Princeton, St. Bede boys, Hall boys and girls venture to new Christmas tournaments

The Hall boys and girls basketball teams and the Princeton and St. Bede boys will be going to new places for the Holidays.

Here’s a rundown of tournaments sights, teams and first-round matchups:

Boys basketball

At Sherrard: Princeton, which has not played in a Christmas Tournament since the Plano Christmas Classic in 2016, joins the Mike Hutchins Holiday Classic in its second year at Sherrard from Dec. 26-28.

The Tigers will open at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 26 against East Dubuque. Their winner will draw the winner between Annawan and Geneseo.

Other participating teams for the second-year event are Alleman, Byron, IMSA and the host Sherrard Tigers.

Byron defeated Sherrard in overtime for last year’s championship.

The Princeton F/S will open at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 26 against Mercer County.

Princeton had been playing Bureau Valley in the County Christmas Classic since 2017.

At LaMoille: The Lions will host the LaMoille Holiday Classic from Dec. 26-28. The Lions will meet Calvary Christian at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 26 while DePue will meet Galva at noon on the first day. Other first-round matchups pit Amboy vs. Leland and Polo vs. Lowpoint-Washburn.

Annawan won last year’s tournament, but departed for Sherrard.

At Princeville: St. Bede will make its tournament debut in the 96th annual Princeville Holiday Tournament from Dec. 26-28. It’s the longest running small-school Christmas tournament.

The No. 5 seeded Bruins, who played at Marquette last year, will meet No. 4 Elmwood at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 26 with their winner drawing the winner between top-seeded Brimfield and No. 8 Henry-Senachwine at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 27.

Other teams in the field are No. 2 Princeville, No. 3 Peoria Heights, No. 6 Midland and No. 7 Ridgewood.

The host Princes are the defending champions.

At Seneca: The Hall boys will take a ride in the new Shipyard Showdown at Seneca from Dec. 26-28, which replaces the former Marquette/Marseilles tournament.

The Red Devils will open at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 26 against Ottawa Marquette in the new Seneca gym. Their winner will draw the winner between No. 3 Indian Creek and Reed-Custer at 9 a.m. on Dec. 27.

The host Irish drew the top seed with Lexington at No. 2 and Flanagan-Cornell at No. 4. Rounding out the field are Coal City, Dwight, Earlville, Putnam County, Somonauk, Wilmington and Woodland.

Girls basketball

At St. Bede: The Lady Bruins Christmas Classic will run with pool games on Dec. 26-27 and finals on Dec. 28. St. Bede will compete in the White Pool with games against Annawan at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 26 and Sandwich at 10 a.m. and newcomer Orion at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 27.

The Green Pool consists of newcomer Brimfield, Fieldcrest, Putnam County and Serena.

Annawan beat Serena 42-35 for last year’s title.

At Prophetstown: Hall has left the Amboy tournament and will join Bureau Valley in Pool C at the Warkins Memorial Classic held by Erie-Prophetstown from Dec. 27-30.

The Storm and Red Devils will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 30. Earlier in the day, the Storm will face Rockridge at 11:30 a.m. and the Red Devils will face Rockridge at 2:30 p.m.

Pool crossover games will be played on Dec. 28 and bracket finals on Dec. 30.

At Ottawa: Princeton returns for its second year at the Ottawa Holiday Classic with games against Streator at 7 p.m., Thursday Dec. 19 and Plainfield Central at 6 p.m., Friday, Dec. 20. The tournament started Monday and concludes Saturday Dec. 21.

The Tigresses placed seventh in its tournament debut at Ottawa last year.

Other teams are Ottawa, Pontiac and Newark in Pool A, Morris, IVC and Joliet Catholic in Pool B and Metamora, L-P and Prairie Central in Pool D.

Canton beat Metamora 55-48 for last year’s championship.