IESA Headlines

2015 Eighth Grade IESA Girls Basketball State Finals Begin Saturday

For the second straight week, the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) will crown four girls basketball champions, this time in the 8th grade state series. Competition in the Class 1A, Class 2A, Class 3A and Class 4A State Final Tournaments begins Saturday (December 12) and concludes the following Thursday (December 17) at four sites. This is the ninth year of IESA four-class girls basketball.

Class 1A will be played at Clinton Junior High School, while Class 2A is being played at Lewistown High School. The 3A tournament will be held at Germantown Hills Middle School and rounding out the group is Rochester Junior High School which is the site of Class 4A.

The time schedule for all four tournaments will be the same. Quarterfinals will be played Saturday with the first of four games beginning at 10:00 a.m. The four quarterfinal winners will meet in semifinal games late Saturday afternoon with the first of two games set to begin at 5:00 p.m. Third place and championship games will be played Thursday, December 17 with the third place game set for 6:00 p.m. and the championship game scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Any changes in the playing status of each of the four tournaments will be posted on the IESA Web Site at www.iesa.org as each tournament progresses. Results will be posted on the web site after each game. Should weather become a factor, any change in the status of the tournaments will be posted on the IESA website.

The price of admission Saturday is $7.00 for adults and $3.00 for seniors (62 and over) and students (K-8) and is good for all games Saturday. Children younger than kindergarten are admitted free. Fans attending the games Saturday will receive a wristband that is to be worn all day and will be used for entry into that respective state final site only throughout the day. It will not be honored at any other 8th grade state final site. The price of admission for the third place and championship game session Thursday will be $5.00 for adults and $2.00 for seniors and students (K-8). Children younger than kindergarten are admitted free.

This year marks the 37th year that the IESA has been conducting girls basketball, as the ever-growing activity made its debut within the Association back in 1979. Only one-class of competition existed then. That was until 1986, when separate state series were conducted for seventh graders and eighth graders for the first time. From 1990-2005 there were Class A and Class AA state series for both seventh grade and eighth grade, with the current four class system beginning in 2006.

Complete pairings for each state final, plus the FanZone, can be found at here.

Here is a look at the pairings for each of the four 2015 Seventh Grade State Final Tournaments:

NOTES: Three of the four 2014 7th grade champions are returning this year to the 8th grade finals. Colfax Ridgeview won the 7th grade Class 2A title last year; Teutopolis went undefeated as 7th graders and will play in the 8th grade Class 3A state this year; and Morton JHS won the Class 4A 7th grade championship last year.

In Class 1A, five of the eight schools that advanced to the finals as 7th graders in 2014 are returning to the finals as 8th graders--Decatur Our Lady of Lourdes, Pontiac St. Mary's, Sigel St. Michael's, Lockport Taft, and Danville Schlarman. In Class 2A, four of the eight finalists this year advanced to the finals last year as 7th graders--Lewistown Central, Bourbonnais St. George, Colfax Ridgeview, and Liberty. Ridgeview and Liberty will meet each other in the first round this year just as they did last year as 7th graders when Ridgeview won 37-35. In Class 3A, six of the eight finalists this year advanced last year as 7th graders--St. Joseph, Lockport Kelvin Grove, Hillsboro, Pleasant Plains, Teutopolis, and Peotone. St. Joseph meets Kelvin Grove in the first game of the day which is a re-match of last year's quarterfinal game won by St. Joseph, 39-28. In Class 4A, five of this year's 8th grade finalists participated in the finals last year as 7th graders--Mokena, Rochester, Rockford Flinn, Edwardsville Liberty, and Morton JHS.

For more information, please contact the Basketball Administrator Nicole Schaefbauer at 309-829-0114 or nicole@iesa.org.