Boys advance, girls fall in State Farm Holiday Classic Hoops Tournament

Stay tuned for more coverage of Normal Community basketball at the State Farm Holiday Classic

Jonah Kramer, Sports Editor • Dec 29, 2021

The first seeded Community boys basketball team, 12-1, defeated the Chicago North Lawndale Phoenix 68-48, advancing to the semifinals of the State Farm Holiday Classic Tournament.

While getting out to an early lead has been the Ironmen’s MO this season, the score was tied 11-11 after the first quarter with the Ironmen shooting 5-17 from the field to start the game.

In the second quarter, the Ironmen used five steals to create fast break opportunities, propelling them to a 34-20 lead at halftime after a 13-0 run to begin the quarter.

Point guard Trey Redd (’22) had a team high 4 steals and also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 assists.

Several of Redd’s dimes were lobs to Zach Cleveland (’22), who dunked five times en route to a double-double of 27 points and 10 rebounds.

Community maintained a double digit lead throughout much of the second half, never allowing the Phoenix to get back in the game.

The Ironmen face Wheaton Warrenville South in the semifinals of the Holiday Classic today. Despite being the four seed in the tournament, the Tigers are ranked third in the state by Max Preps.

In their quarterfinal match, Wheaton Warrenville won a nail biter 35-33 over five seed Brother Rice.

Even with only playing a rotation of six players, the Tigers run a full court press defense that has held opponents to 34 points per game so far this season.

The game is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Illinois Wesleyan’s Shirk Center.

Two-seed Lady Iron upset by seven-seed Chicago Mother McCauley

After leading 26-22 at halftime, the Community girls basketball team, 11-2, had no answer for Mother McCauley’s Isabella Finnegan. Finnegan finished with 25, as the Mighty Macs beat the Lady Iron 62-45.

Olivia Corson (‘24) helped Community get out to an early lead as she converted two “and ones” in the first quarter. Corson finished with 16 points and was a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line, contributing to 21 made free throws on 91% shooting for the Lady Iron.

In the second half, the Mother McCauley defense made an effort to keep the ball out of Corson’s hands in the paint, and Community had a harder time generating half court offense.

Fouls dictated long stretches of the game, as the two teams shot a combined 47 free throws. Point guard Karleigh Creasey (‘22) missed time in the second half because of foul trouble after picking up her fourth in the final quarter.

With the loss, Community drops into the fifth place bracket, taking on three seed Mundelein Carmel today at 2 p.m. at Normal Community.

Like the Lady Iron, Mundelein was also upset in their quarterfinal game, losing to six seed Washington 47-45.

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About the Contributor

Jonah Kramer, Sports Editor

Jonah Kramer is a senior at Normal Community High School and participates in Best Buddies, FBLA and cross country. This is his second year working with the Inkspot, where he is a senior staff reporter. A random fact about me is that my front tooth has been broken five different times. My favorite film is Knives Out. What inspires me is Jesus Christ.