Basketball Notebook: Princeton one of 11 undefeated boys teams in Illinois

There are 11 boys basketball teams in the state of lllinois who remain undefeated heading into the New Year.

The Princeton Tigers are one of them, the sixth best record in all of the state at 13-0.

The undefeated list includes:

Rockford Christian (15-0)

Decatur Lutheran (14-0)

Decatur MacArthur (14-0)

Fairbury Prairie Central (14-0)

Seneca (14-0)

Princeton (13-0)

Herrin (13-0)

Christ Our Rock Lutheran (12-0)

Chicago Simeon (12-0)

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (11-0)

St. Joseph-Ogden (11-0)

Rockford Christian and Princeton are both assigned to the Sterling Super-Sectional field.

It is the first time Princeton has started 13-0 since the 2009-10 team went 16-0 and finished 27-3, reaching the sectional finals.

The best start in school history is the 23-0 start posted by Don Sheffer’s 1954-55 Tigers, who finished fourth at State in the one-class system with a 32-3 record.

TOURNAMENT REVIEW

Holiday Hoops were abound after Christmas. Here’s a rundown of area tournaments, first for the girls:

At St. Bede: Fieldcrest repeated as champions of the Lady Bruins Christmas Classic, defeating Eureka, 61-29. Princeton held off Seneca, 47-45, for thIrd place.

The all-tournament team was expanded this year to 26 players.

The first team was made up of Fieldcrest’s Ashlyn May, Kaitlin White and Carolyn Megow, Eureka’s Ellie Cahill and Ella Ausmus and Princeton’s Olivia Gartin.

On the second team were Fieldcrest’s Haley Carver and Riley Burton, Eureka’s Regan Linder and Elena Lapp, Princeton’s Keighley Davis and Seneca’s Kennedy Hartwig.

On the third team were Fieldcrest’s Aliah Celis, Eureka’s Josie Skurr, Princeton’s Mariah Hobson and Miyah Fox, Seneca’s Ella Sterling and Putnam County’s Ava Hatton.

Special mention went to St. Bede’s Kristal De La Torre, Putnam County’s Gabby Doyle, Kewanee’s Mya Dearing, Marquette’s Lilly Craig, Sandwich’s Hannah Treptow, Rock Island JV’s Danaijah Bragg, Fieldcrest’s Macy Coghanour and Eureka’s Sophia Musselman.

At Amboy: The host Clippers beat Somonauk, 56-22, for the championship and Hall edged Newman, 32-28, for third place.

Hall seniors Promise Giocametti and Toni Newton both were named to the all-tournament team along wth Amboy’s Addison Pertell and Elly Jones, Mendota’s Katie Jenner, Serena’s Jenna Setchell and Makayla McNally, Newman’s Madison Duhan, Somonauk’s Haley McCoy and Josie Rader, and Roanoke-Benson’s Lexi Weldon and Brianna Harms.

At Erie: Mercer County defeated Erie-Prophetstown, 51-25, for the championship of the Warkins Classic.

There were two new boys’ tournaments held this year at LaMoille and LaSalle-Peru with a new venue for a familiar tournament at Ottawa Marquette.

At LaMoille: The host Lions reached the championship game of the LaMoille Holiday Classic, falling to Lowpoint-Washburn, 55-45

Hiawatha beat DePue, 46-30, for third place.

LaMoille’s Brayden Klein and Eli Keighin and DePue’s Oscar Lopez were selected to the all-tournament team along with Baylor Steffen of LPW and Blake Wiegarz of Hiawatha.

At Marquette: Marquette took over as the new host for the Marseilles Christmas Tournament. The top two seeds reached the finals with No. 1 Seneca defeating No. 2 Marquette, 46-43.

No. 3 Putnam County defeated Dwight, 58-49, for the consolation championship (ninth place). Hall fell to Earlville, 42-41, in the seventh-place game while St. Bede fell to Woodland, 46-41, in the 11th-place game.

Seneca sophomore Paxton Giertz was named as the MVP of the tournament. Also named to the all-tournament team were Seneca’s Braden Ellis, Marquette’s Krew Bond and Tommy Durdan, Putnam County’s Jackson McDonald, Hall’s Mac Resetich, Serena’s Camden Figgins, Dwight’s Wyatt Thompson, Lexington’s Alec Thomas, Reed-Custer’s Jacob McPherson and Wilmington’s Ryder Meents.

Thompson was the leading scorer in the tournament with 102 points with Resetich next at 85 while St. Bede’s Isaiah Hart (74) was sixth. St. Bede’s Callan Hueneberg had the most 3-pointers with 15.

At LaSalle: LaSalle-Peru hosted and won it’s inaugural Chips Giovanine Mid-Winter Classic, defeating Geneseo, 54-24. IVC beat Sherrard, 52-46, for third place.

At Erie: Beecher defeated Sterling Newman, 70-48, for the championship of the Warkins Classic while Riverdale beat Morrison, 61-36, for third place.

At Plano: Burlington Central repeated as Plano Christmas Classic champions, defeating Aurora Marmion, 58-41

The Thompson-Ruklick watch

Princeton senior Grady Thompson scored his 1,000-point career points on Dec. 17 and now stands No. 7 with 1,030 points after scoring 18 points on Dec. 27 at Bureau Valley.

With three games this week, he should pass the late 7-footer Rick Larson, who scored 1,077 from 1966-69, to move into No. 6.

Tiger great Joe Ruklick is the program’s leader with 1,306 career points.

Girls’ star Tiah Romagnoli (1996-99) is the school’s all-time leading scorer at 1,506.

Last-second shots

Hall senior Mac Resetich is 29 points away from becoming the 12th player in Hall High School history to score 1,000 career points. The Red Devils play at home Tuesday vs. Mendota and at Newman Friday.

Shawn Jeppson is the No. 1 all-time leading scorer at Hall with 1,829 career points.