Fulton-Eastland stars top Jim Shaw Classic, which gives NUIC stars final shot on court
The Jim Shaw Classic is named in honor of a local grocer and with a boundary drawn by the listening area of WCCI radio in Savanna.
The two small-school basketball games for seniors, sponsored by Elkay Manufacturing, also raise money every year for the Northwest Illinois Sports Hall of Fame. The games feature 12 of the 21 teams from the NUIC and Morrison of the Three Rivers Conference.
The game began as the Shoot The Ball Classic but was renamed when Shaw passed away. Shaw owned several grocery stores in Carroll County and was an avid supporter of local high school sports. These basketball games have become the final high school sporting event of these players lives.
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“It’s a lot of fun to watch all these kids come together in our little area of small schools,” said Eastland girls basketball coach Nicole Brinker, who coached in the game for many years and is now one of the event’s three organizers along with Scott Hartman and Brian Reusch. “They have played against each other since junior high and know each other through social media. It’s nice to let them play together instead of against each other. It’s a cool night to watch some small-town basketball being played.”
This year’s events will be held next Tuesday at Eastland. The girls game will be at 5:30 p.m. followed by the boys at 7.
The girls game will feature two players from state Class 1A runner-up Galena, which lost by only one point in the state finals, as well as four from a Stockton team that lost to Galena by eight points in the sectional finals.
The boys game should be even more intriguing, matching three players from Fulton and four from Scales Mound in a game that never was. Scales Mound, which wound up finishing third in the state, was ranked No. 2 and Fulton No. 3 in the final Associated Press Poll. They were seeded to meet in the sectional finals, but Three Rivers champion Fulton (29-3) was upset in overtime by Freeport Aquin in the regional semifinals.
The boys game also features two of the first players named first-team all-state by The Associated Press in Class 1A: Benjamin Vandigo of Scales Mound and Kellen Henze of Eastland.
South boys
Jaxson Sturtevant, Eastland
Kellen Henze, Eastland
Ian Wiebanga, Fulton
Brock Mason, Fulton
Jacob Jones, Fulton
Kieren Harris, Milledgeville
Cole Becker, Forreston
Luke Benson, Le-Win
Brody Mahon, Le-Win
Ben Bremmer, Pearl City
Alex Anderson, Morrison
Coach: R.J. Coffer, Fulton
North boys
Ethan Hefel, Galena
Caleb Mammoser, Stockton
Ian Broshous, Stockton
Ben Vandigo, Scales Mound
Collin Fosler, Scales Mound
Ben Werner, Scales Mound
Sam Cocagne, Scales Mound
Zayden Ellsworth, Scales Mound
Dawson Feye,n East Dubuque
Ben Montag, East Dubuque
Zach Freiburger, East Dubuque
Caden Albrecht, River Ridge
Brayden Bohnsack, Warren
Coach: Erik Kudronowicz, Scales Mound
South girls
Addison Burkholder, Eastland
Chloe Sweitzer, Eastland
Annika Myre, Eastland
Delana Erbsen, Eastland
Kailey Sanders, Forreston
Lara Bielema, Fulton
Cierra Mapes, Le-Win
Kali Humphrey, Le-Win
Adriana Miller, Milledgeville
Kendra Fisher, Morrison
Kylie Hill, West Carroll
Coach: Dennis Huttenlocher, Le-Win
North girls
Anna Berryman, East Dubuque
Maggie Furlong, Galena
Hannah Lacey, Galena
Brynn Haas, Stockton
Kenze Haas, Stockton
Alexi Haas, Stockton
Kassadie Sullivan, Stockton
Cheyenne Handsaker, Pearl City
Jaidyn Strang, RR/SM
Coach: Dennis Huttenlocher, Le-Win
Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at mtrowbridge@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @MattTrowbridge. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com.
This article originally appeared on Journal Standard: 7 players from No. 2 Scales Mound, No. 3 Fulton in all-star game
