Pekin Holiday Tournament Friday Recap

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Pekin Holiday Tournament is known as one of Illinois' premiere holiday tournaments and features teams from all around the state. This year did not disappoint as it featured two new intriguing teams (East St Louis and Peoria Notre Dame) to join a loaded field in Pekin. Here is a look at the all tournament team and a recap from the last day of games. More notes to come from the rest of the action!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mt Carmel Wins PHT Championship for 3 Peat</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Heading into Pekin as the #1 seed and reigning back to back champion, Mt Carmel prevailed for a third straight year as they defeated Lake Park 60-41 for the championship on Friday. The Caravan were led in scoring by [player_tooltip player_id='2105179' first='Grant' last='Best'] (15 points), [player_tooltip player_id='1385307' first='Cameron' last='Thomas'] (11 points) and [player_tooltip player_id='1373436' first='Angelo' last='Ciaravino'] (9 points). Ciaravino, who was named tournament MVP, led the charge throughout the tournament and made an impact on both sides of the ball. The Northwestern signee can do a little bit of everything and is a energizer with his constant motor. Junior combo guard [player_tooltip player_id='1385307' first='Cameron' last='Thomas'] was also named to the all tournament team as he showed ability to score from the perimeter as well as using his strong frame to get to the basket. Lake Park struggled vs a tough Mt Carmel foe, but unsigned senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1764717' first='Camden' last='Cerese'] continued his scoring spree leading all scorers with 16 points. Cerese was named all tournament team and finished with 102 total points in 4 games played.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Third Place Battle to the Finish</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Morton who was the #2 overall seed took home 3rd place over East St Louis- led by [player_tooltip player_id='1232827' first='Wes' last='Gudeman'] (22 points) and [player_tooltip player_id='1750614' first='Gus' last='Rugaard'] (21 points). Gudeman used his strong frame to finish around the rim and hit open shots from the perimeter. Rugaard who was awarded as Mr Hustle, fulfilled his usual role as steady eddie and picking his spots to take control. East St Louis fought their way back into the 2nd half vs Morton after trailing by 12 points at halftime. Senior SG [player_tooltip player_id='1373452' first='Robert' last='McCline'] had an impressive tournament for ESL, scoring 21 vs Morton and 23 vs Moline. McCline filled it up from three at the PHT and delivered some big time shots to spark the Flyers offense. [player_tooltip player_id='1750704' first='Davis' last='Bynum'], a PHT All-Tournament selection, finished with 10 points with great length and versatility at 6'8.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Awards/Honors</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All Tournament Team:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1764717' first='Camden' last='Cerese'] (Lake Park)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1373440' first='Eoin' last='Dillon'] (Peoria Notre Dame)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1750614' first='Gus' last='Rugaard'] (Morton)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1373436' first='Angelo' last='Ciaravino'] (Mt Carmel)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1545132' first='Treyvon' last='Taylor'] (Moline)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2245713' first='Peyton' last='Hess'] (Pekin)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1385307' first='Cameron' last='Thomas'] (Mt Carmel)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1750704' first='Davis' last='Bynum'] (East St Louis)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jared Ryg (Hersey)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1545135' first='Shaunassey' last='Hatchett'] (Lanphier)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>MVP: [player_tooltip player_id='1373436' first='Angelo' last='Ciaravino']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mr Hustle: [player_tooltip player_id='1750614' first='Gus' last='Rugaard']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->