By NICK VLAHOS
For The Weekly Post
The Princeville Holiday Tournament received an early Christmas present, courtesy of Brimfield.
When the boys basketball tournament begins Monday, Brimfield will be among its eight teams, although that wasn’t the case originally. Brimfield will replace DePue, which was the subject of a scheduling mix-up.
A change in DePue administration and coaching left its officials unaware the school was obligated to play at Princeville, according to Princes Athletics Director Jeff Kratzer. He was unaware of a conflict until after he sent an early-December email regarding the tourney seeding meeting, which was Sunday.
“The new AD emailed back and said, ‘Hey, Jeff, we do not have that on our schedule,’” Kratzer said. “I immediately responded with, ‘Here’s the contract that’s got you locked in for the next two years.’”
DePue officials were apologetic and willing to work with Kratzer, he said, but the Little Giants are committed to playing in a tournament next week at LaMoille. Kratzer was open to letting DePue out of its Princeville deal if he could find a replacement.
“I’m going to be honest with you, I basically said, ‘Hey, if I can’t find anybody, I’m going to hold you to this contract,’” Kratzer said. “That’s a direction I would have pushed for if I would have absolutely been able to find nobody.”
Brimfield turned out to be somebody.
The Indians are playing this week in a tournament at Heyworth but had nothing scheduled next week. Kratzer contacted Brimfield counterpart Kevin Kreiter, whose school was a Princeville-tourney staple until a few years ago. From 2008-15, Brimfield won the event seven times.
“I knew they were interested in getting back,” Kratzer said. “It just kind of worked out.”
Brimfield also is committed to play at the Princeville tourney next year, according to Kratzer. The three tourney games for Brimfield this year require dropping an equal number from its schedule, to stay within Illinois High School Association parameters.
The Indians’ game Dec. 15 against Princeville was canceled, as was a home game Jan. 25 against Canton. The third cancellation is to be determined, according to Brimfield Coach Scott Carlson.
In a game Dec. 13, host Brimfield defeated Wethersfield 61-50 behind 29 points from Oliver Heinz. He scored 15 in the second quarter, when Brimfield turned a 15-10 deficit into a 34-26 lead. On Dec. 16, Brimfield (5-6) traveled to Payson Seymour and lost 64-51 despite 23 points from Heinz.
ROWVA-Williamsfield
One team that isn’t playing in any holiday tournament is R-W (8-4). That’s pretty much standard operating procedure for longtime Cougars Coach Bob Anderson.
Following games Tuesday at Williamsfield against North Fulton and tonight (Dec. 22) at Princeville, R-W isn’t scheduled to play again until Jan. 3 at Oneida against Ridgewood. The Cougars are to spend much of the interim practicing. Anderson is to spend much of it scouting future foes.
“Everybody’s filming games now, and that’s good, but there’s nothing like being there,” he said Dec. 16 before a game at Peoria Heights. “It’s different looking at people from the stands than it is on TV. There are some little things that you’re going to catch.”
Practice during the long break gives Anderson a chance to assess how his team has done and on what it needs to work. According to him, R-W needs to fix a few things. Among them are its guard play and its defense, particularly against the 3-pointer.
“I’m disappointed,” Anderson said. “At this point, I overestimated us. We’re not as good as I thought we were going to be.
“We just in general need to get better. I’m not only blaming the kids. I’m running the show. I need to improve, too. I’ve always been my worst critic.”
Anderson did praise his team’s inside game, particularly that of senior Graham Wight. He had 20 points against Heights in a 68-60 Inter-County Conference victory. Wight scored six in a 13-point R-W run that broke a 14-14 tie and spanned the first and second quarters.
R-W had three other double-digit scorers – Riley Danner (16), Adam Kohl (13) and Gage Aldred (12).
On Dec. 17, R-W won 61-47 in a Lincoln Trail game at Annawan behind an 18-0 first quarter, 25 points from Wight and 18 from Danner. Wight’s point total left him at 997 in his high school career. He will be able to discuss scoring over the Christmas break with brother Garrett, who also topped 1,000 points for Williamsfield.
The victories made R-W 3-1 in the ICAC and 1-1 in the LTC.
“Let’s hope in two months we’re there and we’re a nightmare for somebody in the regional, but we’ve got a lot of improving to do,” Anderson said.
Elmwood
Elmwood (10-1) won 58-44 on Dec. 16 at Havana. Brayden Lehman had 16 points as the Trojans led early and late. Brendan Williams had 11 points and Layne Durst scored 9, all on second-half 3-pointers.
On Dec. 13, Elmwood defeated visiting Abingdon-Avon 44-38 as Zach Howerton had a game-high 17 points and Williams scored 13. Howerton scored nine as the Trojans broke a first-quarter tie.
Following a game Tuesday night at Stark County, Elmwood is idle until the Princeville tournament.
Farmington
Keauntrey Barnes had 18 points Dec. 17 to lead Farmington (8-2) to victory in its only game last week, 63-44 over Wethersfield at the Great Western Shootout in Abingdon.
Logan Morse had 14 points overall and Kayden Runyon scored seven in the first quarter.
Farmington is to play at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday against Brown County in the first round of the Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament. Games continue Wednesday, with semifinals and the title game Dec. 30. Most games are to be played at Western Hall on the Western Illinois University campus.
The top four Macomb seeds, in order, are Rockridge, Augusta Southeastern, Eureka and Camp Point Central. If Farmington wins its opener, Eureka looms as a potential opponent at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.
An opening loss would send Farmington to the consolation bracket, including a game at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Princeville
Jordan Johnson had 16 points and Parker Melick scored 12 to lead Princeville (6-4) to a 47-37 home victory Dec. 17 over Delavan. Each player had eight first-quarter points as the Princes built a lasting lead.
Non-conference visitor Midland defeated Princeville 43-38 on Dec. 13. Princeville managed only one third-quarter field goal as Midland expanded a one-point lead. Tucker Sennett finished with 14 points and Parker Melick scored 10.
Princeville plays host tonight to ROWVA-Williamsfield.
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