After a one year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 16 prep basketball teams will assemble once again to form the field of the 58th Annual Plano Christmas Classic hosted by Plano High School.
Of those ballclubs, five reside collectively within The Times and the NewsTribune area and will be competing during the four-day event that runs from Dec. 27 to Dec. 30 when a champion is finally crowned.
The Ottawa Pirates (6-3) are the highest ranked school amongst the five and garnered the No. 6 seed overall. OHS has a rich tradition at The Classic since it first competed at the tourney back in 2011. Three championships followed in 2012, ‘13, and ‘16 with a second place finish in 2018. Then in 2019, the unseeded Pirates beat unseeded Morris to earn seventh place honors during their last appearance before the pandemic.
This year, Ottawa will battle unseeded Hinckley-Big Rock (7-4) in the opening round at 10:30 a.m. as head coach Mark Cooper – who was the Most Valuable Player of The Classic back in 1986 when Mendota won the title – will try to win a record-tying fourth championship. With that, the Pirates would equal Newark and Seneca as the only other four-time champs.
“We really enjoy going to the Plano Christmas Classic because it’s a local tournament that allows our community to get out and support us in a tournament that has an amazing history and we’re so excited to be a part of it every year,” Cooper said. “I walk in Reaper Gym and it brings back memories because we were 6-0 there when I was a senior, won the Classic and won the sectional at Plano as well. Now coaching, it’s a different perspective. We won three titles there and hoping we can start strong in our opener against H-BR. They’ve had a really nice season so far. We’ll do our scout work on them and our guys will be ready to go on the 27th.”
A potentially exciting second-round matchup for the Pirates will be No. 3 Burlington Central (6-2) which takes on unseeded Coal City (1-6) in the tournament opener at 9 a.m. BCHS has recorded a championship at Plano in 2017 and lost the last Classic title game to Peoria Notre Dame in 2019, finishing second.
Elsewhere in the top bracket, unseeded Sandwich (1-8) will battle No. 2-ranked and highly-touted Class 1A school Yorkville Christian (7-7) for the second time this season. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
On Nov. 30, the Indians fell to the Mustangs 90-52. While YCHS has lost seven of its 14 games, it has played an incredibly challenging schedule versus teams high above their class, with Duke University signee Jaden Schutt leading the way with a better than 30 points per game average. The Mustangs are hammering out a whopping 85.9 tallies per contest.
The Indians last finish at the Classic in 2019 came with a 13th place win over Mendota. Sandwich is a two-time winner of the event (1983, 87) and also placed second twice (91, 98).
“Yorkville Christian is a very good team and they really took it to us the first time we played back in November,” said SHS second-year coach Kevin Kozan. “But we’ll be coming into next week’s game with a different mind set. We got a nice win against Serena last week and battled LaSalle-Peru very well during a conference loss as well. We have a lot of confidence right now and we’ll give it our best when we face a great ballclub again next week.”
Streator (6-3) headlines the area group as the No. 8 seed, playing in the bottom half of the bracket. The Bulldogs will battle unseeded Kaneland (4-3) Monday at 3:30 p.m.
SHS saw its best finish in 2017 when it beat L-P in overtime for third place. The Bulldogs captured the consolation title in 2019 with a 3-1 record and a victory over the host Reapers after an opening round loss to Morris.
“It’s a great field of teams with this year’s being top heavy with a three or four very solid ballclubs,” said Streator coach Beau Doty. “We really hope to compete well and just love it over there at Plano. We’ve had some success there – wish it could’ve been more in terms of getting to a final – but we’ll be healthy for the first time since our second game this year. I’m excited to see what this team can become competing against some high level opponents at Plano.”
Next up in the bottom bracket at 5:30 p.m. would be unseeded Mendota (2-6) vs. No. 4 seed Chicago Longwood (6-1).
The Trojans who have a lush history of success at the Classic winning titles in 1986, ‘89, and ‘95 along with runners-up in ‘93,’ 94, and 2014 before finishing 14th in 2019. They are improving recently with wins over Fieldcrest and Bureau Valley.
Fourth-year coach Steve Hanson – who earned Plano All-Tournament team honors in ‘87 and ‘88 as a player for Mendota - thinks his ballclub is on the mend after set backs due to COVID=19 earlier in the year.
“I have great memories of competing at the Classic that’s for sure,” Hanson said. “The tournament has changed a lot from when we were one of the bigger schools now to where we are one of the smallest, But it’s always fun to be a part of one of the best Christmas basketball tournaments in the state.
“We don’t know much about Longwood as our first-round game. But what we do know is that they’re very athletic and long which provides a tough matchup for us. However, we’re healthy right now for the first time this season and after a couple of wins lately, I like the direction we’re heading moving forward into the week ahead of us.”
Maybe the toughest hookup of the local five will be that of unseeded Newark (5-5) which will take on two-time defending champion and No. 1 seed Peoria Notre Dame (5-1) in the opening-night finale at 8:30 p.m.
The Irish are looking to be only the second school in tournament history to win three straight Classic titles, equaling that of Seneca (2004-06)
The Norsemen, champions in ‘65, ‘82, ‘85 and ‘92 and second places in ‘64, ‘84, ‘87, 2010, ‘16, ended up 15th in 2019 during its last competition at Plano.
But the Classic fan favorite came up with a dominating victory (70-44) this week versus Marseilles Holiday Tournament No. 1 seed Seneca so the Norsemen are full of confidence moving ahead against the defending champions. The winner of Newark/PND will face the victor of the Streator/Kaneland matchup in round two Dec. 28 at 8:30 p.m.
“The kids played well against Seneca and as far as the tournament it’s a tough draw (against PND) so we will do what we can,” said veteran coach Rick Tollefson. “I like this team. They are playing hard and improving.”