Princeton well traveled at Christmas time

The Princeton Tigers have been well traveled for the holidays over the last seven decades.

The Tigers have played at 14 different Christmas tournament sites dating back to 1950. They will pick up a 15th when they make their debut in the Sherrard Tournament this week.

This will be Princeton’s first Christmas tournament appearance since 2016 when it played in the Plano Christmas Classic. Since 2017, PHS opted out of tournaments over Christmas in favor of the County Christmas Classic game with Bureau Valley.

Princeton has played in the pre-Christmas Colmone Classic at Hall since 2017.

Princeton’s longest runs in Christmas Tournaments were nine-year stretches at Pontiac from 1967-75 and the State Farm Holiday Classic in Bloomington-Normal from 1993-2001.

The Tigers made eight appearances at Macomb in three separate stints and had two seven-year stints at the Plano Christmas Classic where they played from 1986-92 and again from 2010-16.

Here’s a look at the road well traveled for the Tigers Christmas tournaments over the years and some tournament highlights:

At Paris (1950): No record available

At Ottawa Marquette (1952-56): Don Sheffer’s two-time state-finalist Tigers won back-to-back championships in 1953 and 1954 at Marquette, with an overall 9-3 record.

At Pontiac (1957-65): The Tigers carried their winning ways from Marquette to Pontiac, winning 12 out of its first 16 games, but sputtered, finishing 13-15. The Pontiac Holiday Tournament is still going strong in its 98th year.

At Metamora (1966): The Tigers played just one year at the home of the Redbirds.

At Kankakee (1967): Princeton moved to Kankakee, but also for just one year.

At Macomb (1969, 1978-80, 1982-85): For one year, Princeton played at the Macomb Holiday Tournament, then came back for two more stints under coach Tony Lavorato. The Tigers went 15-11 in eight years at Macomb.

At Rockford (1970-71, ’74): In between appearances at Macomb, the Tigers made two stints at Rockford.

At Plano (1986-92): Princeton had four top 4 finishes in the Plano Christmas Classic over a seven-year stretch, including one championship (1991), a runner-up finish (1988) and a third (91) under coach Roger Lowe, finishing 16-8 overall.

At Bloomington-Normal (1993-01): Coach Bruce Placek and the Tigers opted for the State Farm Holiday Classic in 1993, finishing second in 1994 with its Sweet 16 team, going 11-17 over nine years.

At Byron (2002-06): Over a five-year stretch, the Tigers went 13-12 at Byron.

At Forreston (2006-07): The Tigers doubled up in 2006 playing at both Forreston and Byron. They went 3-5 in two years.

At Kewanee (2008-09): Princeton won the short-lived Kewanee Tournament in back-to-back years.

At Plano (2010-16): The Tigers returned to Plano 18 years after departing for seven more seasons, posting a 16-14 record with a best showing of ninth place in 2011.

At Sherrard (2024): The Mike Hutchins Holiday Classic starts up Thursday with the Tigers facing East Dubuque at 4 p.m. The tournament is in its second year.