01/02/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE – The holiday tournament season has come to a close and the first ABV Rankings are ready for viewing here in the first week of January.

In case you were not aware the Illinois High School Association made some directional changes to the 1A and 2A state tournament assignments.

The usual Carbondale 1A and 2A super-sectional double-header is no more, at least for this coming March.

The 1A super has been moved to Charleston while the 2A game will still be played at SIU Arena.

The reasoning behind the move hasn't been mentioned but for the last several seasons teams from central Illinois have been forced to make long drives on a school night down south.

Now the south 1A teams will get on the bus.

Last season Tuscola made a 174-mile one-way trip to Carbondale.

The Warriors, should they win the St. Anthony Sectional, would travel just 28 miles to Lantz Gymnasium on the campus of Eastern Illinois University.

In the past teams from Macon Meridian, Nokomis, Central A&M and Effingham St. Anthony have made long journeys south.

Turn about is fair play, right?

But the gain for teams up north in 1A is now a loss for the 2A teams from the same geographical area.

The 2A Shelbyville Sectional could potentially send teams even further away from SIU Arena that what Tuscola and others have recently traveled in 1A.

Tolono Unity and St. Joseph-Ogden are both top shelf teams so far this winter, and if they advance, they would head to Carbondale to reach Champaign-Urbana.

Unity is 187-miles from Carbondale, SJO is 213-miles.

Should Fithian-Oakwood, where former Mounds Meridian mentor Jeff Mandrell now coaches, finds their way into the Elite Eight it would travel 222-miles one-way to SIU.

It is understandable the dilemma that the state faces each year because of the venues available to host and the highway system isn't always fair to everyone involved.

The state isn't square so the problems will always be there.

As for the rankings, the top spot in 1A is no surprise.

Tuscola and head coach Justin Bozarth have had a chip on their collective shoulders since losing in the 1A state semifinals last March to Scales Mound.

Although they managed a third place win, this crew set their sights set on the big prize this coming March.

Originally the IHSA two-year enrollment cycle updated last spring had them bumping up to 2A.

However when the updated numbers were crunched the Warriors were at 279 students, seven shy of the 286 cutoff between 1A and 2A.

The crew, with four of five starters returning and six of their top eight back, will look to take the next step and win the program's first boy's basketball state championship.

Tuscola has a holiday tournament title in the trophy case and will now gear up for the second half of the season.

Sitting at 15-0 after winning the Monticello Holiday Hoopla Tournament with a victory over 2A previously unbeaten Clinton, the Warriors are where they want to be at the mid-way point.

The schedule will get even tougher the rest of the way with seven of their next eight games being on the road.

Their next two games are against 2A teams that won holiday tournaments this past week (Shelbyville, Tolono Unity) and they will head to Clinton for a rematch with the Maroons on January 19th.

For a 1A program, Effingham St. Anthony perennially tackles a tough slate of games and it makes Coach Cody Rincker's teams ready for anything they can see in the postseason.

Ten of the Bulldogs' opponents so far have been 3A and 4A squads and they hold wins over six of them, including Richland County who has defeated many teams listed on this page.

Goreville won the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament title over Waltonville and the Blackcats have just one loss coming in the finale of their own invitational tournament to 2A Benton.

Coach Tripp has made a pair of trips to the state finals, including the Covid19 2020 final four that was cancelled.

Casey-Westfield is another of the 1A teams that plays up a level for most games on its schedule.

Coach Tom Brannan has an experienced group that is the only small school in a conference with 3A Richland County and the rest 2A clubs.

Mounds Meridian had a pretty good three days at the Pinckneyville Duster Thomas Hoops Classic, going 3-1 with the only loss to eventual champion 3A Richland County.

The other three losses are to Goreville, Vienna and Massac County.

Coach David Davis, the ABV 1A “Coach of the Year” in 2022-23, has gotten the job done in Pulaski County.

Waltonville tasted defeat for the first time with a loss to Goreville in the SVHT finale.

The Spartans have a combination of veterans and young kids who have a bright future with more learning to do.

Dieterich won its own holiday tournament and have losses to 2A Lawrenceville, 2A Marshall, St. Anthony and 2A Newton on the resume.

A 58-55 win over 10-5 Arcola and a 57-45 title game victory over 2A Sullivan are the best wins as the Movin' Maroons head into the meat of their National Trail Conference schedule in January.

