Tournament MVP: Xavier Bishop (Lanphier)
Lanphier didn't win their third straight City, but Xavier Bishop's last City Tournament will still go down as one of the greatest of all time. His 50 point effort on Friday broke Dave Robisch's 50 year old record of 39 points in a game. His 30 points in the title game took down Robisch's tournament record of 98 points. The new mark is 101, and we're not going to say it'll never be broken. But if it took 50 and 49 years respectively to break Robisch's marks, you can imagine how long it might be before Bishop's name is replaced by someone else.
Top Defensive Player: Trevyon Williams (Southeast)
Trey is probably your tournament MVP if not for the historically significant scoring effort Xavier Bishop put on display this weekend. Williams opened the tournament by hounding SHG ball handlers on Thursday. He helped lock up Isaac Nelson down the stretch in Friday's win over Springfield High and on Saturday he headed a defensive effort that saw Xavier Bishop score just three first half points while Southeast built an early lead.
Floor Burn Award: Trevyon Williams (Southeast) & Aundrae Williams (Lanphier)
I mean, if you watched Saturday's title game, you'd understand why we feel like this award could have gone to any of the 18 players who saw the court. Lanphier vs. Southeast is typically a physical game and Saturday's game took it to another level. But both Trey and Dre led the way for their respective teams. It's fun to "Ohhh" and "Ahhh" at the talent on the offensive end of the floor but imagine these two diving headfirst on to a loose ball and cringe as you say those words. These two were the best at getting that reaction.
Deep Threat Award: Xavier Bishop (Lanphier), Jordan Stapleton (Southeast) & Trevor Minder (SHS)
There wasn't a three day long performance from behind the arc that stood out, but there were three one game efforts that did. Jordan Stapleton took 11 shots on Thursday and all were from downtown. He made five of them for a game high 15 points. Xavier Bishop's 50 point Friday featured a 6-of-11 performance from downtown and Trevor Minder made 5-of-6 3's against SHG in Saturday's undercard. Darren Lucas and Drew Chaney can sleep safely knowing their record of seven threes in a game is safe for another year.
Breakout Performance: Anthony Fairlee (Southeast)
Well this was an easy decision after Saturday's Championship. Southeast freshman Anthony Fairlee posted a 26 point, 14 rebound double double to help lead the Spartans to their first title since 2013. He posted 21 and 10 in the first half to help the Spartans jump on top and his second half dunk, featured in "Dunks of the Tournament" below, lit up 6800 fans who were at the PCCC for the title game. His performance wasn't just helpful, it was necessary with D'Angelo Hughes and Isaiah Walton both fouling out late in the game. If Saturday was any indication, City Tournament is in exceptional hands, talent wise, for at least the next three years.
6th Man Award: Henry Berry (SHS)
Ok, so Berry started two of the three games at City tournament, but that's only because of the work he put in, in a 6th man role in Thursday's opener against Lanphier. Berry grabbed nine rebounds to go with two points, but he made an impression fighting for those boards. He grabbed six more on Friday and 10 on Saturday for 25 over the three game tournament. His minutes didn't really change, but he earned a spot in the starting five because of the way he handled his role for the Senators.
Coaching Award: Lawrence Thomas (Southeast)
Listen, there's more to this than the fact that Southeast won the City crown this year. Lanphier strutted their way through their first two matchups and they earned that right because they played out of their minds. But leave it to LT to have his group ready to stand up to that kind of overwhelming favorite with no fear and chop them down to size. If that ain't an LT team man, we don't know what is. Fearless. And City Champions. For the fourth time in his career. LT had the most City titles of any active coach coming into the weekend and he extends that lead with the win.
Quotes of the Tournament: Lawrence Thomas (Southeast), Anthony Fairlee (Southeast)
We asked LT and Anthony Fairlee how many people at the PCCC thought Southeast would beat Lanphier on Friday:
"13 kids. 4 coaches and our student body. That's all it took. That's all it took. It didn't matter." — LT
"100 percent. Everyone thought they was gonna win on the low. I heard, people at the school, they were like 'Man, Lanphier's got it.' Even our own people in the school thought Lanphier was gonna get it. So I was like naw, we gonna have to show them up. And everybody thought they finna get a three peat and we wasn't gonna let that happen. We had to put down our foot and keep going on the gas." — Anthony Fairlee
Dunks of the Tournament: D'Angelo Hughes (Southeast), Isaiah Walton (Southeast), Anthony Fairlee (Southeast)
Spirit Award (Student Section): Springfield High
Simply put, there was no debate this year. Springfield High smashed everyone. Their team got rolled by Lanphier on Thursday and High Pride was lit the entire time. On Friday, after falling to Southeast, they stayed for the entire SHG/Lanphier game to troll the Cyclone student section as Xavier Bishop set the new scoring record against them. Saturday's head to head matchup clearly went to SHS from both a volume of chants and the literal VOLUME of those chants. Let's be honest. It's been a tough season for everyone with a vested interest in the SHS boys basketball program. Hell of a performance by their student body despite those conditions.
Best Student Costumes: Springfield HIgh
Best Original Fan Chants (Family Friendly): Springfield High
Where do we begin…
"We've got the Governor!" – Chanted with Governor Rauner in the middle of their massive student section with his "aww shucks!" smile.
"Watch the game!" – Chanted at the SHG student section in the midst of a beat down at the hands of Lanphier. The Cycs had engaged in a back and forth with SHS a day earlier than we were expecting.
There were some new chants, at least, new to us. We liked… "We went down to the city," and "Down at the Senator Cemetary!"
A total butt kicking.
Best Student Body T-Shirts: Lanphier
We genuinely thought Lanphier had the best shirts every night, but the Artie shoutout put us over the top.
Best Sign: SHG
So the Cyclones do get to take home one piece of City hardware. This sign was super sweet.
