Kimball Anderson

DECATUR — Few teams in Illinois played a tougher schedule in the first week of the season than MacArthur at the Turkey Tournament.

DECATUR — In the past couple of decades, future NBA champions and countless college athletes have graced the court at Stephen Decatur Middle School while the community has flocked to fill the gym every Thanksgiving weekend.

DECATUR — After a storied 20-year career, former Tuscola girls basketball coach Tim Kohlbecker will be a part of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class.

MOWEAQUA — After kicking off the season with the Decatur Turkey Tournament, the county schools take their turn at tournament play with the area staple that is the Macon County Tournament

DECATUR — When the buzzer sounded, Warrensburg-Latham players screamed and jumped before racing to the locker room for a postgame celebration.

A couple of weeks into the high school basketball season with fall sports in the rearview mirror, area teams are at full strength and have a couple of games under their belt.

Scroll through each nominee, then make your vote. Voting will continue through Friday at noon, with the results revealed online on Friday afternoon and in print Saturday morning.

The Braves got a big win over Mahomet-Seymour to get an early lead in the Apollo Conference race after last year's title and it was in large part thanks to Koester's 21 points. The University of Illinois-Springfield commit can score at all three levels and alongside star JC Anderson has a good chance at leading the Braves to another conference title and a deep postseason run.

PANA — He had been in charge for a decade and in coaching for nearly two, but after this season, Trevor Higgins had a tough decision to make.

MOUNT ZION — When Lyncoln Koester hit a half-court buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter against Champaign Centennial on Friday, he had some luck but was about to be informed of some more fortune.