Boys basketball: Area teams seek holiday hardware at Pontiac

Joliet West coach Jeremy Kreiger felt it necessary to put together a schedule that would best prepare his team for what he hopes will be a lengthy postseason run.

And with a slate that already has featured multiple top-flight teams in the first four weeks of the season, maybe a bit of rest might be in order for his team over the holiday break.

Nope.

Instead, Joliet West will head to arguably the state’s preeminent holiday tournament, the Pontiac Holiday Tournament, in an effort to earn even more battle wounds.

And even though the Tigers clearly have one of the state’s strongest teams, they still enter Pontiac as an underdog to one team in particular, Simeon, who enters the tournament undefeated and as the top seed.

Joliet West, the No. 2 seed, will have to clear a deep and talented field just to get a chance to take a shot at Simeon in the title game. The field which also includes third-seeded Benet and fourth-seeded Curie as the only officially seeded teams in the draw that holds a collective record of 106-53.

Lockport (8-3) and Plainfield North (7-4) also enter the field with more than respectable records but face perilous draws right from the start with Lockport drawing Peoria Manual and Plainfield North kicking off the 94th annual event in the tournament’s first game Wednesday.

Jack Tosh Tournament

Hosted by York High School, the 32-team event has become one of the state’s biggest draws for hoop fans.

The tournament features nearly non-stop action with the tournament being contested on two courts consecutively throughout each of the tournament’s five days of play.

Lemont and Bolingbrook enter the fray with high hopes to make a deep run in the event. Bolingbrook won the behemoth tournament in 2019 and traditionally finds itself deep in the winner’s bracket while Lemont is only one of two teams, along with Lyons, that will enter the event without a loss.

Minooka is also in the field and drew a rough opening round foe in St. Ignatius (9-1). Other teams that look like threats to make a run at the title are Rolling Meadows (10-1), St. Patrick (8-2), Glenbrook South (8-3), Palatine (8-2) and Yorkville (9-2).

State Farm Classic

Romeoville and Joliet Central are the lone local entrants in this event which features 16 teams in the Large School boys bracket but is part of a larger 64-team event that features four individual tournaments (Large and Small Boys, Large and Small Girls).

Romeoville is seeded on the upper side of the bracket with a No. 6 seed and should it survive its opening-round matchup with Mahomet-Seymour would likely have to go through No. 3 seed Rock Island and second-seeded Brother Rice to earn a possible date with Class 3A defending state champions Sacred Heart-Griffin, which is the event’s top seed.

Joliet Central is the No. 12 seed and opens with Peoria (No. 5) in the first round.

Plano Christmas Classic

The two local entrants in this field, Coal City and Morris, both received extremely difficult draws in the opening round of the 16-team event.

Top-seeded Burlington Central will be Coal City’s foe, while Morris drew the No 2 seed, Marmion.

Hinsdale Central Tournament

Lincoln-Way Central is the lone entrant in what appears to be a fairly deep field.

The Knights will draw Oswego East in the opening round, which also is the only tournament involving local teams that begins before Christmas. The first round is Friday and then resumes after the holiday.

East Aurora Holiday Tournament

The eight-team tournament includes Joliet Catholic and Plainfield Central.

The Hilltoppers begin tournament play against Hope Academy, one of only three teams in the field that boast an above .500 mark while Plainfield Central kicks off the tournament against the host school.

On paper, Downers Grove North (9-1) looks like a heavy favorite.

Effingham-Teutopolis Christmas Classic

Lincoln-Way East is the lone local team making the trip south and appears to be in great position to make a run at its third consecutive championship game appearance.

The 9-1 Griffins will play Mattoon in the opening round in the event that saw them win the title in 2019 and fall in the title game last year to Brooks.

Pekin Holiday Tournament

Plainfield South makes its return to the Pekin Tournament after bowing out last season because of COVID concerns. The Cougars will open up the tournament with a battle against fourth-seeded Morton.

Chuck Dayton Holiday Classic

Plainfield East and Lincoln-Way West will try their hands at the 16-team field at DeKalb High School.

Lincoln-Way West drew undefeated Manley in the opening round, while Plainfield East will grapple with Naperville Central.

Maine East Holiday Tournament

Providence opens against Metea Valley in what appears to be a wide-open 16-team field.

Every team in the draw has accumulated at least four losses on the season at this point.

Kankakee Holiday Tournament

Peotone is the lone local entrant in the KHT field and the Blue Devils could be in the mix for the eight-team Small School bracket championship.

Ottawa Marquette Christmas Tournament

This tournament, formerly known as the Marseilles Holiday Tournament, has experienced a location change since the last contesting of the event.

Seneca (9-0) enters the tournament with top billing, while Reed-Custer (No. 6 seed) and Gardner-South Wilmington (No. 7 seed) are both a part of the upper half of the draw.

Wilmington and Dwight also are in this 16-team field.