. Princeton is the defending champion, defeating L-P in last year’s title game, 66-62.

Opening day games will match Marquette vs. Mendota at 3 p.m., Bureau Valley vs. Fieldcrest at 4:30 p.m., Princeton vs. St. Bede at 6 p.m. and Hall vs. Stillman Valley at 7:30 p.m.

DUNKING TO PLUNKING

Princeton senior Grady Thompson is showcasing his talents on and off the court. One day after scoring 26 points in the Tigers’ runaway championship victory over Pontiac at Ottawa, he played the piano for the “special music” during the Sunday morning’s service at Princeton Bible Church.

One could say he went from dunking to plunking the piano keys.

LAST-SECOND SHOTS

• The Princeton boys have won their last two tournaments dating back to the 2021 Colmone Classic and will look to repeat at this year’s tournament coming up at Hall.

• The Tigers won all four games at Ottawa, including wins over three 3A schools — Streator, L-P and Oak Forest. Pontiac is a 2A team.

• With the sweep of its own tournament, the Princeton girls have now won its last 16 regular season home games dating back to the finale of the 2021 spring season. The Tigresses’ only loss at home during this stretch was last year’s regional semifinal to Chillicothe IVC, falling 47-40.

• Putnam County senior Jackson McDonald scored his 1,000th-career point against Stark County on Wednesday, Nov. 23 in tournament play at Wethersfield and now has 1,051 points total.