There are nights when college basketball feels less like a game and more like a declaration. Illinois’ 84–44 win over Northwestern was one of those nights—authoritative, methodical, and just theatrical enough to feel inevitable by the final media timeout. This was not chaos basketball. This was control. From the opening stretch, the Illini dictated tempo, space, and tone, bending the game into their preferred shape and never letting the Wildcats believe they could escape it. If Howard Cosell were hovering somewhere above the hardwood, he might have called it what it was: a mismatch revealed in real time, with clarity bordering on cruelty. At the center of it all stood  Keaton Wagler , whose impact went well beyond the obvious. Wagler played with a kind of composure that quiets a building before it electrifies it—steady decisions, sharp movement, and a presence that made Illinois feel older, wiser, and always a step ahead. His fingerprints were everywhere the game tilted Illin...

  Normal Community Sweeps Bloomington in Friday Night Varsity Doubleheader Normal Community High School made full use of home court on Friday night, January 20, 2026, as the Ironmen claimed a varsity sweep over Bloomington High School in a girls and boys basketball doubleheader that showed control, patience, and late-game execution. The evening opened with a girls varsity contest that tested Normal Community’s resolve. The Ironmen struggled to find rhythm early and allowed the Bloomington Purple Raiders to build momentum, taking a brief lead early in the second half. Bloomington’s energy forced Normal to adjust, and by the end of the third quarter, those adjustments began to show on the scoreboard. Normal closed the third ahead 34–29, setting the tone for what followed. The fourth quarter belonged entirely to the Ironmen. Defensive pressure tightened, passing lanes disappeared, and Bloomington was limited to just four points over the final eight minutes. The Ironmen steadily extend...

  McLean County Tournament Opens With Execution and Authority Photos by Alan Look Photography The opening round of the 2026 McLean County Boys Basketball Tournament offered an early reminder that January basketball is less about promise and more about purpose. Two games, played in different gyms with different energies, underscored that truth as Fieldcrest dispatched Flanagan-Cornell and El Paso–Gridley asserted control over Heyworth. Fieldcrest Knights 66, Flanagan-Cornell Falcons 50 Watching Flanagan-Cornell during shootaround and pregame warmups, it was easy to believe points would come easily. Shots fell cleanly, the ball moved crisply, and confidence appeared abundant. Once the game began, however, the tone shifted. Under pressure, the Falcons struggled to convert opportunities, and the scoreboard quietly documented just how cold the offense became and how vulnerable the defense proved against a disciplined opponent. Fieldcrest, by contrast, played a game rooted in patience an...

  U-High’s Patience Pays Off in Home Win Over Lincoln Photo by Alan Look Photography University High School doesn’t rush things. Not possessions. Not decisions. And certainly not basketball games. That measured approach was on full display Tuesday night in Normal, as the U-High Pioneers steadily wore down Lincoln Community High School for a 56–37 boys varsity basketball win inside a quietly tense gym that never quite found an upset pulse. From the opening tip, U-High dictated pace. The Pioneers led 12–9 after one quarter, content to probe, pull the ball back out, and make Lincoln defend every inch of hardwood. By halftime, the advantage had grown to 25–18, less because of any single surge and more because of a thousand small, disciplined decisions.                                                            Photo by Alan Look Photograp...

  A One-Point Night in Heyworth Photography by Alan Look Photography Some basketball games are remembered for what went right. Others linger because of what almost did. El Paso-Gridley’s boys varsity team left Heyworth with a 51–50 win Tuesday night, a game that stayed tight from start to finish and never allowed either side to breathe easily. From the outset, both teams showed a clear sense of strategy. Possessions were deliberate. Defensive looks changed. Coaches adjusted. The structure of the game was solid, even when the results were not. Execution, for long stretches, was uneven. Passes were mistimed. Shots didn’t fall. Rebounding effort came and went. Those small breakdowns, shared by both teams, kept the score locked in a one-possession window and prevented either side from taking control. That margin showed itself most clearly in the final moments. Heyworth had three chances to win — two missed layups and a missed free throw that would have sent the game to overtime. Instea...

  I Don’t Know Who Started Counting Toilet Paper Sheets, but I’d Like a Word I don’t know when we decided that the number of sheets on a roll of toilet paper was important, but I’m fairly certain no consumer ever asked for it. Image by Alan Look Photograhpy Nobody has ever walked into a store and said, “I’d like a roll that has exactly 410 sheets on it, and not a sheet more.” Yet there it is, printed on the package in bold type, as if it’s a meaningful statistic—like calories on food or miles per gallon on a car. The problem with counting sheets is that  a sheet isn’t anything . It’s not a measurement. It’s a suggestion. One company’s sheet is thick enough to qualify as light cardboard, while another company’s sheet is so thin you can read the warranty information through it. Calling them both “one sheet” is like saying a thimble and a coffee mug are both “one cup.” Then there’s the ply. Nobody explains how ply factors into the sheet count, because if they did, the whole thing...