The 2024 Bureau County year in sports was marked by triumph and tragedy. Here’s a look at the top stories that impacted Bureau County sports most in 2024.
1) Lady Bruins make history
The St. Bede girls basketball team got off to an auspicious start to the 2023-24 season, falling by 65 points (85-20) to Peoria Notre Dame in its season opener.
Three and a half months later, the Bruins made history, becoming the first basketball team from St. Bede, girls or boys, to make state, placing fourth in Class 1A. Coincidently, Notre Dame won the 2A State Championship.
The Bruins began to pick up steam with a six-game win streak in early-December, winning nine of ten. In the new year, they won 13 straight to close out the regular season before defeating Amboy for the regional championship, state ranked Serena for the sectional championship and Ida Crown Jewish Academy at the supersectional.
At State, the Bruins lost to Okawville 44-30 in the quarterfinals and fell to Altamont 64-56 in the third-place game, finishing fourth.
Coach Stephanie Mickley would resign a month after bringing home the fourth-place state trophy saying “I had to look at life at all angles, but I had to do what’s best for me and do what’s best for the team. I will miss the team and the program. My goal was to improve the program and empower the girls. Teach them life skills they can use after high school, and I think we did the best job we could for them.”
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2) Noah LaPorte signs with Northwestern
Princeton’s trend of producing Division 1 football talent continued with Noah LaPorte, who signed to play for Northwestern University on Dec. 4.
Northwestern was the first school to make an offer to LaPorte on April 20, and he committed to the Wildcats exactly a month later.
“It’s kind of an unreal feeling. Finally, I put the pen to the paper, and now I’m going to be a part of that team. I’m looking forward to it and excited to get to work with my teammates,” LaPorte said at his signing.
LaPorte was a First-Team Class 3A All-State and unanimous Three Rivers Mississippi Division all-conference selection.
He is the fourth Tiger to sign with a Division 1 school in three years, following Teegan Davis (Iowa) in 2022 and Bennett Williams (Air Force) and Payne Miller (Western Illinois) in 2023.
3) Logan Larson takes over as Hall coach
Logan Larson, who was an assistant coach at Class 2A runner-up Athens, becomes the first head coach to be hired at Hall High School with no ties to the Red Devils’ program in 45 years.
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John Fippinger, who came to Hall from LeRoy in 1979 and coached through the 1984 season, was the last head coach hired from the outside.
Gary Vicini, who was an assistant, succeed Fippinger and had a highly successful 25-year tenure from 1985 to 2008 with 20 playoff appearances, including two state championships and a state runner-up finish. He was followed by Hall alums Jason Bland (2009-11), Randy Tieman (2012-19), Nick Guerrini (2020-21) and Tieman (2022-23) again.
Larson has embraced the Hall Red Devil tradition.
“I did my research before I got the job,” said Larson. “Our athletic director (Eric Bryant) played on a state championship team and there’s other people in the community who played on state championship teams. Got a coach (Nick Sterling) who played on a state championship team. Got kids’ dads who played on a state championship team. You look at the scoreboard and there it is right there.”
4) Tigers make fifth straight trip to quarterfinals
Deep postseason football has become a tradition around the Princeton Tiger football camp.
The Tigers made their fifth straight quarterfinals appearance, defeating Oregon 40-8 and Chicago King 34-16 to earn a rematch with Lombard Montini Catholic, falling 24-7
It was the Tigers’ second straight loss to the Broncos in quarterfinal play and fourth straight defeat at the hands of a parochial school.
Head coach Ryan Pearson, who is the all-time winningest coach in program history, recorded his 100th overall career victory, receiving a brisk water bucket celebration compliments of his players.
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5) No Princeton-BV games scheduled
Bureau Valley and Princeton became natural-born rivals when the Bureau Valley district formed in the 1995-96 school year. No matter the sport, athletes and fans alike circled their meeting on the calendar each year.
However, when the Storm left the Three Rivers Conference to join the Lincoln Trail this year, Princeton elected to no longer schedule Bureau Valley in any sport. Princeton school officials said they made the same decision to not play other former Three Rivers schools which left the conference for not abiding by the league bylaws requiring a two-year notice.
That decision was most unfortunate for the Storm and Tiger fans and athletes. The schools booster clubs kept the rivalry going by starting up the alumni basketball games this month, giving each a boost to their yearly fundraisers to help make up for the loss in concessions that the schools' contest brought in each year.
Thanks to Hall High School, the Bureau County rivals were paired to open up the Colmone Classic for a boys basketball matchup with the Tigers winning 56-49.
