This past holiday weekend the Jacksonville High boys’ basketball team played in a tournament in Alton, Illinois. Four teams competed in the tournament. Two of the four teams were from St Louis, Vashon and Northwest Academy. The tournament was a round robin. Each team played the other three teams and the team with the best record was the tournament champion.
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Jacksonville faced off against Vashon. The Crimsons rolled to a 71-39 win with a balanced scoring attack led by juniors Nick Kaufmann and Zac Lonergan, who each added sixteen points apiece. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, Jacksonville traveled back to Alton to face off against Northwest Academy. The Crimsons won a tightly contested contest 71-67. With Jacksonville and Alton both winning their first two games, an actual championship game was set up for Saturday night. Alton jumped out to a big lead early, but Jacksonville chipped away the whole game. The Crimsons hit four free throws in a row to tie the game at 64-64 with four minutes to go. Jacksonville then had three straight possessions that all ended with turnovers. Alton pulled away and won 77-69. The Crimsons were led in scoring by senior Blake Hance with 27 points. Jacksonville’s tournament record fell to two wins and one loss as they took home a second place trophy.
Four Jacksonville team members were selected to all-tournament teams; Senior Tyler Ring and junior Johny Peak were members of second team all-tournament, and senior Blake Hance and junior Nick Kaufmann were members of the first team all-tournament.
Jacksonville will next play Morton High School this Saturday, December 7at the Bowl. The sophomore game starts at five o’clock with the varsity game to follow.