Basketball notebook: Seneca to take over Marquette Tournament

A holiday hoops tradition will have another new look next year.

Seneca High School will be taking over the Marquette Christmas Classic in 2024. Previously, the boys tournament had been held at Marseilles from 2009-21 and was taken over by Marquette in 2022.

The dates for next year’s tournament are Dec. 26-28, Seneca AD Ted O’Boyle said, with each team playing two games on Dec. 27, utilizing Seneca’s new facility. The tournament will continue to field 16 teams.

“With the completion of our new gymnasium project, we are very excited to take over an already very successful tournament for our district and community,” O’Boyle said.

The field has included Hall, Marquette, Putnam County, Serena, St. Bede, Earlville, Hall, Flanagan-Cornell, Indian Creek, Somonauk and Woodland.

Lexington defeated Serena 51-43 for the championship in this year’s tournament.

Princeton to Sherrard tournament

Princeton will be joining the Mike Hutchins Holiday Classic at Sherrard next season on Dec. 26-28.

The Sherrard boys tournament debuted this year with six varsity teams and eight F/S teams. Coach Alex Johnson said Sherrard wants to expand to eight varsity teams next year with commitments from Alleman, Annawan, Geneseo, East Dubuque and Princeton.

State-ranked Byron defeated Sherrard in overtime in this year’s championship game.

Princeton has not played in a Christmas Tournament since they were at Plano in December 2016, opting for the Bureau County Christmas Classic with Bureau Valley. That event has been canceled after five years.

The Tigers had considered joining the new tournament at Seneca, but opted for Sherrard.

Mark your calendars

Here’s a list of new make-up dates coming up:

* Aurora Rosary at Hall girls on Saturday, Jan. 27 (new game)

* Hall boys at PC on Monday, Jan. 29

* BV boys at Mendota from Jan. 16 to Wednesday, Jan. 31

* Hall girls at Forreston on Friday, Feb. 2 (new game)

* BV girls at Orion from Jan. 13 to Saturday, Feb. 3

* Kewanee at Princeton girls from Jan. 23. to Saturday, Feb. 3

* Princeton at BV girls from Monday, Jan. 22 to Thursday, Feb. 8

* BV boys at Byron from Jan. 9 to Monday, Feb. 12

* Princeton boys at Kewane from Jan. 23 to Tuesday, Feb. 13

Last-second shots

* Hart in Arkansas: Former St. Bede standout Isaiah Hart has moved to Arkansas and is home-schooling this year and is not playing basketball. He is planning to play next year, his father, Bob, said.

His family moved to Arkansas in 2020 when basketball was canceled by COVID and his brother, Paul, played for Flippin High School. The Harts moved back to Illinois for Paul’s senior season and he broke the school scoring record held by big league pitcher JA Happ.

Isaiah played for the Bruins last year, averaging averaging 16.6 points a game, named Second Team TRAC East All-Conference.

* Sterling shines: Junior Ella Sterling transferred from Seneca to Hall this year and has made a big impact for the Red Devils.

Last week, she averaged 17.3 points and 11.3 rebounds with one assist and one block per game, with two double-doubles, and just missed a third.

She scored 22 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, to help Hall beat Bureau Valley. She had 14 points against Rochelle and scored 16 points in a win over Mendota.

Sterling, who was named as the NewsTribune Athlete of the Week, comes to Hall with good pedigree. Her father, Nick, played for Hall’s two state runner-up teams in the mid-90s.

* White commits: Fieldcrest senior standout Kaitlyn White has announced her commitment to play basketball for North Central College next year.

* Simpson soars: Newman senior star Lucas Simpson is averaging 30 ppg and has produced four games of 40 points or more this season. He dumped 47 on Bureau Valley last week.

* TCC tournament pushed back: Monday’s ice storm postponed the boys Tri-County Conference boys tournament at Putnam County, pushing the games back a day. The finals will now be on Saturday.