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  NORMAL, Ill. (AP) — The Ridgeview Mustangs secured a hard-fought victory over the Annawan Braves in the IHSA Class 1A Super Sectional boys basketball game on March 6, 2018, at Redbird Arena, punching their ticket to the state finals. Ridgeview overcame a determined Annawan squad with a strong second-half performance, pulling away late to earn a win. The Mustangs’ disciplined defense and clutch shooting proved decisive in the battle for a spot in the state semifinals. Annawan fought valiantly throughout the contest, however, Ridgeview’s defensive pressure forced several crucial turnovers late in the game, limiting Annawan’s chances to mount a comeback.

  Ridgeview Mustangs JV and Varsity boys basketball teams both scored decisive victories on Friday noght December 6th against the Knights of Blue Ridge.  Action took place on Kellar's Court at Ridgeview High School in Colfax IL. See all the pics at  Alan Look Photography !  Here is a video and a few teasers off the "B" list.

Best Look Magazine, Volume 4 Issue 2, May 2015 By Alan Look in Best Look Magazine 32 pages, published 5/15/2015 May 2015 Issue of Best Look Magazine Need something to do on Memorial Day weekend?  Ever been to the Middle East Conflicts Memorial Wall in Marseilles Illinois?  It is a special place right along the Illinois River.  It is a first rate memorial and a solemn place to pay your respects to those who have made the freedom we experience possible.  Our cover and a story are dedicated to it.  Take a peek, this one is all funded by donations... Other items in this issue are the basketball wrap-ups for the Illinois State Redbird and Illinois Wesleyan Titans men and womens teams, the runs to state by the Central Catholic girls and the boys teams from Normal Community and Ridgeview.  It's Official is back and there...

Best Look Magazine's (a product of Alan Look Photography) latest publications are special issues that chronicle the Ridgeview Mustangs and the Normal Ironmen boys basketball teams play in Peoria at the IHSA State Finals.  The Mustangs qualified for their 1st ever appearance and the Ironmen for their third.  The Mustangs placed 3rd and the Ironmen placed 2nd.  Both had excellent records and a tremendous amount of fun this season!  Please take a look at our publications complete with front and back cover images, a short story and several high definition images.  Be sure to check out our advertisers.  They all really appreciate any business that comes their way.  I'm sure you will get personalized service from everyone of them. Click for Ridgeview Click for Normal Community Alan Look Photography

Last night it was Ridgeview-Blue Ridge Mustangs at Tri Valley Vikings. My ears are still ringing from that canon. Thought the EMT's were going to have to defib me when that thing scared the breath out of me the first time they fired it! It also intimidated the Mustangs.  As I was leaving the field in the 3rd quarter I think I heard the score announced at 68-14.   At the very least it was  a great fall evening with a distinct lake of precipitation - something new for this season! Photo gallery below from Alan Look Photography, the Best Look in Sports Action photos in Bloomington - Normal and McLean County .  Look for coverage in the Normalite Newspapers and Best Look Magazine . 20140919 Ridgeview-Blue Ridge Mustangs @ Tri Valley Vikings Football Photos - Images by Alan Look  - Chimper -

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 s...

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...

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 Ridgeview Mustangs pulled off an upset on Friday night in the first boys semi-final game of the 102nd McLean County Tournament defeating number one seed Fieldcrest Knights.  In the second game, Tri-Valley Vikings walked off the court all smiles after defeating the Knights of Blue Ridge.  The two wins set up an in county HOIC rivalry championship game between the Vikings and Mustangs. Fieldcrest Knights will meet the Knights of Blue Ridge in the boys consolation game. In the Girls bracket today, #1 seed El Paso - Gridley will take on the Turks of Tremont for the title match and the consolation game will be between the Le Roy Panters and the Tri-Valley Vikings. Click to view all the 2013 102nd McLean County photo galleries by Alan Look Photography . Be sure to check out the Normalite Newspaper Group  editions for coverage and the next issue of Best Look Magazine. -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...

