Breaking down the biggest winners and missed opportunities during the holiday tournaments

An excitement-filled holiday tournament week has wrapped up, and several winners emerged from tournaments across the state.

Here are a half dozen of the biggest winners from holiday tournament play.

Holiday tournament organizers

There wasn’t a huge buzz heading into this year’s holiday tournaments. But excitement generated organically over the course of the week.

The proof was in the crowds.

Over the course of three straight days, the biggest tournaments filled their gyms and boomed with energy.

Whether you spent the final day at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament for its semifinal/title game double-dip, wedged yourself into a jam-packed Rich for the Big Dipper championship game on Sunday, or helped fill York’s large gym for the Bolingbrook-Metamora semifinal showdown Monday night, the buzz was back.

The holiday hoops scene was just the jolt this uneven start to the season needed.

DePaul Prep

There have been a lot of great teams and programs who have fallen short in their bid to win the Pontiac Holiday Tournament over the past 15 years. Simeon and Curie ended all of those quests as the two city powers have claimed every title since 2008.

Then came along DePaul Prep.

Coach Tom Kleinschmidt’s team made its debut at Pontiac and just like that ended that long run of Simeon and Curie dominance.

If not for an early-season, last-second loss to Kenwood, this DePaul team would be a perfect 15-0 on the year.

Jaxson Davis and Warren

No, this is not your father’s Proviso West Holiday Tournament. It’s a shell of what it used to be for so many years.

Nonetheless, what more can you say about Warren and sophomore star Jaxson Davis?

This title — Warren’s second straight at Proviso West —was different from last year’s when the Blue Devils were a bit of an unknown. Coach Zack Ryan’s team was extremely shorthanded, yet still handled their business with a win over Young and then beat ranked Lincoln Park in the championship game.

While Davis put up tournament MVP numbers for the second straight year, he did so without the team’s next two biggest weapons. Braylon Walker and Javerion Banks were both sidelined. Davis is talented, yes, but he has an innate ability to lead and calm a team no matter the circumstances.

Unheralded Zach Ausburn continues to quietly step up. Ausburn provides the little size Warren has to offer and put up a double-double (13.5 ppg, 12.3 rpg) in the four wins.

Jamson Coulter and Rich

Rich came into the holidays with big expectations but still sputtering a bit in the first month of the season with a pedestrian 3-4 record.

The Phoenix put in some serious work in winning a Big Dipper Holiday Tournament title, which included statement wins over previous No. 1 Kenwood and defending state champ Homewood-Flossmoor. It was the first Big Dipper title for the host school in three decades.

Jamson Coulter, the talented junior guard, did what star players do in the biggest moments. Make no mistake about it: Coulter is a star.

Already one of the top players in the Class of 2026, Coulter was a dominating figure in putting up 23, 26 and 30 points in the final three wins of the tournament. But it was how Coulter did it that was so impressive.

Coulter, a known commodity early in his career due to his physical, downhill, attacking style, scored the basketball in every imaginable way. Coulter finished at the rim, dropped in pull-up jumpers, and he buried five three-pointers in the title game — and hit 15 from beyond the arc in the final three games.

Big Dipper Holiday Tournament

This tournament seemed to be on life support just a few years ago — at least in comparison to the direction of other holiday tournaments across the state.

But it was a big winner this year with three highly established teams, Kenwood, Rich and Homewood-Flossmoor, leading the charge and filling the gym on the final two nights of the tournament.

No pun intended when it comes to the Dipper, but the stars were out in full force.

Whether it was Kenwood’s Devin Cleveland popping off for 34 and 32 points in the quarterfinals and semifinals, H-F’s Jayden Tyler averaging 23 points a game or doing what Coulter did in leading his team to the title, the top players on the best teams shined bright and put on a show throughout the tournament.

That’s exactly what the star players in this tournament did during its heyday, whether it was Jerome Randle, Tyler Ulis, Nate Minnoy, DJ Cooper, Adam Miller, Alonzo Verge and countless others.

This year was a major step in the right direction for the Big Dipper, a tournament with history and tradition. If this tournament can continue to add some depth to its 16-team field, it can re-establish itself as one of the elite tournaments in the state again.

Peoria

Peoria has one of the state’s real stars — senior guard LeShawn Stowers, who is headed to Miami-Ohio — and a building résumé that is getting to be quite impressive.

The Lions handed Rock Island its first loss of the season in the State Farm Classic semifinals and then took care of Romeoville with a convincing 61-44 title game win. But Peoria has also beaten two other holiday tournament champs, Bolingbrook (at York) and Morton (at Pekin), earlier in the season. Impressive.

