CPL Holiday Invite
As the 12 team Chicago Public League holiday tournament concluded on Wednesday(12/23), the Chicago Westinghouse team stood with their first place trophies raised high as they had concurred the toughest opposition the Chicago Public League had to offer (sans Whitney Young).
Two all-tournament performers: Cameron
Echols(yellow)
& Martell Bailey
All-Tournament Players
Aaron Carr - Lincoln Park
6'3" Senior Guard
Scooter McFadgen - Raleigh Egypt(TN)
6'5" Senior Guard
Imari Sawyer - M.L. King
6'2" Senior Guard
James Peters - Julian
6'8" Senior Forward
Sean Dockery - Julian
6'3" Sophomore Guard
Jabbar Battle - Crane
6'7" Senior Forward/Center
Dwayne "Woo Woo" Williams - Simeon
6'2" Senior Guard/Forward
Cameron Echols - Simeon
6'7" Senior Center
Martell Bailey - Westinghouse
5'10" Senior Guard
(MVP) Cedrick Banks - Westinghouse
6'3" Senior Forward
Tournament MVP Cedrick Banks 
Championship Game: Simeon V. Westinghouse- The game started off with some hot shooting on the part of Westinghouse players, Martell Bailey and Cedrick Banks. Both of whom hit a pair of 3 pointers and a pull up jumper to finish the first quarter with 8 points. Dwayne Williams of Simeon tried to match Banks and Bailey's sharp shooting with two 3's of his own in the first period.
The hot shooting cooled down a bit in the second quarter as the two teams focused more on defensive pressure. Usually it's Westinghouse's defensive pressure that causes havoc for the other teams, but in this case it was the Wolverines solid fundamentally sound defense that put a stop to the Westinghouse offense. The containment of the Warriors offense in the second quarter allowed Simeon to finish the second period with a 29-26 lead. However, before Simeon Coach Bob Hambric went into the locker room for halftime he had a few choice words for the officials about their calls or lack thereof. Immediately Hambric was called for a technical and restrained by the Pavilion security guards.
In the fourth quarter both team's intensity rose to another level. With under 5 minutes left in the game, Ced Banks started to display the skills that prompted Interim Head Coach, Quitman Dilllard to call Banks, "the best player in the state." At the 4:20 mark Banks drilled a 3 pointer to give his team a 48-47 lead. On the other end Simeon continued to battle and hang with 'House.' Simeon's junior point guard, Kurtis Ellison was put to the free throw line and hit one of two to tie the score at 48. Banks then proceeded to hit two of his patented running floaters to give Westinghouse a 4 point lead with under 2 minutes remaining. The scrappy Simeon guards continued to hit big shot after big shot as junior guard Albert Hethington knocked down a pressure 3 pointer to bring the Wolverines to within a point. Continuing to show his versatility, Banks was put to the charity stripe and very calmly knocked both shots in. Then, to put the game away Martell Bailey, who was sidelined for most of Mondays game due to a back injury, leaped to steal a pass and advanced the ball on to teammate, Johnny Tate for an easy lay-up. Westinghouse kept their undefeated season intact with a 58-55 win. Cedrick Banks finished with a game high 25 points and captured the tournaments MVP award.
When asked about the officiating after the game, Coach Hambric said he was obviously disappointed in the way the game was called but that, "we should've won the game despite the officials." Senior guard, Dwayne Williams played a very solid game for the Wolverines and finished up with 14 points.
In the tournament's third place game Julian outlasted Lincoln Park 62-59, in a very physical game that lasted three overtimes. James Peters led Julian with solid inside play and 13 points. In a losing effort 6'3" senior guard Aaron Carr finished with 17 points and almost brought his team a victory with his solid free throw shooting in the overtime sessions.
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