Five earn Player-of-the-Game recognition at Christie Clinic Shootout

St. Joseph - After each of the seven games at the Christie Clinic Shootout at St. Joseph-Ogden High School on Saturday, the best player in each contest was awarded a player-of-the-game plaque. Here's a look at the seven recipients and how they did.

Christopher Benning

Streator Streator's Chris Benning
Christopher Benning poses with his Player-of-the-Game award with St. Joseph-Ogden tournament and athletic director Justin Franzen. Benning scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to fuel Streators' come from behind victory in the first game of day at the Christie Clinic Shootout. Tallying 23 points, his last quarter effort resulted in 60-53 win over Normal Community West on Saturday.


Miles Kirin

Normal U-High Normal University High's Miles Kirin
Going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, Normal University Miles Kirin led all scorers with 18 points in his team's decisive 68-42 win over Carterville in Game 2. The 6-foot-1 senior drained eight of his total points in the fourth quarter.


Trey Welter

Monticello
Monticello improved their record to 8-8 after a 19-point performance from 5-foot-5 senior Trey Welter against New Berlin (11-4). Behind Welter's second through third quarter outburst and a solid team defensive effort, the Sages defeated the Pretzels, 57-26.



Photos: PhotoNews Media / Clark Brooks
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Nick Allen

Bradley-Bourbonnais Bradley-Bourbonnais' Nick Allen
Nick Allen hit ten field goals and drained four free throws, finishing with 22 points in Boilermakers' 62-61 win over the Maroons of Belleville West (7-8). Down 16-9 at the end of the first quarter, Bradley-Bourbonnais (12-4) continued to trail on the scoreboard through the first three quarters to later pull out the W thanks Allen's six 4th-quarter points.


Andrew Thomas

Unity Unity's Andrew Thomas
Unity's Andrew Thomas was named Player-of-the-Game after he finished with 13 points. The team's relentless defense and attacking offense paid dividends against Quincy Notre Dame (9-7). Thomas, a senior starter, collected all of his points in first half. After 15 games and the 58-35 win, Thomas and the Rockets are still undefeated.


AJ Keith

Pinckneyville
Panther AJ Keith was the top shooter of the day, finishing with a game-high 33 points against shootout host St. Joseph-Ogden (13-3). The 6-foot-4 Pinckneyville shooting guard made 13 of his 14 free-throw attempts to defeat the Spartans, 72-57.


JC Anderson

Mt. Zion
After scoring 18 points in the first half, Mt. Zion's JC Anderson received the nod as player-of-the-game in the final game of the day. Anderson added another four to his total in the second half, finishing with 22 points in the Braves 64-49 win over Washington. Like Unity, Mt. Zion came, saw, and conquered the Panthers (9-7) to remain undefeated at 17-0.


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Christie Clinic Shootout: A showcase of top downstate small school basketball teams

Unity's Henry Thomas dribbles the ball around a Normal University High player during the Christie Clinic Shootout game in 2023. Already on a three-game slide and 8-6 a the midpoint in the season, the Rockets lost 56-48 to the Pioneers. Currently undefeated this season at 13-0, Unity returns to the shootout lineup this weekend to face Quincy Notre Dame at 5 pm on Saturday.

ST. JOSEPH - St. Joseph-Ogden High School will host the Christie Clinic Shootout this Saturday, with the first game tipping off at 11 am between Streator and Normal Community West. Six more varsity basketball games will follow (see schedule below) for a full day of exciting prep basketball.

The school will also host a JV side of the shootout, with the contests starting at 9 am in the school's practice gym.

Admission for adults is $8.00 for the day and $5.00 for students with their student ID.

Christie Clinic
Shootout
Schedule
Varsity Schedule

11:00 AM:
Streator vs. Normal West

12:30 PM:
Carterville vs. Normal University

2:00 PM:
 New Berlin vs. Monticello

3:30 PM:
 Belleville West vs. Bradley-Bourbonnais

5:00 PM:
 QND vs. Unity

6:30 PM:
 Pinckneyville vs. SJO

8:00 PM:
 Washington vs. Mt. Zion


Junior Varsity Schedule

9:00 AM:
Streator vs. Normal West

10:30 AM: Carterville vs. Normal University

12:00 PM: New Berlin vs. Monticello

1:30 PM:
Belleville West vs. Bradley-Bourbonnais

3:00 PM:
QND vs. Unity

4:30 PM:
Pinckneyville vs. SJO

6:00 PM:
Washington vs. Mt. Zion

What's the competition look like?

St. Joseph-Ogden (10-2), Unity (13-0), Normal University (9-6), and Mount Zion (14-0) are the four teams returning from last January. The Rockets and the Braves have yet to suffer a loss this season.

Five programs - SJO, QND, U-High, Carterville, and Pinckneyville - made deep postseason runs last year. The Panthers from P'ville were only three points away from state appearance, falling to Teutopolis in the supersectional, 42-40.

Last year's shootout winners included host St. Joseph-Ogden, Normal University High, Mount Zion, Centennial, and Beecher.

New teams to the shootout include programs from downstate Illinois with strong, winning traditions. Belleville West, Bradley-Bourbonnais, Carterville, New Berlin, Normal West, Quincy Notre Dame, Pickneyville, Streator, and Washington join the line-up this January.

The Spartans, Rockets, and Monticello Sages (6-7) will represent the Illini Praire Conference on Saturday.

Here is a brief rundown of what went down in last January's installment.

Peoria Notre Dame 51 - Kankakee 46
A lackluster third-quarter performance by Kankakee erased a nine-point halftime lead over Notre Dame. The Irish outscored the Kays 13-3 in the period on the way to a 51-46 win in the final game of the day at the Christie Clinic Shootout.

St. Joseph-Ogden 59 - Nashville 35 The Spartans beat last year's Class 2A state champions with ease. SJO's starting five put the game on cruise control in the third quarter.

Normal U-High 56 - Unity 48
Henry Thomas, who finished with a team-high 13 points, was solid in the paint for the Rockets while senior Will Cowan tossed in four treys for 12 points in a hard-fought battle against the Pioneers. Jay Saunders and Dalton O'Neill contributed seven points apiece in the loss.

Mount Zion 70 - Bloomington 49
The Braves (17-2) had a foursome finish in double-figures on their way to knocking off the Raiders in the midday game at the shootout. Carson Cuddy led all scorers from both sides of the scorer's table with 22 points, 13 tallied in the third quarter.

Centennial 39 - Addison Trail 34
Picking up their fifth win of the season, the Chargers (5-7) worked their way out of a 12-point deficit to slide past the Blazers in the lowest-scoring game of the day at the shootout. Silent during the first half, Preston Sledge collected all of his game-high 14 points in the second half.

Beecher 64 - Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin 48
The Bobcats (17-1) handed senior Brett Meidel and the Blue Devils their fourth loss of the season.

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