Peoria heads into the new year with a 14-1 record and big January games with Peoria Manual and Metamora and those two teams’ individual stars, Dietrich Richardson and Matthew Zobrist. The three of them all played together on the club basketball circuit.

Biggest missed opportunities

Chicago Public League

It’s been a bit of a roller coaster for city basketball in the first five-plus weeks of the season.

The Public League came into the season with as little fanfare or expectations that anyone can remember. There wasn’t a team ranked in the preseason top seven — maybe a first?

Then some significant wins to open the season generated headlines for several city teams, even vaulting one, Kenwood, to the top of the rankings.

Then the holidays hit.

A Pontiac Holiday Tournament final without Simeon or Curie playing in it was a first since 2008.

This year’s Lincoln Park team is better than last year’s team, yet they couldn’t break through at Proviso West with a favorable path. The Lions did reach the final but lost to Warren which played without two of its best players.

Kenwood lost in the Big Dipper semifinals to Rich. Lane lost to Brother Rice and Niles North at Hinsdale Central. Young finished fifth at Proviso West. Perspectives-Leadership lost twice at Proviso West.

Simeon

Forget about Simeon falling short in a semifinal loss to Benet at Pontiac. The bigger news came soon after the defeat.

Simeon announced it would no longer be headed to Pontiac for the holidays. This year ends a three decade long run of the state power playing in the prestigious holiday tournament in central Illinois.

The announcement was definitely a jolt when it comes to holiday tournament news; this far surpasses the movement of other teams who jump from one tournament to another. There is a long history between this program, tournament and community that has been well documented over the years. So to see it come to an end is a little disheartening.

The plans are unknown right now as to where Simeon is headed next year for the holidays. But the grass isn’t always greener. The Wolverines will be hard pressed to duplicate the experience teams get by playing in Pontiac.

The crowds and energy are consistently high every year. The depth of the tournament and format become an ideal midseason test. The attention Pontiac receives is second to none. And both the level of play and stakes always seem to be enhanced at Pontiac.

Make no mistake, Simeon’s departure is a loss for the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. But it seems the biggest missed opportunity will be for the Simeon basketball program. There is a reason Simeon stayed at Pontiac when the program was a perennial state contender and national program all those years under coach Robert Smith.

Glenbard West

With a 9-1 record heading into the holidays, many had Glenbard West as one of the favorites to get through the bottom bracket at York’s Jack Tosh Holiday Classic. A rather wide open path to the title game opened up even more with other favorites getting beat early.

But the Hilltoppers didn’t have a chance to be the beneficiary of that opportunity.

A stunner of a loss to Nazareth in the opening round dumped them into the consolation bracket, which was followed by a competitive loss to St. Laurence later in tournament play.

This is still a team oozing with upside, both with top 25 and sectional potential. The Hilltoppers can dip into the memory bank for a confidence reboot if needed, knowing they beat DeKalb, Hinsdale Central and Stevenson in early December. Now it’s about distancing itself from a rough holiday at York.

Downers Grove South

Following a 21-win season a year ago and looking even better this season, the Mustangs were in need of a signature win.

After losing to Geneva at Thanksgiving and a pair of December defeats to Kenwood and rival Downers Grove North, another opportunity presented itself at the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament for a team with expectations.

The Mustangs tried to make the most of their stay at York following a tough one-point loss to Palatine in the opening round. But after winning three straight, St. Laurence ended their consolation bracket run.

Niles North

Niles North was hot heading into the holidays. The Vikings had won eight straight, including big double-digit wins over both Simeon and Lake Forest.

Yaris Irby and Reid Olson will score and change games with their three-point shooting. Underrated Hunter Gawron always produces and seems to clean up everything else.

After being upset last year in the second round, the table was set for a statement run at the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic this year.

After cruising in the first two rounds, though, Niles North ran into the host and roadblock in Hinsdale Central, falling in a nail-biting overtime semifinal loss. An opportunity was lost.

But the Vikings, who are a solid 11-3 and will run roughshod through the Central Suburban League North going forward, did themselves a favor this year by upgrading their schedule. Coach Glenn Olson’s team has already faced Simeon, DePaul, Lane, Hinsdale Central and Lake Forest, while Rich, Evanston, Lemont, Mt. Zion and Loyola remain.

Despite falling short at Hinsdale Central, more opportunities await to test their mettle and prepare for state tournament play.