The Redbirds get it done
Metamora connected on 60% of their shots from the floor in the second half to pull away from the Monmouth-Roseville Titans and take the 2012 tournament championship, 52-40. It is the first title for Metamora since 1992 when they beat Hamilton 84-73.

It was a thrilling title matchup as it featured 4 ties and 6 lead changes. Metamora (13-1) used a 29-16 advantage in the middle quarters to put some distance between them and Monmouth-Roseville (10-3). (more-->)

Illini Central sneaks past #2 Eureka for 3rd
Kyle Hardy's would-be game tying shot at the buzzer rimmed out giving Illini Central a 43-41 victory in the 3rd place game of the Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament. The attempt came on a long inbound pass after a timeout was taken by Eureka (9-4) off of a missed free throw with 0.6 seconds left.

The 3rd place trophy is the first for Illini Central (9-4) since finishing 5th in 2005. (more-->)

5th place goes to Illini West
West Hancock held an early lead in tonight's 5th place contest with cross county rival Illini West. That lead evaporated a few minutes after an ankle injury to West Hancock's Paxton Harmon in the closing moments of the first period ended his tournament. The Chargers went on to notch a 51-38 win.

Illini West (5-4) took the lead for good midway through the third period on a Levi Kirby layup. (more-->)

More MWHT hardware for Pittsfield
When it comes to games where a trophy is on the line at the Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament, the Pittsfield Saukees are nearly unbeatable. Pittsfield claimed the Consolation Championship with a 55-37 win over Abingdon at Western Hall in Macomb upping their record in trophy games to 22-2 (.917) all-time.

The last team to beat Pittsfield (9-5) in a trophy game was, ironically, Abingdon. In 2000, the Commandos bested Pittsfield 49-44 for the championship. (more-->)

Monmouth-Roseville to defend title
The unseeded Titans of Monmouth-Roseville are back in the championship game after a 64-37 dismantling of Eureka. After making the game's first basket, Monmouth-Roseville took the lead for good on a Trayvon Smith layup midway through the first quarter.

Jared McCunn led Eureka (9-3) with 10 points and the Hornets only managed to connect on 28.6% of their field goal attemps (14 of 49). (more-->)

Metamora into finals for first time since 1993
Metamora led wire-to-wire, but it looked as if that might not be the case late in their semifinal matchup with the Cougars of Illini Central.

The Redbirds seemed poised to run away from Illini Central after opening up a 17 point lead just after the start of the second half. Metamora took the opportunity to run a very patient offense. However, a 10-0 run to close out the final five minutes of the 3rd period saw Illini Central trailing by only six heading into the final quarter.

Illini Central cut the deficit to one on a Jordan Bradshaw layup with under two minutes to play. The Cougars would miss their last five shots (3 FTs, 2 3FGs) down the stretch and eventually fell to Metamora, 41-36. (more-->)