While March is often associated with college basketball, March is also when Illinois high schools compete for state championships.

For years the Illinois High School Association state finals for boys basketball has been held in Peoria, while the state finals for girls has been held in Normal.

“One of the good things is that we’ve been at both of the sites for such a long time that there’s a good familiarity there,” Matt Troha, IHSA Assistant Executive Director, said. “It makes it easier to organize the events.”

The festivities in Normal kick off on Friday and Saturday, February 27-28 when the Class 1A and 2A girls’ state finals take place at the Redbird Arena.

The following week, Friday and Saturday, March 6-7, the Class 3A and 4A girls’ basketball finals will also be held at the Redbird Arena.

The next two weeks Peoria hosts the boys state finals tournament at the Carver Arena, with the Class 1A and 2A teams playing March 12-14 and the Class 3A and 4A playing March 19-21.

One of the big draws of the boys’ state finals tournament is the March Madness Experience.

“It’s what I would describe as a kind of basketball, Disneyland type fan interaction experience,” Troha said. “We do that in the exhibit halls at the Peoria Civic center in conjunction with the boys’ tournament.”

The experience has interactive games, historical exhibits, and more and is free to those with game tickets and $2 for everyone else.

On the first weekend of the boys tournament there is also a wheelchair basketball tournament.
“It’s a two day wheelchair basketball tournament for teams around the state,” Troha said. “It’s always been a neat thing to be able to have.”

Besides just the games, at both the boys and girls tournaments there will be a 3 Point Showdown, which has been a tradition since 1992.

“It’s a really good experience, the coaches and players love it,” Troha said. “It gives a chance for more kids and more schools to get some of that state final experience.”

On the Thursday night prior to each tournament a banquet is held for the athletes.
“It’s kind of a chance to meet kids from other schools and we do a highlight reel of video from their super sectional and see how they advanced,” Troha said.

While many of the athletes enjoy the banquet, they remain focused on the goal at hand.

“When you get down to it, they’re there to play and win the games,” Troha said.

In conjunction with the March Madness experience, on Saturday, March 21st the tenth annual free basketball clinic “Learning From the Legends” will be held at the Peoria Civic Center.

“The IHSA and Illinois Basketball Coaching Association jointly put on the clinic,” Troha said. “We get high school coaches from around the state, sometimes some legendary players as well, to come back and put it on for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders.”

While the clinic is free it is limited to the first 200 to enroll.

To get more specific information on the tournament and tickets you can visit http://www.ihsa.org/