Knights struggle mightily againt Pike defense

ROCKFORD - The Auburn Knights had difficulty getting quality looks against Indianapolis Pike, dropping a 62-30 game to the Red Devils on opening night of the 205 Tip-Off Classic.

Pike, a perennial Indiana power that is now 8-2 in five trips to the Tip-Off Classic, raced out to a 25-8 lead in the second quarter.

Auburn was able to cut the lead to 32-22 in the third quarter, but Pike scored 30 of the final 38 points.

The Knights are without their leading scorer from last year, junior Josh Ausler, who is not eligible for the tournament. Without Ausler, the only Knight to generate any kind of offense Monday was Haniefe Johnson. The senior point guard scored 16 of Auburn's 30 points. Only four Knights scored in the entire game. Ten of the eleven Pike players got into the scoring column. Senior Davion Bailey led the way with 18 and sophomore Ryan Conwell added 16.

The Knights are off until 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when they host the North Chicago Warhawks.

Pike plays East High School Tuesday night at 6 p.m. The E-Rabs won last year's Tip-Off Classic, but East has to replace its top three scorers.

Indianapolis Pike 62, Rockford Auburn 30
	1	2	3	4	Final
Pike	13	16	18	15	62
Auburn	6	12	4	8	30
PIKE
Player	2 Pt.	3 Pt.	FT-FTA	F	Points
B. Johnson	1	0	0-0	2	2
D. Bailey	3	4	0-0	2	18
J. Love	3	0	0-0	0	7
R. Conwell	1	3	5-5	3	16
J. Louden	2	0	1-4	1	5
E. Jones	0	0	5-6	1	5
J. Dobbins	1	0	0-2	0	2
N. Gordon	2	0	0-1	5	4
K. Montgomery	1	0	1-3	0	3
Totals	13	8	12-21	14	62
AUBURN
Player	2 Pt.	3 Pt.	FT-FTA	F	Points
Hunter	0	0	0-0	2	0
Johnson	1	2	8-11	1	16
Lockhart-Walker	0	0	0-0	3	0
J. Martin	0	0	0-0	1	0
Mackey	1	0	2-2	1	4
Davis	3	0	2-2	4	8
Maxey	1	0	0-4	1	2
Harris-Graves	0	0	0-0	2	0
Smith	0	0	0-0	2	0
Wainwright	0	0	0-0	2	0
Totals	6	2	12-19	19	30

Mustangs pull away for win in Tip-Off Classic opener

ROCKFORD - The McArthur Mustangs dominated early and late to open the 205 Tip-Off Classic with a 73-59 win over North Chicago.

The school from Hollywood, Florida, scored the game's first 14 points. The Warhawks, though, fought back to briefly take the lead in the second quarter and trailed by just two at halftime.

The Mustangs held on to the lead in the third and then outscored North Chicago by 10 in the fourth quarter for a comfortable win to open its fourth straight trip to the Tip-Off Classic.

Damien Alford, a 6-7 senior, led McArthur with 15 points. Trevor Ward added 15 and Tyshaun Daniels chipped in 13.

Hollywood McArthur 73, North Chicago 59
	1	2	3	4	Final
McArthur	21	16	19	17	73
N. Chicago	9	26	17	7	59
MCARTHUR
Player	2 Pt.	3 Pt.	FT-FTA	F	Points
J. Howard	3	0	4-4	3	10
T. Ward	2	3	2-6	0	15
T. Daniels	3	2	1-4	3	13
I. Gissendanner	1	0	0-0	1	2
M. Greenwich	1	0	1-2	0	3
A. Garcia	1	1	0-2	4	5
D. Alford	9	0	0-1	3	18
J. Jackson	0	0	0-0	3	0
D. Shaw	1	1	2-3	0	7
Totals	21	7	10-22	17	73
NORTH CHICAGO
Player	2 Pt.	3 Pt.	FT-FTA	F	Points
S. Rodriguez	0	1	0-0	4	3
J. Mays	5	0	7-9	3	17
J. Johnson	0	0	2-4	2	2
T. Davis	2	3	0-1	2	13
A. Illidge	0	0	1-2	1	1
R. Irby	6	0	3-5	5	15
D. Hudson	2	0	0-0	4	4
R. McDuffy	1	0	0-0	3	2
D. Shellie	1	0	0-1	1	2
Totals	17	4	13-22	25	59

WIFR Livestream schedule

ROCKFORD, Ill. As a proud sponsor of the RPS 205 Tip-Off CLassic, 23 WIFR will live stream three games featuring some of the tournament’s best teams. WIFR news anchor Andy Gannon will be there with the play-by-play action.

