'Tis the season for wall-to-wall basketball: Let the games begin

Dec. 22—It's the most wonderful time of the year.

I believe there are also some holidays involved, but in this space we are talking about high school basketball.

My long-ago Christmas gift from Gary Fears, which has evolved into the First Financial Wabash Valley Classic, promises its usual excitement from Tuesday through Dec. 29.

If you are seeing the Classic for the first time, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do — which will be a challenge for you. Pack a lunch.

The 16 teams all play on the first three days, with the last day winnowed down to four games. Teams in the first four games on Tuesday make up the upper bracket, the other eight teams the lower bracket, and the only crossover games take place on the final day.

So with that out of the way, here's what you can anticipate.

—Sullivan vs. Robinson, 10 a.m. (9 a.m. CST) — Sullivan's Jeff Moore is the only coach who has had a team in every Classic, and most of the time — including this year — it's a competitive team.

This will be the last Classic for coach Mack Thompson of the Maroons — he'll be the next athletic director at Effingham High School — and his players would no doubt like to send him off on a good note (while remembering it wasn't his fault they have to get up so early).

Both teams will play hard. The Golden Arrows have a budding star in 6-foot-4 sophomore Cooper Bock, while the Maroons have a four-year starter in 6-6 Noah Gilmore.

—Terre Haute South vs. West Vigo, 11:30 — The two county rivals meet again in February, but they'll both be ready to play now too.

The Vikings have a four-year starter of their own in 6-3 guard Zeke Tanoos, a likely contender for the Most Outstanding Player Award that's named after Gary Fears.

The Braves have a big-time scorer of their own in senior guard Zay Baker, but the key to the game — for every game the Braves play, actually — may be whether or not South can keep its big guys out of foul trouble.

—Linton vs. Bloomfield, 1 p.m. — In the past two years, every team in Greene County has wanted nothing more than to beat Linton. In the 30 or 40 years prior to that, every team in Greene County wanted nothing more than to beat Bloomfield. So yes, this is a big game.

Should we up the ante? Let's have Linton's new coach be a Bloomfield graduate, Matt Britton, whose rebuild with a sophomore-laden team has started nicely.

Another candidate for the MOP? Keep an eye on Bloomfield sophomore Blake Neill, who could threaten tournament scoring records — and who might set an unofficial record for highest percentage of his team's points scored.

—Northview vs. Parke Heritage, 2:30 — These two teams had a double-overtime game the last time they met, in the 2020 Classic, and should put on another good show this year.

The Knights led in the late stages of each of their first three losses, a possible consequence of a team whose eight-player rotation includes two sophomore and three freshmen.

Northview can take inspiration from the Wolves, who reached the Class 2A semistate a year ago with a six-player rotation that included two freshmen and two sophomores (and last year's senior in the rotation has been replaced by a freshman).

Summary of the upper bracket? A dogfight.

—Casey vs. Marshall, 4 (3 CST) — The lower bracket's answer to Linton-Bloomfield is this game between two of the biggest rivals on the Illinois side of the border. Can we make it even better? Let's give Marshall a new coach, Logan Eitel, who helped lead the Lions to a Classic championship while being coached by Tom Brannan, now the coach of the Warriors.

Casey won a meeting between the two teams at the Cumberland Tournament and they could also meet again in the regular season and maybe in the Little Illini Conference Tournament.

Emerging stars? Casey junior Ryan Richards and Marshall sophomore Payton McGuire.

—Shakamak vs. Edgewood, 5:30 — A first-round rarity is this game between two teams that have no reason to hate each other. They apparently haven't played against each other since the 2016 Classic.

Both teams have displayed a similar characteristic in past Classics, however: tough, gritty and capable of winning games they aren't supposed to.

A darkhorse MOP candidate is Shakamak's J.T. May, another four-year starter.

—Greencastle vs. Terre Haute North, 7 — The Patriots have won just one of the past three Classics, which qualifies as a major slump. One of the ones the Patriots didn't win was in 2020, when the Tiger Cubs prevailed in the weird, COVID-affected affair against Bloomington South.

North does have a player who was on a winning team at the Classic — 6-5 multi-position standout Braden Walters, who transferred from Linton.

Sophomores Sam Gooch and Cody Evans lead the young Greencastle team.

—Cloverdale vs. South Vermillion, 8:30 — South Vermillion scorekeeper Lynn Branz finally gets to sit courtside after watching most of the first seven games from the bleachers (if this year repeats his usual pattern).

The Wildcats are a hustling team with several players capable of exploding for big scoring totals.

The Clovers, who spent many years having at least one Division I recruit on their roster, may not have one this year but Noah Betz, Tayt Jackson and Zach Thomas are Classic veterans.

Summary of the lower bracket? Those talks about the Todd Woelfle Invitational look valid (but not infallible).

One other Classic thought? If you think this one looks good (and you should), get your tickets early for the next couple of them. How many of these players mentioned are underclassmen?

Other tournaments

—Jenni Marietta State Farm Holiday Classic (at Northview) — Eight girls teams will play twice each on Friday and once each on Saturday.

The first round features West Vigo against Terre Haute North at 10 a.m., followed by Clay City vs. Parke Heritage at 11:30, Cloverdale vs. Northview at 1 p.m. and South Vermillion vs. Greencastle at 2:30.

The second round begins with consolation-bracket games at 4 and 5:30, then semifinal games at 7 and 8:30. On Saturday there's a seventh-place game at 10 a.m., fifth-place game at 11:30, third-place game at 1 p.m. and the championship game at 2:30.

Favorites to emerge for the title game? Probably Parke Heritage and Northview.

—Clay City Classic — Six boys teams will play in three-team pools Dec. 28 starting with North Vermillion vs. Owen Valley at 11 a.m., then Clay City vs. North Central at 12:30 p.m., Tri-West vs. North Vermillion at 2, North Central vs. Riverton Parke at 3:30, Owen Valley vs. Tri-West at 5 and Riverton Parke vs. Clay City at 6:30.

On Dec. 29 there's a fifth-place game at 4 p.m., followed by the third-place game at 5:30 and the championship game at 7.

Favorites here? Probably Tri-West and the host Eels.

—Lady Maroons Holidaze Hoopla (at Robinson) — Two pools with four girls teams in each begin play with single games on Wednesday.

The host Maroons play Tri-County at noon EST that day, followed by Altamont vs. OPH at 1:30, Oswego vs. Sullivan at 3 and Terre Haute South vs. North Central at 4:30.

Eight games follow beginning at 10 a.m. EST on Dec. 28, while on Dec. 29 there's a seventh-place game at 10 a.m. EST, then the fifth-place game, the third-place game and a 2:30 p.m. EST championship game.

Outlook? This looks like the most competitive of the three, with Tri-County, the Golden Arrows and the host Maroons fighting it out in Pool A and Altamont and the Thunderbirds looking like possibilities in Pool B.

—Also — Tournaments with less available information include the Dieterich Tournament, which includes Marshall's girls Tuesday through Dec. 28, and the State Farm Classic that includes the Paris girls.