Tourney scene shifts for a few area teams
Remember the time when Oswego's Tournament was the tournament for girls basketball teams in the Tri-Cities Area to play in? Not anymore.
At one point, four area teams played in this tourney West of the area, but now, only two teams, Rosary and Batavia, participate.
St. Charles North is now in its second year at Dundee-Crown and Geneva has departed for the Naperville North/Benet tournament. No hard feelings, just a team in need of new competition.
"It's something new," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said. "We loved our time at Oswego, but it was time for a change."
Aurora Central Catholic was at Oswego East last year before heading to Durand's One Day Shootout. The Vikings and the Chargers are the only teams that moved to a different tournament this year. Here's a closer look at where the Vikings and everyone else is heading this year.
Oswego's Holiday Classic: Rosary and Batavia officially kick off the holiday tournament schedule, as both begin play Saturday in Oswego. Batavia takes on Sandwich at 3 p.m. while Rosary plays Minooka at 6 p.m.
Action continues Mon., Dec. 15, when Batavia plays Chicago's Clark at 7 p.m. On Tues., Dec. 16 Rosary and Yorkville faces off at 5:30 p.m. The Bulldogs play again Dec. 16 against Oswego at 5:30 p.m. The Royals face Glenbard East at 7 p.m. the next day.
The final day of the tournament is Dec. 20 with games starting at 1:30 p.m. and ending at 6 p.m. The Royals won the tournament last year over the host-Panthers.
"I think we have a chance to be competitive," Rosary coach Dave Beebe said. "We don't want to make any promises to go to the championship round."
Rosary and Batavia are in different brackets this year, so if both teams win all their games, we may see them in the title game.
Dundee-Crown's Charger Classic: The North Stars head to Carpentersville for the Charger Classic, one of the best tourneys around. They face Regina on Dec. 26 at 7 p.m. and will play the winner of Johnsburg/Naperville Central Dec. 27. They went 2-2 here last year.
"It's good now with one year under our belt; we know what to expect," St. Charles North coach Katie Sauber-Duraski said. "We play a lot of good teams. We are ready to play."
Naperville North/Benet Christmas Tournament: Nolan got her change in the form of bigger schools to the East of Geneva. There is no crowned winner in this tournament, and the Viking know exactly who they are playing at what time.
On Dec. 18, Geneva plays Wheaton Warrenville South at 6 p.m. at Benet. The next day, the Vikings play Benet at Benet at 7:30 p.m. On Dec. 20, they will face York at Benet at 6 p.m. Two days later, Naperville North at Naperville North at 7:30 p.m. They finish with Glenbard West at Benet Dec. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
"We are happy to be playing different teams and thrilled to be a part of it," Nolan said. "They had an opening, and we got in."
Wheaton North's Bill Neibch Falcon Holiday Classic: St. Charles East and West Aurora return to this tournament, which takes place Dec. 22, 23, 26 and 27.
West Aurora was not one of the 8 teams to get seeded in this 16-team tournament. The Blackhawks, however, kick off the action at 9 a.m. on the first day against No. 3 seed Glenbrook South.
"To me, this is an outstanding tournament," West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl said. "The competition is great and we'll get to see a lot of games."
The Blackhawks will face two teams also at the Falcon Classic, host Wheaton North and St. Charles East, before the tournament begins. West Aurora placed fifth last year.
The Saints were seeded for the first time since the 2004-05 season. They were given the No. 6 seed and will take on Jacobs right after West Aurora's game with Glenbrook South.
"It's a good seed, but a tough first game," St. Charles East coach Lori Drumtra said. Hinsdale Central, which has won this tournament the past 5 years, was given the No. 1 seed, followed by Waubonsie Valley.
Oswego East Holiday Classic: Sixteen smaller school teams are in this two-year old event, which was won by Oak Park-River Forest last year. Kaneland and Aurora Christian return for another year of this tournament, which begins Dec. 17 and ends Dec. 23.
Kaneland went 2-2 last year and Aurora Christian 1-3. The Knights begin play the first day at 6:30 p.m. against Oak Park-River Forest and the Eagles follow them at 8 p.m. against Addison Trail. The remainder of the schedule is to be determined.
Other teams participating are South Elgin, Plainfield North, Lemont, Chicago's Brooks, Andrew, Driscoll, Plainfield Central, West Chicago, East Aurora and Larkin.
Durand's One Day Shootout: One day, three teams. ACC decided to squish all the tournament fun into one day - Sat., Dec. 20 - at Durand. The Chargers take on Rockford Keith at 11:30 a.m. and turn right around and play the host Bulldogs at 1 p.m.