St. Anthony to Join Effingham/Teutopolis Christmas Classic Field, T-Town to Join St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament Following Year

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Published on February 13 2018 7:59 am
Last Updated on February 13 2018 8:17 am
Written by Greg Sapp

Two local boys basketball tournaments will get noticeably better over the next two seasons.

It was announced Monday that the St. Anthony Bulldogs will be joining the field at the Effingham/Teutopolis Christmas Classic this coming season, and that the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes would be joining the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament the following season.

St. Anthony will be leaving the Vandalia Holiday Tournament to take part in the local Christmas tournament, which is expanding to 16 teams for the coming season. The tournament will be a three-day event December 27-29 and will be a bracketed tournament, still using both Effingham High School and J.H. Griffin Gym in Teutopolis.

St. Anthony Athletic Director Kevin Palmer said Monday that Bulldogs Coach Cody Rincker is excited about the move as are other St. Anthony officials.

For their part, Teutopolis Athletic Director Mike Wilson and Effingham Activities Director David Woltman are pleased with the decision by St. Anthony to join the tournament field, all parties agreeing that it's something that has been worked on for several years.

Monday's announcement included word that Pleasant Plains would also be joining the Christmas Tournament field. Pleasant Plains, which has seen a good run in high school basketball, is coached by Teutopolis native Kyle Weber.

10 of the 12 schools that were part of this season's Christmas Tournament field are signed for next season and the other two are expected back. St. Anthony and Pleasant Plains then would bring the number of teams to 14 and Wilson said several other teams are expressing interest in joining the field.

Accompanying the news that St. Anthony will join this year's Christmas Tournament field is that Teutopolis will become part of the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament group of teams in 2019. Palmer agrees that the addition of the Wooden Shoes makes the St. Anthony tournament one of the best in the state.

Wilson said leaving the Capitol Classic after the coming season is a significant decision, but sees joining the St. Anthony Tournament as a good move both for the team and for Teutopolis fans.

The prospect of seeing more top quality boys basketball at both Thanksgiving and Christmastime and not having to travel to do so is expected to fire up fans for the future even as the current season is heading toward next week's 1A and 2A regionals.