Altamont will always be in the postseason hunt with head coach John Niebrugge in charge.

The Indians have lost to Goreville, Newton, 2A Carlyle and Casey-Westfield.

Those squads are a combined 45-13.

Speaking of Arcola, the Purple Riders and head coach Greg Gisinger are sitting at 10-6 after the first half of the season.

The toughest part of the schedule awaits as Arcola has just one win over a team with an above .500 record, a 61-56 victory over Grayville (11-6) in the third place game last week at Dieterich.

Webber Township and head coach Jaxon Helm have had a couple of weeks off without a post-Christmas tournament spot.

The Trojans took the top prize at the Wayne City Holiday Tournament, beating Cisne in the title game on December 16.

Okawville doesn't have a sparkling won-loss mark but the strength of schedule for this 1A program always has the Rockets prepared for February.

Head coach Ryan Heck's club have faced 10 teams with winning records plus nine 2A teams and they sit at a misleading 5-10 on the season.

Others like Steeleville and head coach Aaron Fiene along with defending state champion Waterloo Gibault and head coach Dennis Rueter will be in the postseason photo once things get real in February.

Gibault is now part of the Carbondale Super-sectional complex of teams for the state tournament after spending the last decade or so going north to Jacksonville.

Steeleville is 9-1 against 1A teams having split two games with Okawville.

After finishing just 8-21 last winter, Grayville has turned things around for Coach Travis Thompson as the Bison have surpassed that win total already in 2023-24 and with the right setup on the postseason this program could be a threat to earn their first regional hardware since 2008.

Nokomis is another of the programs feeding south that plays a tougher than usual schedule for a 1A program led by Coach Dan DeWerff.

The Redskins have wins over a pair of 2A teams with winning marks (Litchfield, Macon Meridian) are 8-8 overall.

Cisne has a veteran group but they have struggled against a beefed up slate of games for Coach Kevin Bowen.

The Lions finished second to Webber Township at the WCHT and sit at 7-8 overall with just one victory over a team with a winning mark.

St. Elmo/Brownstown started the season with a pair of tournament championships at home and at Mulberry Grove and they played with St. Anthony for a half before falling to the Bulldogs, 56-38.

Two consecutive losses to Affton (MO.) and Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran was a tough way to close out 2023 for a team that has just a single victory (South Central) over a team with a winning mark.

Crab Orchard scores a lot of points per game but Coach Jon Brown's club gives up plenty of crooked numbers in the scorebook.

The Trojans own just two wins over teams above .500 and they have a defeat to a 2A Carterville JV team.

Red Hill and Woodlawn are similar as they both are searching for more consistent play heading into 2024.

The Cardinals own a win over the Salukis earlier in the season for Coach Luke Cooper and they went 1-3 at the Duster Thomas last week, beating Christopher in the 15th place game.

Coach Bryan Havill has the Dawgs sitting at 8-9 after an 0-4 start to the campaign.

As mentioned earlier, the 2A Carbondale Super-sectional complex will have a much different look this year with teams from the east central part of Illinois needing to update their passports to make the trip south.

Breese Central has a pair of regular season tournament championships and have played quite the schedule so far.

Coach Jeremy Shubert and his club got to hoist the trophy of the Mater Dei Holiday Tournament with a win over Red Bay (AL.) in the title game after besting Nashville in the semifinals.

They also won the Effingham St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament and the Cougars only blemishes are losses to 3A Centralia (16-0) and 3A Olney Richland County (14-2).

This program always aims high when it comes to the postseason and they have a lot of hardware collecting dust in the case in this part of Clinton County.

The Cougars could add a few more trophies to polish before 2024 is finished and are the ABV top team this week.

The holiday tournament season also produced some other teams that should be postseason threats.

The previously mentioned Tolono Unity is 13-0 on the season with a Williamsville Holiday Tournament title in tow, having defeated the Bullets 48-45 in the title game Saturday night.

The Rockets also have wins over Teutopolis on the road, Bismarck-Henning, Williamsville and Prairie Central, all of whom are 2A clubs that have winning marks.

Head coach Matt Franks and Company are looking for the program's first regional title since 2012.

Benton started off their season with 13-consecutive wins before a 55-54 semifinal loss to Richland County in the semifinals of the Pinckneyville Holiday Tournament.

