McLean County Tournament - Pictures and Memories… and Rivalries!

 

McLean County Tournament - Pictures and Memories… and Rivalries!

When I flip through pictures from past McLean County Tournaments, the memories don’t just come back—they blitz. They rush the lane. They pull up from deep. And sometimes they beat the buzzer with a hand in their face. That’s the McLean County Tournament, one of the longest-running basketball tournaments in the United States, and brother, it’s built on rivalries.

I’ve been covering this tournament since 2000, and in that time, no school has leaned into the rivalry role quite like the Ridgeview Mustangs. You could circle their games on the bracket in ink—bold ink. And if you were talking boys basketball, chances were good that somewhere down the road, Fieldcrest would be standing there saying, “Not so fast, my friend.”

The Mustangs and the Knights. Cue the dramatic music.

For much of this era, the rivalry had two masterminds on the sidelines. Rodney Kellar patrolled the Ridgeview bench, while Matt Winkler held court for Fieldcrest. Two high-IQ students of the game. Two coaches who understood that when March rolls around—or January in this case—it’s not about the clipboard, it’s about execution.

  
Images by Alan Look Photography

When Kellar and Winkler shared the floor, the result was never clear until the final horn. Sometimes not even then. Regulation? Optional. Overtime? Very much on the table. These were games where every possession mattered, every timeout had weight, and every last-second shot felt like it echoed through the gym long after it dropped—or didn’t.

Let’s talk numbers, because who doesn't love numbers.

From the 2000 tournament through 2025, Ridgeview reached the championship game 10 times—a clean split, five wins and five losses. Fieldcrest made six title appearances, walking away with the trophy five times. And that one blemish? A 2015 championship loss that came at the hands of—you guessed it—the Mustangs.

Head-to-head in title games over that 25-year stretch? One-and-one. Fieldcrest took the prize in 2009. Ridgeview answered in 2015. Rivalry math doesn’t get much better than that.

Images by Alan Look Photography

And the record book? Still wearing their fingerprints.

According to the 2025 tournament program, the record for most three-point field goals by an individual sits at five, shared by Nick Kronmiller of Heyworth and Ridgeview’s Brad Ghere and Tyler McCormick. Meanwhile, Ridgeview holds the team records for most threes in a single game (15) and most threes in a tournament (36). Boom. From downtown. With authority.

But here’s the thing—and this is where the music softens just a touch.

The heydays aren’t over.
The memories aren’t finished being made.
The pictures haven’t all been filed away.

This tournament keeps moving. New players, new rivalries, new moments waiting to be frozen in time. And somewhere down the line, another buzzer will sound, another shot will fall, and another photograph will turn into a memory that comes rushing back.

That’s the McLean County Tournament.
Still running. Still rivaling. Still unforgettable.

Whoop!

Images by Alan Look Photography