If you are looking for some memories of the 2013 McLean County Tournament, be sure to check out the galleries of Alan Look Photography.  Alan Look Photography is a professional sports photographer who has lived in McLean County his whole life.  He has been published world wide in several well respected magazines, newspapers and books .  He works locally as a free-lancer and covers assignments for the Normalite Newspaper Group and publishes a quarterly sports and leisure magazine named Best Look Magazine. Be sure to check them out even if you don't purchase.  Looking is free! 2013 102nd McLean County Tournament Photos Alan Look Photography, McLean County's Best Look in sports action photography Best Look Magazine Normalite -Chimper-

Yes, this Saturday January 19th, the first rounds of the 2013 McLean County Tournament will be played at the gyms of Ridgeview in Colfax.  You can find the brackets on the McLean County Tournament page of Alan Look Photography .   Alan will be in and out hitting several of the games through out the week.  Check the website , the Normalite , and Best Look Magazines next issue for coverage and some great photos of the McLean County Tournament . This will be the 102nd McLean County Tournament.

Several coverages this past weekend for the Normalite Newspaper group, Best Look Magazine and Alan Look Photography . On Friday Night, it was to Colfax for Ridgeview Mustangs hosting the Tri Valley Vikings for homecoming.  I'll apologize in advance, I have about 100 more images for this gallery if the computer shop can recover them from my crashed Mac.  Right now, chances look good.  Those 100 images contain all of the shots of the band. On Saturday it was football at Illinois State with the Redbirds hosting Youngstown State Penguins and then in the evening the Volleyball Redbirds took on the Drake Bulldogs .  Click on any of the links for photos and news links. John Power also covered Central Catholics football game .

The Ridgeview Mustangs hosted and defeated the Heyworth Hornets on Friday Septemeber 7th, 2012 at Colfax IL by a score of 54 - 0. Check out the images in Alan Look Photography's gallery. Not spending enough time on the web?  Check out the current issue of Best Look Magazine .

Well, the High School Girls Regionals are here. Play this year is at Lexington. I guess it is already down to the semi and final rounds. Last night, Ridgeview swatted the Heyworth Hornets. The Mustangs are so well organized and execute so well. THey are a pleasure to watch. 20100210 Heyworth v Ridgeview - Images by Alan Look

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...

Well, the Ridgeview Mustangs ended the football season winless losing the final game at home to the Heyworth Hornets 62-38. The game was played in the rain and on a muddy field producing ground campaigns from each team and keep fans to a minimum. Those that did come saw a lot of courage and fortitude by players on both teams.

On Saturday (June 20), the Kellars of Ridgeview got together at what may have been their last family basketball event. Rodney, Teri, Michael, and Lauren have been a basketball family for a long time. Rodney is the 23 year coach of the Ridgeview Mustangs. Teri, his wife plays many roles at the school in addition to a full time position at a local corporation and mom to Michael and Lauren. Michael graduated about 4 years ago and has one semester of student teaching left before getting his degree. That student teaching will take place at Ridgeview Jr. High. Michael has also played baseball during college. He pitches. While attending Ridgeview, Michael was a multi sport student playing basketball and baseball. He's currently being scouted for some major league and independent leagues to continue with the small round ball. Lauren just graduated from Ridgeview. While there, she was also a multi sport athlete. She practically grew up on the basketball coach, often seen after ga...

One question staff phtograpers always ask me is why I shoot both teams. Aren't you on assignment to shoot a particular team? Well, yes I am. But, being a freelancer and keeping your copyright - something that staff shooters can't do - means that there are always other opportunities to market your work. So, shooting one team can also mean shooting the defensive end. It can also mean an additional payday. Last Wednesday I arrived home to find the March 23rd March Madness edition of Sports Illustrated in my mailbox. This edition has a cover comprised of a photo of a player from each of the college teams that make it to the NCAA tournament. I immediately got out my magnifying glass and found 2 teams that I had shot. After looking at them and looking through my archive I realized that both those images were my shots. Wow! I've been inside Sports Illustrated with a few of my automotive images and also in SI for kids a few times, but never on the cover. So the first time on the co...