ChimpersCage

The McLean County Tournament concluded yesterday with the four final games from the right side of the bracket held at Shirk Center.  Third place games were played in the afternoon with Le Roy topping Tri-Valley in the girls page and Fieldcrest pulling out another close game, this one over Blue Ridge.  In the evening, El Paso - Gridley girls took the crown from Tremont and Tri-Valley and Ridgeview fans packed the house to see Tri-Valley victorious over Ridgeview.  There is never a bad Tri-Valley v Ridgeview game. Memories will last for ever and can always be stimulated with the right photo.  Get yours from Alan Look Photography and check out the coverage by the Normalite and Best Look Magazine . 2013 102nd McLean County Tournament photos -chimper-

The two girls semi-final games of the 2013 102nd McLean County tournament were held Thursday night at the Shirk Center on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University.  The Panthers of Le Roy took on the Titans of El Paso - Gridley in the first game.  The first half was pretty tight, but the Titans took the early lead.  In the 3rd Quarter, the Titans pulled away and never looked back till the final buzzer. The second game for which we weren't able to remain on site, pitted the Turks of Tremont against the Vikings of Tri-Valley.  We can report that the Turks won that game. The results of these two game set up a rivalry 3rd place game on Saturday between Tri-Valley and close neighbor Le Roy.  The Championship game on Saturday night sets up an outside the McLean County borders war between Tremont of Tazwell County and El Paso - Gridley of McLean and Woodford Counties. The boys semi-finals play tonight with Fieldcrest against Ridgeview and Tri-Valley against Bl...

Most Friday nights you can find me at a high school football game.  no exception on the 14th.  Coverage this night was Homecoming at Normal Community West High School against conference foes Danville Vikings.  It was come from behind, get way ahead, let them almost catch up, then win for the Wildcats. Images on Alan Look Photography Website Friend, fellow photographer and Best Look Magazine contributor John Power was reportedly at the El Paso - Gridley Titans v Fieldcrest Falcons game and part of the night at Eureka for the game against the Central Catholic Saints.  Not sure if he made it to both of them.  Check his website for images from those games.

Ah, one of my favorite weeks of the year started Saturday January 16th. No, not because of the weather, because the McLean County Tournament has started! Yes, the weather always seems to throw it's rimshot too. I've seen everything from blizzard like conditions to sunshine to torrential rains on Championship day, but the fans and teams always show up. This year the competition should be pretty good, although some of the team rankings are pretty different from past years. ElPaso-Gridley boys are seeded in the top 5, a different look than some of the past years where they struggled past the 1st round. Ridgeview played two games on the 16th and was eliminated from the rest of the competition. That's a big change. The Mustangs seemed to be just a half a click off with just about every play attempt. I did see a couple of sequences that went well for them, but for some reason they just aren't quite there. Heyworth looks to be back in it, but on the boys side, it appea...