UPDATES

LOGGER CLASSIC
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
FEBRUARY 27, 28 & MARCH 1
In their first tournament of the year the Predators went 3-1 in the Logger Classic. Friday night opened the tournament with a win over Auburn with the team putting 70 points on the scoreboard. On the first game Saturday a tough Southern Illinois Tiger team shut down the passing lanes and beat the Predators for their only loss in this tournament. In the second Saturday game the Predators beat Quincy being patient on offense against Quincy’s zone defense. On the final game of the tournament on Sunday, the Predators beat CTK by 22 points by using a full court 1-2-1-1 attacking zone defense.

SHOWDOWN IN A-TOWN
ALTON, ILLINOIS
MARCH 21-22
The Predators went 3-0 to win first place in this tournament. In their only game on Saturday the Predators got off to a slow start but rallied in the second half to beat an Edwardsville Jaguars team by 18 points. On Sunday the Predators again got off to a slow first half but turned up the defensive pressure in the second half to beat Litchfield by 20 points and advance to the championship game. In the championship game the Predators faced the same Edwardsville team. This time the Predators were ready to play and put this game away early with a running clock early in the second half winning easily and bringing home the first place hardware.

ST. LOUIS ELITE SPRING TUNEUP
ST. LOUIS, MO
MARCH 28-29
Although they went 0-3 this tournament was the best effort of the year for the team. Due to a lack of 5th grade teams signing up, the team played against 6th grade club teams in two of the three games in this tournament and faced a size disadvantage in all three games of this tournament. The first game of the tournament was against Bring It Strong from Rolla, MO. In this game the Predators played with only 6 players, missing three post players. Anyone who was at this game will never forget the effort given by the 6 players as they left everything they had on the court. With a couple of players in foul trouble midway through the first half there would be no substitutions in this game for some players. The Predators used full court 1-2-1-1 zone pressure and full court man to man defense to keep the game close for most of the game, but had to back off and fall into a 1-2-2 zone defense when the rotation would not allow for substitutions. Down by 12 points with 1:25 left in the game the Predators gave everything they had in this game with full court pressure and a scoring flurry cutting the final margin to 5 points as the Predators fell 50-45. In this game the Predators were lead in scoring by Danny Ziegler 16 points, Logan Besalke 11 points and Dalton Handlin with 8 points. In the second game of the day the Predators had all nine players but had expended so much energy in the first game they could not overcome the height advantage falling 38-31 to the Breese Knights. This game also saw a late game comeback with full court pressure creating points off of turnovers. In the final game of the tournament on Sunday the Predators played with 7 players against a very good Falcons team from Chesterfield, MO. The athletic, tall Falcons defeated the Predators in the final game of the tournament. The team played well the entire tournament giving maximum effort and playing good team basketball.

State AAU Tournament
Deerfield, Illinois
April 4 – 5, 2009The Predators were competitive in pool play despite going 1-2. The first game was a close, up tempo game with Illinois Future. The Predators made it a good game to the finish, but ended up losing 36-33 in a heartbreaker. The second game in pool play was against the Jayhawks, who came out and took and early lead and never gave up the lead, beating the Predators 30-17 in a game that was not as close as the score would indicate. In the final game of pool play the Predators beat the Illinois Speed 44-41 in a back and forth game that never saw either team leading by more than 7 points. In bracket play the Predators faced the Illinois Speed again and although it would be tough to beat a closely matched team two games in a row, the Predators toughed it out and advanced to play the Jayhawks again. This time the Predators played much better against a more athletic Jayhawks team by controlling the tempo and minimizing turnovers. Despite the better effort, the Predators fell 35-25 to the Jayhawks, who ended up winning the tournament.

Larry Hughes – My Brothers Keeper
St. Louis, MO
May 9 – 10, 2009
The Predators played well in this tournament, but couldn’t quite get over the hump. The first game was against the Illinois Stars in a game that the Predators lead most of the game, but ended up losing by 1 point. It was an extremely physical game in which fouls were rarely called. The loss ultimately ended up preventing the Predators from advancing out of pool play. The second game was against Team (314). The Predators played hard, but Team (314) was just bigger and more athletic. Despite the difference in size and athleticism, the Predators played very hard for the entire game. The last game was on Sunday against the And 1 Cops. The Predators used zone pressure and full court man to man defense to create turnovers and easy baskets as the Predators ended up winning 36-0.

AYBT
Springfield, Illinois
May 24 – 25, 2009
The Predators played up in this tournament against 6th graders and one 7th grade team. The Predators went 3-2 with loses to Southern Illinois Air Force One 47-28 and also lost to the 7th grade Swank Motors, who had an extreme height advantage. The Predators won games against the Heyworth Storm 56-26, Saints 39-24 and Minutemen 43-21.

AYBT
Decatur, Illinois
June 6 – 7, 2009 The Predators played up again in this tournament and played against good club teams from Peoria, Decatur and Mt. Vernon on Saturday that had too much size and speed as the Predators went 0-3. Despite not winning on Saturday the team played well