103rd McLean County Tournament concludes

In McLean County Illinois, the granddaddy of local basketball tournaments has been held for 103 times in 104 years.  It's changed a lot over the years as school districts grew larger or small and many consolidated.  The current day tournament is a coed tournament including boys and girls brackets.  The schools filling those brackets are from the county or from the Heart of Illinois Conference (HOIC).  County proper teams have dwindled over the years as consolidation erupted.  Schools that currently have a McLean County presence are Heyworth, LeRoy, Ridgeview, Lexington, El Paso - Gridley, and Tri Valley. The only non-Bloomington-Normal school I can think of that has students from the county but isn't included in the tournament is Olympia.

This year, the Ridgeview Mustangs entered the tournament undefeated and with Coach Rodney Kellar looking for his 500th win.  He got that win as Ridgeview defeated El Paso Gridley in the semi-final.  Ridgeview stood up against the Blue Ridge Knights in the final.  The game was an epic battle that tied at 49 in regulation.  The Knights managed a score with 6 seconds left in OT that went unanswered leaving them ahead by one point as the buzzer sounded.

In the girls brackets, El Paso - Gridley's Lady Titans took home the 1st place brass for the 4th straight year.  Watching Codee Schlipf, The Ehresman girls and the rest of the team is a real treat.  It wasn't all roses during the championship game for the girls.  They faced off against HOIC foe - Tremont Turks.  It was a back and forth battle with both sides sharing lead changes.

Images from all games can be found at Alan Look Photography, and a few presentation and other small video links can be found there as well.



20140125 Tremont Turks v El Paso Gridley Titans Girls Basketball Championship game photos - Images by Alan Look



20140125 Blue Ridge Knights v Ridgeview Mustangs Boys Basketball Championship game photos - Images by Alan Look

 - Chimper -

Heyworth falls to Blue Ridge in McLean County Tournament Quarter Final

In a very fast paced game slowed by only fouls and time outs, the Heyworth Hornets fell to lower ranked Blue Ridge Knights on Tuesday January 21st at the Shirk Center in Bloomington as a part of the 103rd McLean County Tournament.  Blue Ridge advances to the Semi Finals to face Tremont on Friday night, Heyworth moves to the consolation bracket and faces Le Roy on Thursday at Lexington High School.

Brackets can be found on Alan Look Photography website.



20140121 Blue Ridge Knights v Heyworth Hornets boys basketball photos - Images by Alan Look

Ridgeview defeats Fieldcrest on Monday in MCT Qtr Final

A span of 8 days every January in McLean County is reserved for the McLean County Basketball Tournament.  The tournament has been held 103 times in the last 104 years.  Through several iterations as time moves on, the tournament now includes several county schools and several non-county schools but all are a part of the Heart of Illinois Conference.  The tournament is co-ed with brackets for girls as well as boys.

On the boys bracket this year, the Mustangs of Ridgeview got a first round by as the number one seed.  They took on the Knights of Fieldcrest in the first of 4 quarter finals on Monday January 20th.  The two teams have been rivals for several years.  This year, the number one seeded and undefeated Mustangs grabbed the win notch and move to a semi final game later this week.

Brackets can be found on Alan Look Photography website.

20140120 Fieldcrest Knights v Ridgeview Mustangs boys basketball photos - Images by Alan Look

2014 Hoic McLean County Tournament brackets

Having a hard time finding the 2014 brackets for the HOIC-McLean County basketball tournament. You are in luck.  Both Alan Look Photography and the Normalite Newspaper have them!

 - Chimper -