The Rangers and head coach Ron Winemiller rebounded with a win over Murphysboro in the third place contest.

Benton will head to Kentucky for their next three games before a showdown at Pinckneyville on January 12.

The Panthers fell short to Richland County (60-53) in the title game at the Duster Thomas and they sit at 13-3 with the two other defeats coming at Breese Mater Dei and a shootout loss to Mt. Vernon.

Coach Matt Laur, in his first season at the helm, has the Panthers playing well heading into a weekend of games at Nashville on Friday and on the road to play the host team at the St. Joseph-Ogden Shootout January 6th.

The St. Joseph-Ogden Spartans sit at 12-2 with losses to undefeated 3A team Beecher (16-0) 55-53 and once beaten El Paso-Gridley, 49-48 at the State Farm Classic in Bloomington.

Coached by Kiel Duval, the Spartans have played a difficult schedule so far with six of the opponents already having double-digit victory totals.

Teutopolis faces a difficult slate of games each season for Coach Chet Reeder and this year is no exception.

The Wooden Shoes hold victories over Columbia, Bloomington Central Catholic and Oak Lawn and eight of their remaining opponents already have over 10-wins.

Columbia has their own holiday tournament championship trophy added to the case with a win over Alton Marquette in the title game last week.

The Eagles and Coach Mark Sandstrom still have work to do as all four of the losses are to winning squads so far this season.

Massac County and head coach Joe Hosman have the Vienna Thanksgiving Tournament championship and a second place finish at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament as part of the resume.

They have two wins over Vienna and split a pair of contests with 3A Herrin.

Coach Darryl Murphy at Murphysboro will always have the Red Devils playing well when it matters in February.

A fourth place finish at the Pinckneyville Holiday Tournament with defeats to the hosts and Benton along with a pair of losses to Herrin and a couple of out-of-state defeats in a tournament in Florida.

Carlyle with new head coach Maverick Taylor have gotten off to an impressive start to the campaign.

The three losses are to Pinckneyville, Benton and Mounds Meridian, with the latter two coming at the Duster Thomas Classic last week.

The Indians hold wins over six teams who sport winning records (Wesclin, Sparta, Red Bud, Altamont, Greenville, Vandalia).

Alton Marquette is 13-3 on the season but hasn't faced as strong of a schedule as some of the others so far.

They do have wins over Freeburg (2), 3A Waterloo and Roxana for head coach Cody Best and a second place finish to Columbia last week at the Columbia/Freeburg Holiday Tournament.

Anna-Jonesboro has a 7-9 mark and have faced 12 teams who are above .500 for head coach Mike Chamness.

The Wildcats hold a wins over Harrisburg and Fairfield and the schedule doesn't let up any in 2024.

Belleville Althoff (10-5) is always a scary group when it comes to the postseason for Coach Greg Leib.

The Crusaders play a predominantly 3A and 4A schedule and have faced five clubs who own at least 10-victories, including undefeated 3A Mt. Zion.

Breese Mater Dei (7-9) has a victory over Pinckneyville and have played 12 teams who are above .500 including unbeaten 4A Collinsville.

The Knights' slate gets no easier the remainder of the season.

Carmi-White County had a nice run at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament, narrowly losing to champions Herrin in the semifinals before topping Harrisburg in the third place game.

The defeats are to Herrin twice and Benton as head coach Kevin Wolff's club also has wins over Sparta, Anna-Jonesboro and Hamilton County also.

Carlinville and head coach David Suits started 2023-24 with a 1-6 mark but have climbed back to .500 at 7-7, which includes a win over 1A South County, East Alton-Wood River and Staunton.

Carterville was voted the top-seed of the Eldorado Tournament after early season wins over Herrin and Vienna but ended up just 1-2 in the event.

Coach Shane Hawkins has a club that has split games with Harrisburg and nine of the Lions remaining games, not counting the Benton Invitational Tournament, have teams with winning records.

Fairfield took Herrin into overtime in the quarterfinals of the Eldorado Holiday Tournament before losing 50-41.

Coach Scott McElravy's club has been a competitive 7-7 on the season so far and hold a signature win over Newton along with triumphs over Hamilton County, 1A Grayville, Flora and West Frankfort.

Lawrenceville has a holiday tournament championship from the Kansas Tri-County event and Coach Randy Bishop has some tough customers coming up the rest of the season in the Little Illini Conference.

