Normal Community High School Wins State Farm Classic Tournament In Overtime

From the Pantagraph:

BLOOMINGTON — Springfield High School rallied to force overtime against Normal Community on Friday night in the State Farm Holiday Classic boys Class 3A-4A championship game.

NCHS senior guard Anthony Beane used the extra four minutes to put an exclamation point on an outstanding tournament.

The Illinois State recruit hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the overtime, followed by a drive and pinpoint assist, while leading the eighth-seeded Ironmen to a 61-52 victory at Shirk Center.

Beane had 10 of his team’s 17 points in overtime and finished with 27. He ended the four-game run to the title with 121 points for an average of 30.3.

“He just got on a roll. He’s had a great, great tournament,” NCHS coach Dave Witzig said. “His defense was solid, he got rebounds, he did a little bit of everything, and of course his scoring was great.”

Beane had eight points in the first two minutes of OT to give NCHS a 54-46 lead. The unanimous all-tournament selection added a pair of free throws to help the Ironmen improve to 11-2.

“I just wanted to make sure we got up so things wouldn’t get out of hand,” Beane said of the overtime. “Since the Intercity Tournament practice has been intense. Coach has been telling us we had to really improve our defense.

“The good thing is we have a long way to go. That’s how we know our team can be special.”

Springfield (4-9), the No. 15 seed, trailed 22-15 at the half but forced overtime when guard Isaiah Nelson scored on a drive with 25 seconds left in regulation.

Nelson led the Senators with 21 points and 6-7 Willie Wiley added 15 despite first-half foul trouble.

“We competed against a really good ballclub. It just happened they had the best player on the floor who could create his own shot at the end of the game,” Springfield coach Matt Reed said. “As a guy who roots for Bradley, that’s not a lot of fun to watch. He’s a really good player.”

Callen Boddie and Chase Robbins added 10 points each for NCHS, which won its fourth Classic title and first since 2008.

“We had four tough games against four tough opponents,” Witzig said. “What’s good is every game we had adversity we had to face. We showed we’re able to gut some wins out and make some big plays in the fourth quarter and overtime.”