6) Clippers repeat as 8-Man state champs
The Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio football team liked winning the Illinois 8-Man Football Association State Championship in 2023 so much they did it again in 2024.
The Clippers opened the season with four straight wins before a Week 5 stumble with a 34-22 loss to Ridgewood. They rebounded nicely to win their last four regular-season games to set sail back to the state championship game.
The Amboy co-op opened the playoffs with a 54-0 win over Biggsville West Central to avenge their 2022 state-finals loss before defeating Martinsville 32-0 in the quarterfinals and Pawnee-Lincolnwood 52-8.
Back in the state finals, the Clippers sailed to a 42-14 win over Milledgeville to remain on top of the 8-Man football ranks.
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7) Princeton basketball 3-peats
The Princeton Tigers boys basketball team won its third straight Class 2A regional championship under coach Jason Smith, defeating rival Bureau Valley 63-56 and Morrison 57-55 at the Prophetstown Regional.
The Tigers then beat Rockford 69-66 in the sectional semifinals to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years, falling to Byron 59-43 in the sectional finals.
The Princeton cagers took a losing record into the postseason, finishing at 17-16.
It marks the third time in school history that Princeton has won three straight regionals the first run from 1992-95 and the second time from 2009-11.
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8) Bureau Valley moves to the Lincoln Trail Conference
Bureau Valley High School found a new conference home for the 2024-25 school year, joining the Lincoln Trail. Bureau Valley, which formed in 1995-96, had been a member of the Three Rivers since 1999, playing its first four years as an independent.
BV superintendent Jason Stabler said it was a tough decision because “We love the TRAC and everything it’s brought to us,” but one which will best serve its student-athletes as their enrollment continues to decline and other schools have left the Three Rivers.
Bureau Valley became the fifth school in six years to leave the Three Rivers Conference, following Amboy in 2017, Fulton in 2021, St. Bede in 2023 and Morrison (2024).
The Lincoln Trail merged with the Prairieland Conference to form a new football league with the Storm playing their first year in the “large school” division. It is anticipated the league will be divided geographically next year.
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9) Bureau County athletes show their medal
Bureau County was well represented on the medal stand in the IHSA State Track & Field Championships in Charleston with nine state medals.
Princeton headed the medal take with four medals in throws with Payne Miller placing third and Cade Odell fourth in the shot in the 2A boys meet and Morgan Foes placing fourth in the shot put and ninth in the discus in the 2A girls finals, the first PHS girl to medal in both weights events.
Sophomore Camryn Driscoll added to Princeton’s medal collection by placing ninth in the 2A 400.
In 1A girls track, St. Bede’s Lily Bosnich doubled up in the 300 hurdles (2nd) and 100 hurdles (7th) while Bureau Valley’s medaled in both the 4x100 (7th) and 4x200 (9th).
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10) Celebrating 50 years of Frank
Hall High School celebrated “50 years of Frank” with the 50th anniversary of its the Colmone Classic boys basketball tournament in early December.
With its exciting nightly contested games and noted champion hospitality room, the Colmone Classic is easily regarded by all as the Illinois Valley’s jewel event.
Tournament founder and namesake Frank Colmone, who was the Hall A.D. from 1970-93, started the then Hall Holiday Invitational in 1974, the first year of the former Red Devil Gymnasium, to create a local tournament for teams to play in the midst of nation-wide gasoline shortages.
Renamed as the Colmone Classic after his retirement, Colmone said the tournament has grown beyond his wildest dreams.
“I thought it’d be lucky if got by the first three or four years,” he said during this year’s tournament.
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Other headlines for 2024
Heavy medalists: Princeton landed three medals at the IHSA State Wrestling Meet in Champaign. Ace Christiansen topped the medal take in third place at 138, finishing 39-7. Cade Odell (32-4) was fourth at 285 while Augustus Swanson (35-3) placed fifth at 106. Casey Etheridge (32-11) also qualified, but did not medal.
Stunning loss: The Princeton community was stunned by the loss of much beloved youth sports coach and bowling advocate Dave Camp, who was tragically killed in a Nov. 29 auto accident.
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Diamond Gems: The Bureau Valley softball team won its first regional championship since 2004, defeating Princeton 6-5. The St. Bede baseball and softball and Hall baseball teams also won regionals with the Bruins and Red Devils advancing to the sectional finals in baseball.
Junior achievement: The Spring Valley JFK girls basketball team reached the state tournament for the first time, landing a second-place finish in Class 2A. In junior high boys basketball, the Malden Musketeers won their first BVEC championship in 50 years by upending 8-time defending champ DePue.
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