The best wins so far have been over Fairfield, 1A Dieterich and Westville with the two losses to Richland County and Wesclin at the Marion Shootout back on December 2.

Litchfield had a mid-season coaching change as new mentor Daniel Bonnell took over the Purple Panthers bench and this club sits at 10-6 after a disappointing defeat to Calhoun in the title game of the Carlinville Holiday Tournament.

The other defeats have come against 14-1 Clinton, Delavan, 1A New Berlin, 3A Highland and 1A Nokomis.

They have wins over Carlinville and Greenville as well.

As mentioned earlier, if the Fithian-Oakwood Comets make it to Carbondale they might need to book a flight.

Coach Jeff Mandrell's club is 11-5 after an 8-0 start.

Four of the losses are to teams who are 48-8 (St. Joseph-Ogden, Bismarck-Henning, Champaign St. Thomas More and Tuscola).

The other Comets on this list hail from Greenville as head coach Todd Cantrill has a 10-6 club with losses to Carlyle, Centralia CORL, Litchfield, Wesclin, Staunton and Vandalia.

The best win was over 9-7 Macon Meridian.

Hamilton County (12-4) won the consolation championship of the Eldorado Holiday Tournament and will look to improve in the second half.

Coach Doug Miller and his Foxes won their own post-Thanksgiving tourney but they don't have a victory over a team with a winning record and nine of the triumphs are over 1A teams.

The remaining schedule looks much tougher.

Harrisburg (9-6) has had a roller coaster type beginning for head coach Andy Fehrenbacher as the defeats have come to some good ones (1A Goreville, Anna-Jonesboro, Benton, Carterville, Carmi-White County and Massac County).

They also have wins over both Massac and Carterville this season as the rest of the schedule will be just as rugged.

The Nashville Hornets have also been a bit inconsistent for Coach Stote Reeder as they head to the second half of the season at 9-7.

The good victories have come against Tremont, 3A Mascoutah, Carterville, and Anna-Jonesboro.

Six of the seven losses have come to teams on this page.

Newton and mentor Troy Bierman are sitting at 12-4 after the first half of the season.

The Eagles won the consolation championship at the Effingham/Teutopolis Christmas Classic and hold regular season wins of note over Vandalia, Casey-Westfield, 3A Charleston and Dieterich.

The defeats came against Breese Central, Effingham St. Anthony, Fairfield and 3A Highland.

Red Bud is another team that makes this list for Coach Dane Walter.

The Musketeers own three wins while taking home the title at the Trico Invitational Tournament but they have losses to Waltonville, Altamont, Waterloo, Wesclin and Carlyle since.

Shelbyville (12-4) will host one of the sectionals that feed to the Carbondale Super-sectional.

The Rams only have three wins over 2A teams (Sullivan, Pana, Vandalia) the rest of the wins are against smaller schools.

Sparta has had a resurgence in the past two seasons for head coach Jordan Beckley.

After going 23-9 last winter, the Bulldogs are off to a 9-4 beginning.

The four losses are to 3A Herrin, Carmi-White County, Carlyle and Centralia CORL.

Sparta has notable wins over Wesclin, Du Quoin, Okawville, and Chester.

Staunton is 8-8 for Coach Ty Laux and the Bulldogs have six of the losses to teams with winning records, including unbeaten Centralia, Southwestern, Greenville and Calhoun.

Vandalia has an 8-6 mark with five of the defeats coming against double-digit winners Newton, Dieterich, Altamont, Carlyle and Shelbyville.

The wins are over Greenville, Nokomis, Okaw Valley, Carlinville, Cumberland (2), Macon Meridian and South Central.

Vienna and head coach Stephen Dreher, the 2022-23 2A ABV “Coach of the Year” are off to another pretty good start as the Eagles hold wins over Madison, Carterville and Anna-Jonesboro.

The losses are to Massac County (2), Carterville and Lyon County (KY.).

This team finished fifth at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament.

Wesclin (15-3) got off to a tremendous start to the season with a championship win of their own Thanksgiving event with victories over Nashville, Columbia and Breese Mater Dei.

However the Warriors and head coach Brent Brede have defeats to conference rivals Sparta and Carlyle along with a loss to Red Bay (AL.) at the recently completed Mater Dei Holiday Tournament.