One last look at the holiday hoopla

St. Viator had just finished its third of the four-day boys basketball holiday tournament whirlwind.

And head coach Joe Majkowski mentioned how quickly time flies with 4 games compressed into four days.

It ended up being fun for the Lions as they rebounded from a first-round loss to take the consolation championship at Wheeling's Wildcat Hardwood Classic.

Time flies even if you aren't having fun -- which is usually true for teams relegated to a series of early-morning, losers-bracket games.

But for high school hoops junkies, the holiday tournament season is the most wonderful time of the year. Here's our fourth annual look back at the hoopla:

Best team

It kind of goes along with the frequently asked question, "Who's the best team in the Mid-Suburban?"

The answer changes daily.

Was it Conant, which took second to an under-the-radar St. Ignatius team at York?

Was it Buffalo Grove, which finished fourth in a strong field at Elgin?

What about Hersey, which handed unbeaten Washington its first loss before falling to Peoria Richwoods in overtime and to Bartonville Limestone by 2 points to take fourth at Pekin?

Schaumburg lost to strong Peoria Manual and Curie teams at Pontiac. Palatine rebounded to win the consolation title at York.

Hoffman Estates has beaten Schaumburg and Conant but lost to Rolling Meadows at Elgin.

Prospect and Wheeling, which met for the second time in the third round at Wheeling, are looking for consistency to go with their talent.

And don't discount a young but improving Fremd team that has also beaten Hoffman and Schaumburg and gave BG a tough test at Elgin before losing to Waukegan for the consolation crown.

It should make for two fun division races that restart Jan. 12 with Hersey at BG for first in the East and Conant at Schaumburg in the West.

Top player

Pekin was where Hersey senior Luke Fabrizius started gaining major attention two years ago. The 6-foot-9 Dayton signee went out with a bang en route to repeat all-tourney honors.

Fabrizius had three double-doubles as he averaged 21.5 points and 10.3 rebounds and hit nine 3-pointers. He led Hersey to its best finish since it returned to Pekin in 1993.

Other top efforts

Al Chery, Wheeling: Continued to show he's one of the most improved players in the area. Averaged 14.3 points, 8 rebounds and 3.8 blocks for Hardwood all-tourney honors.

Brian DeSimone, BG: Repeat Elgin all-tourney pick averaged 13.8 points, hit eight 3s and continued to show he'll be a steal for someone at the next level.

Kyle Gaedele, Meadows: Repeat all-tourney pick averaged 18 points and had opponents marveling at trying to defend a 6-3, 220-pound point guard.

Billy Hubly, Elk Grove: Hot start at Jacobs helped Elk Grove go from winless start to nearly winning its tourney pool. All-tourney pick 11.8 points and hit 12 3s.

Chris McClellan, Wheeling: Three missed free throws in one game -- he came into the tourney 67-for-71 -- hardly blemished Lewis-bound guard's all-tourney effort as he averaged 18 points and hit 11 3s.

Luke Mead, Hoffman: Continued his breakout junior year by averaging 11.8 points and hitting six 3s as Elgin all-tourney pick.

Cully Payne, Schaumburg: First trip to prestigious Pontiac event resulted in second-team all-tourney honors. Averaged 16 points and 4 assists a game.

Tony Rizzo, Conant: Junior was integral part of second-place finish at York for Conant. Rizzo averaged 7.8 points and had team-high 11 points in title game en route to all-tourney honors.

Josh Rustman, Palatine: The 6-9 senior led the Pirates' resurgence to the consolation crown at York. Averaged 10.8 points and was a factor on boards as all-tourney pick.

Tommy Sotos, Conant: Sotos was on the mark his first three games at York as Conant returned to the title game. All-tourney pick veraged 11 points and hit nine 3s.

Paul Timko, BG: The senior will miss playing at Elgin as he earned all-tourney honors by averaging 11 points and hitting 10 3s for fourth-place Bison.

Breaking through

Elk Grove senior Kevin McDonald came into the Jacobs tourney averaging 3.4 points as he made his way back from a shoulder injury the last game of the football season.

McDonald came out with a 5-game average of 15.4 points, hit eight 3s and was 19-for-22 on free throws.

Glad to see

Retiring Palatine coach Ed Molitor get honored before his final game at the York tournament and then after it with his 500th career victory.

Didn't see many down-to-the wire finishes, but Naperville Central junior standout Drew Crawford produced one with a floor-length drive and baseline floater for a 2-point win in the third round at Wheeling.

Definitely seeing Elk Grove rally from a 10-point, third-quarter deficit for its first victory in its Jacobs tourney opener with Johnsburg.

People like Doug Millstone, Jim Sullivan, Dan Laffee and so many others who make the tourney trail so much fun.

Wish I had seen

The second day of the Wheeling tourney. All four winners' bracket games were in doubt into the fourth quarter with Loyola winning by a point, Libertyville in 2 overtimes and North Chicago edging Prospect by 3 points.

Hersey's upset of Washington at Pekin. The Huskies ruined the celebration of Indiana-bound Matt Roth setting the IHSA record for career 3-pointers with a huge fourth-quarter rally.

Hoping not to see

First-round games between conference opponents should be avoided if at all possible. While they're in different divisions of the MSL, Meadows and Hoffman and Fremd and BG didn't get to experience part of the tournament fun at Elgin by playing someone from a different league.

Nice to hear

So much for the "me" generation. When Loyola's Matt Sullivan and Libertyville's Jeremy Letchford were asked what their scoring averages and season-high point totals were, they genuinely had no idea.

Thanks for the help

Covering the title game at my alma mater didn't seem as stressful this time around. Thanks to York for moving the start time up 1½ hours to 7:30 p.m. while using its old gym for half of its schedule the final three days of the tourney.

Holiday hospitality

Wheeling continues to lead the way when it comes to feeding the media, coaching and officiating beasts at tournament time. No one goes hungry at York or Jacobs, either.

Well, it's over…

It's a wild and crazy time of multiple games and multiple tournaments. But it's also a great time for seeing different teams and players and what direction they go from here.