Patriot Thanksgiving Tournament Notebook

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On night one of the Illinois high school basketball season I was in Peoria Heights for a pair of small school matchups - Midland vs Peoria Christian and Peoria Heights vs Midwest Central. Here are some notes from the action.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Midland outlasts Peoria Christian 78-66</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was a fun battle throughout but Midland was fueled by unsigned senior [player_tooltip player_id='1838431' first='Keagan' last='Faulkner'] who scored a game high 42 points, including six 3's. Faulkner has good size at the wing position, a quick release, and solid touch around the rim utilizing his length. One of the better senior wings remaining on the board in Illinois for 2024. Peoria Christian showed a ton of fight led by a pair of intriguing junior guards. A 1A All-State special mention last season, [player_tooltip player_id='1598753' first='Malachi' last='Persinger'] posted 26 points 9 rebounds 9 assists in his junior season debut. Persinger has added noticeable strength and is a strong driver who gets downhill to make plays off the dribble and finish around the rim. A gamer who plays with poise and toughness. As a great compliment to Persinger, junior guard Gavin Walder had a great showing with 25 points on five made 3's. Walder is a left handed shooting guard who shoots at a high clip from three, creates good separation to find his shots, and attacks the second line of defense with good touch on his floater. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Peoria Heights rolls Midwest Central 72-39</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Led by unsigned senior wing [player_tooltip player_id='2318222' first='Camron' last='Williams'] 28 points, Peoria Heights controlled this game from the start. Williams needed some volume to score in this one but showcased his smooth release from 3 and ability to attack off the dribble, finishing at the rim. 6'5 Junior Barrett Marfell scored 14 points for the Patriots and showed tools worth monitoring moving forward. A lefty wing forward with a good looking shot and high motor. Another name to keep an eye on at Peoria Heights is freshman guard DeAndre Marks, who played meaningful minutes and showed flashes as a facilitator with his straight line speed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->