The 2025 Bushnell-Prairie City High School Boys Tip-Off Classic got underway Monday night with Macomb High and West Prairie picking up victories to start their respective seasons.
In the tourney opener, Abingdon-Avon held on to defeat Illini West 51-49 before Macomb High pulled away in the second half to down Illini Bluffs 54-38.
West Prairie then got a career-high 38 points from Braden Coplan as the Cyclones cruised past the host Spartans 66-47 in the finale.
MHS and IB started out as a see-saw affair in the first half with the Tigers taking their largest lead of the game at 6-2 on a Drew Dunn three-pointer.
But the Bombers would come back to grab an 11-10 lead after one quarter. The lead continued to exchange hands in the second quarter before MHS went on a 7-0 run capped by Drew Watson’s trey to go up 20-15.
But Justus Duggar drilled a three-pointer for IB right before halftime to get the Tigers within 20-18 at the break.
Will Emhoff hit a jumper for IB to start the third quarter, tying the score at 20-20 before the Bombers began to take control.
Watson led the charge by scoring 12 of his game-high 21 points in the period to help push the MHS lead to 45-29 heading into the final quarter.
The Bombers’ defense continued to tighten as the Tigers were held scoreless for over 4:30 in the final frame.
Nolan Hoge added eight points for the Bombers, followed by Carter Havens, Kellen Martin and Nick Elbe with six points apiece.
Collin Adams chipped in a three-pointer, while Isaac Leinbach and Hayden Katz rounded out the scoring with two points each.
Griffen White led Illini Bluffs with 12 points.
In the nightcap, B-PC took an early 6-2 lead before the Cyclones went on a 13-0 run enroute to 19-14 lead after one quarter.
The Spartans rallied back in the second quarter after falling behind 25-18 by using an 8-0 run, including a trey by Connor Palm, to go on top 26-25.
Braden Coplan would hit back-to-back treys for WPHS before halftime to help give the Cyclones a 31-28 advantage.
Coplan finished with 22 points including five three-pointers in the opening half.
It was all West Prairie and Coplan in the second half as B-PC was held scoreless for almost seven minutes to open the third frame.
The Cyclones took advantage, scoring 16 straight points to extend their lead out to 47-31.
Coplan hit his sixth trey of the night as part of the scoring run before a basket by De’Arion Ruffin-Thomas with 1:17 to go finally got the Spartans on the board.
B-PC would outscore the Cyclones 15-14 in the final period to account for the final score.
Coplan finished the night with six treys.
Eli DeCounter added 11 points for West Prairie, followed by Ryan Clark with seven points.
Matt Whitman and Brody Cordell chipped in four points each, while Gannon Shipman added a basket for two points.
B-PC was led by Camden Shinn’s 14 points. Ruffin-Thomas added 13 points, followed by Palm and Braylon Griffitts with eight points each.
Dylan King and Caiden Weinmann completed the Spartan scoring with two points each.
The week-long tournament continues through Wednesday before teams take a break for Thanksgiving on Thursday.
The event resumes with games Friday before wrapping up Saturday.
