On Monday, January 15, Sterling hosted their annual “Martin Luther King Day” basketball tournament. Every year there are some familiar teams at the tournament, including Sterling, Rock Falls, and Christ the King. This year there were a few newcomers, including Peoria Manuel, Rock Island, and Thornton Fractional South.
The MLK classic has been hosted at Sterling for 10 years now and it is played on Martin Luther King Jr. day every year. Over the years, the day has evolved from a tournament-like style to only playing two games each on the day.
Sterling finished with a 2-0 record against some good competition. Sterling beat Thorton Fraction South and later in the day they beat the number one team in the class of 2A in Peoria Manuel in a nail biter by a score of 60-59.
Christ the King beat Rock Island and Rock Falls. They beat Rock Falls by a score of 76 to 69 as Rock Falls almost completed an incredible comeback.
Peoria Manuel completed an impressive comeback in the fourth quarter as they beat Rock Island by a score of 47 to 45.
Senior basketball player for Sterling, Carter Chance, says that “the team played extremely well together” and that the team “stuck together” while facing adversity against Peoria Manuel.
Christ the King also finished the day with a 2-0 record beating Rock Falls and Rock Island. But despite winning both games, they had managed to lose their bus key in the gymnasium.
Both Rock Falls and Peoria Manuel had gone 1-1 but both of their losses had come to teams who had an undefeated record on the day. Both teams competed at a high level with their opponents despite losing a game each.
Rock Island and Thornton Fractional South finished the day winless but both teams competed very hard on both ends of the court from start to finish.
Although every team had different outcomes, they all enjoyed the day playing and watching other basketball games while learning a lot for their upcoming games. All teams can use these MLK day games as a way to see how they can improve for their next game.
