2024 First Financial Classic – Top Performers, Part One

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the longest running holiday tournaments in the state of Indiana, the First Financial Classic has become a staple day after Christmas tradition. Hosted by Terre Haute North High School this season, many of the best programs in west central Indiana, along with a few programs from across the Illinois border, get together for a four-day, 16-team tournament. As has become tradition, Prep Hoops Indiana spent the day on Thursday streaming all eight games of this great event. Now that the first four contests of the day are in the books let's highlight some of the top performers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">South Vermillion 68 Cloverdale 56</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 10:00 a.m. game of the First Financial Classic is never an easy one to play. Shortly removed from Christmas Day activities, teams must get together and compete in a marquee tournament with a lot of bragging rights on the line. South Vermillion used a strong second half to pull away from Cloverdale and advance with a 68-56 victory. Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1381518' first='Aden' last='Wallace'] stuffed the stat sheet putting up 15 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 6 steals in the game. However, it was Parker Wier who connected on five three-point shots and led the Wildcats with 18 points. In the loss for Cloverdale it was senior guard Jahaven Duncan who led all scorers with 19 points. 6'8" freshman center [player_tooltip player_id='2617833' first='Ishmael' last='Kiteka'] added 16 points and 12 rebounds to continue his strong season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Northview 56 Edgewood 55</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While there were moments in the first game of the day that reminded you that it was 10:00 a.m. the day after Christmas, this second game was as competitive as a typical Friday night matchup. Northview junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1561008' first='Christian' last='Bryan'] connected on a three-point shot with about 30 seconds remaining that lifted the Knights from down one to up two points. There were some fireworks still to come as Edgewood missed two free throws that could have tied the game and were fouled on a three-point shot in the final seconds, but ultimately Northview escaped with a 56-55 victory to remain undefeated at 7-0. Junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1561022' first='Brayden' last='Goff'] led all scorers with 23 points in the game while [player_tooltip player_id='2622251' first='Caden' last='Jones'] scored 17 points in the loss for Edgewood.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Bloomfield 76 Robinson (IL) 51</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1560962' first='Blake' last='Neill'] continued his fantastic season pouring in 33 points and pulling down 5 rebounds in the blowout win over Robinson (IL). Sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='2141010' first='Tyler' last='Patterson'] added 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals. Senior Blake George led Marshall with 19 points in the loss. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Linton 53 Parke Heritage 50</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This matchup featured a pair of Class 2A Top 5 teams. Parke Heritage came in ranked #2 in the Prep Hoops Indiana Class 2A Poll while Linton was #5. Both teams were undefeated as well. The Miners outscored Parke Heritage 30-20 in the second half to come from behind and win 53-50. Junior forward [player_tooltip player_id='1560992' first='Paul' last='Oliver'] was the difference scoring 23 points for Linton. Meanwhile, junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1560965' first='Treigh' last='Schelsky'] scored 26 points in the loss for the Wolves. Both of these teams are talented enough to win the whole tournament so it was too bad that one had to be bounced in the first round.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->