State Farm Holiday Classic pairs strong field

Posted on December 12, 2016

By Greg Halbleib

BLOOMINGTON – A strong field in all four divisions highlights this year’s State Farm Holiday Classic high school basketball tournament.

Pairings were announced Sunday night for the Classic, which will run Dec. 27-30 at four venues in Bloomington-Normal.

The 64-team tournament for boys and girls features eight undefeated squads and 22 teams that are ranked or received votes in the most recent Associated Press polls, as well as 29 teams that have no more than two losses. The combined record of the 64 teams is 300-186 for a winning percentage of .617.

Four teams took home state trophies last season, with Camp Point Central/Augusta Southeastern, Morton and Chicago North Lawndale earning girls hardware and St. Joseph-Ogden taking the boys Class 2A title.

The top girls seeds are Rockford Lutheran in the small school division and Rock Island on the large school side. Top boys seeds are Quincy Notre Dame and Chicago North Lawndale.

Olympia has the Number 3 seed in the small school boys division followed by Number 4 Central Catholic, who hosts second-seed Kankakee Bishop McNamara this Friday.

Tickets, including all-tournament passes, will be available at each venue during the tournament. Sites are Illinois Wesleyan University’s Shirk Center and Normal Community, Normal West and Central Catholic High Schools.

More information on the tournament including the brackets can be found at theclassic.org.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].

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