Championship Day
Welcome to Championship Day! The stage is set to recognize four teams as the best in title contests tonight.
Small School Girls | 3:30 pm
Top-seeded Paris cruises into the final where they are matched up with #7 seed Central Southeastern. Paris finished third a year ago in their inaugural appearance, while Central won the Small School Girls bracket in 2016.
Small School Boys | 5:15 pm
Another top-seed versus #7 seed in this one. St. Joseph-Ogden, featuring Illinois State University commit Ty Pence, will square off with the Normal University, who have collected 12 top-4 finishes in their long tenure in the Classic. St. Joseph-Ogden finished second in 2016.
Large School Girls | 7:00 pm
Undefeated Normal Community, who last won the title in 2003 and finished second in 2017, takes on Washington, who finished second to Geneseo a year ago. Washington features Bradley University recruit Claire McDougall. This is a rematch of a December 15th game, won by Normal.
Large School Boys | 8:45 pm
Newcomer Romeoville, the #6 seed, will challenge 2021 Small School Boys bracket champion Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin in what promises to be a fitting cap to another competitive tournament. Springfield SHG is the defending IHSA Class 3A champion, while Romeoville is led by Loyola (MD) recruit Troy Cicero Jr.
An Appreciate Farewell
Rochester coach J.R. Boudouris and Wheaton Warrenville South coach Rob Kroehnke have announced their retirements. Both have a long relationship with the tournament, as Boudouris led two teams (Pana and Rochester) while Kroehnke and his WW South team first played in the tournament in 2013. These “Friends of the Classic” and will be missed – congrats coaches!
Title IX
With the recognition of 25 years of the girls tournament and 50 years of Title IX legislation, tournament organizers have scheduled an all-woman officiating crew for the Small School Girls championship game.
Overtime
Two overtime games on Day 3, with Chicago Brother Rice defeating Peoria High 64-61 in the Large School Boy bracket, and Springfield downed Kankakee 46-37 in the Large School Girls bracket.
Record Book
A 42-point performance by Walt Hill Jr. of Rockford Lutheran is the 10th highest individual scoring performance in Classic history.
Top Scorers – Day 3
(minimum 20 points)
Large School Boys
Ahmad Henderson Chicago Brother Rice 38
Mikequese Taylor Peoria 29
Anthony Kemp Bradley Bourbonnais 23
Jaheem Weber Normal Community 23
Davarus Spann Chicago North Lawndale 22
Jake Hamilton Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 21
KJ Lamonte Rock Island 20
Small School Boys
Walt Hill Jr. Rockford Lutheran 42
Micah Meiss El Paso-Gridley 31
Logan Smith St. Joseph-Ogden 25
Ty Pence St. Joseph-Ogden 25
Connor Reichman Minonk Fieldcrest 24
Cole Certa Bloomington Central Catholic 23
Jaxson Provost Kankakee Bishop McNamara 21
Brayden Stombaugh Downs Tri-Valley 20
Large School Girls
Emma Dixon Rochester 27
Lexi Salazar Plainfield North 24
Kaylen Reed Rochester 22
Addison Tarr Taylorville 21
Small School Girls
No scores over 20
SSG: Third Place > Sherrard 51 / Brimfield 44