Here are the games you can watch at www.wifr.com/sports/statelineslam.

Tuesday, November 26 at Rockford East High School,
6:00 p.m. - Rockford East vs. Indianapolis Pike

Saturday, November 30 at Auburn High School 
2:30 p.m. – Rockford Guilford vs. North Chicago
4:00 p.m. – Rockford Auburn vs. Chicago Bogan

RPS 205 announces 6th annual Tip-Off Classic

The sixth annual RPS 205 Tip-Off Classic is set for the last week of November. The national boys basketball tournament has grown each year and features 12 teams from three states playing in a total of 25 games.

East High School won the 2018 Tip-Off Classic .

All four RPS 205 high schools - Auburn, East, Guilford and Jefferson - will be represented, along with tournament veterans Chicago Perspectives, Elgin Larkin, Hollywood McArthur, Indianapolis Pike and North Chicago. New this are teams from Chicago Bogan, Providence St. Mel and Harlem High School.

"We are excited to bring back this competitive, opening-week experience for players, coaches and fans," said Mat Parker, director of athletics, activities and program development. "We are especially excited about the level of competition. Most of the teams had winning records last season, and three teams made an appearance at the state finals."

2019 Tip-Off Classic Schedule
Monday, November 25 at Auburn
6 p.m.	Hollywood (Fla.) McArthur vs. North Chicago
7:30 p.m.	Rockford Auburn vs. Indianapolis Pike
Monday, November 25 at Jefferson
7 p.m.	Elgin Larkin vs. Rockford Jefferson
Tuesday, November 26 at East
6 p.m.	Rockford East vs. Indianapolis Pike
7:30 p.m.	Hollywood (Fla.) McArthur vs. Chicago Bogan
Tuesday, November 26 at Guilford
7:30 p.m.	Rockford Guilford vs. Chicago Perspectives
Wednesday, November 27 at Jefferson
9 a.m.	Machesney Park Harlem vs. Hollywood (Fla.) McArthur
10:30 a.m.	Indianapolis Pike vs. Providence St. Mel
12 p.m.	Rockford Jefferson vs. Hollywood McArthur
Wednesday, November 27 at Auburn
12 p.m.	Chicago Perspectives vs. Elgin Larkin
1:30 p.m.	Rockford Auburn vs. North Chicago
Friday, November 29 at Guilford
10 a.m.	Rockford Guilford vs. Providence St. Mel
11:30 a.m.	Machesney Park Harlem vs. North Chicago
1 p.m.	Rockford Guilford vs. Chicago Bogan
Friday, November 29 at Jefferson
2:30 p.m.	Rockford Jefferson vs. Providence St. Mel
4 p.m.	Elgin Larkin vs. Machesney Park Harlem
5:30 p.m.	Rockford Jefferson vs. Chicago Perspectives
Friday, November 29 at East
7 p.m.	Rockford East vs. Chicago Bogan
Saturday, November 30 at East
10 a.m.	Rockford East at North Chicago
11:30 a.m.	Chicago Bogan vs. Elgin Larkin
1 p.m.	Rockford East vs. Providence St. Mel
Saturday, November 30 at Auburn
2:30 p.m.	Rockford Guilford vs. North Chicago
4 p.m.	Rockford Auburn vs. Chicago Bogan
5:30 p.m.	Machesney Park Harlem vs. Chicago Perspectives
7 p.m.	Rockford Auburn vs. Elgin Larkin

Take a look at some scenes from this year's 205 Tip-Off Classic

Some scenes from the 2018 205 Tip-Off Classic, which featured 12 teams from four states. See you in 2019.

Tip-Off Histories: Huntington Beach Marina

2018
Huntington Beach Marina 56, Rockford Auburn 49
Huntington Beach Marina 58, Freeport 52
Rockford Guilford 43, Huntington Beach Marina 41
Rockford East 83, Huntington Beach Marina 61

First-team All-Classic: Jakob Alamudun

Tip-Off Histories: North Chicago

2018
Rockford Auburn 67, North Chicago 64