Springfield Tournament

This past weekend I was down visiting my brother in Springfield Illinois and I got to take in the Springfield City tournament, one of the best basketball experiences I've been to. The tournament is a round robin tournament between the four large schools in Springfield. All four schools have between 1000 to 1500 students. They seed the teams one through four and set it up so the top two seeds will meet on Saturday night. The event is held at the Springfield Center very similar to the Lacrosse Center and Alliant Energy Center. The games draw a huge crowd and field the arena about two thirds of the way full and guessing there was roughly six to eight thousand people at the event. For amount of people this was second to only Wisconsin state for what I have been to. I would love to see this event take place in a Madison, Lacrosse, or Green Bay.

Sacred Heart-Griffin 51 Springfield High 42
In the first game the only private school Sacred Heart-Griffin took on Springfield High. Springfield started out hot hitting from the outside which was primarily due to the fact that SHG was playing a zone defense. In the second quarter though SHG got hot while Springfield went cold and SHG took the lead and never looked back. Despite their lack of size SHG was able to control the glass throughout the entire game and was able to kick the ball out to open three point shooters where they hit the shot. Neither team was exceptionally tall with the exception of Springfield's 6'7 junior Willie Wiley who was able to take over the game in very short stints but, just didn't get enough help and his game is very limited away from the hoop. Springfield got the game close but SHG hit their free throws at the end to win.

Top Players
Jarrod Sergent 6'2 junior SHG- Thought he was the best player on the court. Shot the ball extremely well from the outside and also showed the ability get open off the dribble and hit the jumper.
Austin Eagleton 6'1 junior SHG- Nothing real special about his game but, always hustled and moved very well without the ball in his hands. When given the open three he would hit the shot.
Willie Wiley 6'7 junior Springfield- Was the one player on Springfield that was rebounding and showed some promise around the hoop but, is still alittle raw. Had a nice put back dunk and was able to score with his back to the hoop.
Mark Gilchrese 5'9 senior Springfield- Was hitting the three to start the game and did a nice job running the point and not turning the ball over.

Top Scorers
SHG- Sergent 16 Eagleton 14 Jake Williams 8
Springfield- Wiley 12 Gilchrese 10 Thalamus Alexander 8 Alex Kramer 8

Southeast 60 Lamphier 45
I actually left this game alittle early so the final was slightly different but, at that point the game was not in question. This game was the highlight of the night as my brother had student taught at Lamphier and had watched the team play of few times before and Southeast had beaten Whitney Young this year who I had seen play on ESPN earlier this year and looked very very good. I was very surprised that Southeast only played one player over 6 ft in their regular rotation because Whitney Young is a very tall team. Early one Lamphier was able to really push the tempo and take the early lead as both teams started out very sloppy and Southeast turned the ball over time after time. In the second quarter though Southeast really tightend things up controlling the ball and showing a lot of patients on the offensive end. It seemed Southeast always ended up with a wide open three point shot and more times then not they were able to bury the shot. At half Southeast was able to get the big lead then in the second half Lamphier was able to push the tempo again and get back into the game before Southeast was able to seal the game breaking the Lamphier trap and getting easy baskets before ending the game hitting their free throws.

Top Players
Herman Senor 5'10 sophomore Southeast- Was able to penetrate and get into the paint all night long and score or get fouled where he went to the line and scored.
Rodney Smith 5'11 senior Southeast- Had a huge game off the bench leading the team in scoring. Just seemed to always be in the right place at the right time, moving well without the ball and cleaning up on the offensive glass.
Jacobby Anderson 6'0 senior Southeast- Was money from the outside hitting every open three he was giving. Helped get the ball up the court against the pressure defense.
Larry Austin Jr 6'1 freshmen Lamphier- Very very tough to stop in the transition. Ranked in the top 10 in the country and showed some great skills.
Kendall Murdock 6'3 senior Lamphier- Used his size and skill to score in the post. Really looked good in this game scoring with his back to the basket. Most impressive player in the game scoring at will at times it seemed.

Top Scorers
Southeast- Senor 14 Smith 14 Anderson 13
Lamphier- Austin 15 Everett Clemons 10 Murdock 9

I know this wasn't the greatest post but, haven't felt the greatest tonight and don't have alot of energy. This really was one of the most entertaining events I have been to in regards to high school basketball and really showed some love for their high school basketball. Also retired two former NBA players and one current NBA player's jerseys in Ed Horton, Kevin Gamble, and Andrea Igudala.