EHT Special: 50 Years of Eldorado Holiday Tournament Champions
1965 - The first tourney was a four-team blind draw affair featuring Eldorado, Norris City, Ridgway and Carrier Mills. Norris City overcame a 42 point performance by Terry Thompson to defeat Ridgway 70-67 for the Championship.
1966 - Ridgway, paced by Ron Stallings' 27 point effort, upset favored Eldorado 64-51 to claim the crown.
1967 - Unbeaten Eldorado, with Joe Tison triggering in 26 tallies and Max Plunkett 22, rallied in the second half to upend Ridgway 95-85. Eldorado's Terry Kaid was selected to the All-Tournament Team for the third consecutive year.
1968 - The tourney was expanded to eight teams with McLeansboro disposing of the host school 65-53 in the title tilt.
1969 - Undefeated Carmi nipped Eldorado 56-54 in the semis, and then easily rolled over Metropolis 70-56 in the finals to take home the first place trophy.
1970 - Mount Carmel, a new entry in the event, slipped past Eldorado 64-63 and Carrier Mills 54-53 en route to the
1971 - Well-balanced Eldorado, placing five people in double figures, edged previously undefeated Carrier Mills 86-73 in the
1972 - A last second tip-in by Dennis Pearce gave Ridgway a 41-39 triumph over Eldorado, and the Championship.
1973 - Eldorado, the state's top-rated- Class A team, erased four opponents by margins ranging from 1 to 41 points to easily win the title as the tourney was expanded to sixteen teams. Dennis Smith of Eldorado was named Most Valuable Player.
1974 - Unbeaten and top-seeded, Metropolis defeated unseeded Eldorado 55-52 in the Championship Contest. Metropolis' Norman Goodman was selected Most Valuable Player and Keil Peebles of Johnston City was named to the All-Tournament Team for the third straight year.
1975 - For the third consecutive year, an unbeaten and top-seeded team won the championship, as Eldorado, also rated No.1 in the state Class A, clipped previously undefeated and second-seeded Cairo 69-63 for the title. Eldorado's Barry Smith was chosen the Most Valuable Player.
1976 - Unranked Meridian, led by All-Tournament selection, Tony Bogan, surprised everyone as they won a thriller from Eldorado to take the Championship.
1977 - Freshman, Mark Finnie, fired in a ten foot jump-shot at the gun to give underdog, Eldorado, a 60-59 victory over top-seeded Cairo in the Championship game. Eldorado's Eddie Lane, whose 130 points were just four shy of the tourney record, was selected Most Valuable Player.
1978 - Cairo, who finished second in both 1975 and 1977, captured their first tourney crown by whipping Norris City 64-51 in the title game. Cairo's Taurice Mallory was named MVP and teammate Steve Crume made the All-Tournament Team for the second straight year.
1979 - Cairo became the first school to win back-to-back titles, nipping Norris City 58-56 in the Championship game. It was the third straight narrow escape for the Pilots, who nudged Meridian 66-63 in the quarter finals and Pinckneyville 87-82 in overtime in the semi-finals.
1980 - In a double overtime barn-burner between two unbeaten powers, top-seeded Pinckneyville nipped second-seeded Cairo 92-91 in the Championship contest. The loss prevented the Pilots from claiming their third straight title, but Cairo's Anthony Webster became the first two-time winner of the MVP award.
1981 - For the second straight year, the title game was decided in overtime, and also for the second straight year, Pinckneyville came out the winner, shading DuQuoin 59-57 on a short jumper with two seconds left in the first overtime by Brian Rushing, who was appropriately named MVP.
1982 - Top-seeded Cairo claimed their third title in five years by defeating unheralded Eldorado 82-75 in overtime in the finals. Eldorado's Mike Watson was named MVP and Kevin Bratcher of Ridgway was the leading scorer with 103 points.
1983 - McLeansboro, who captured the Boys' Class A State Title three months later, rolled over four opponents in impressive fashion to win their first Championship since the tournament was expanded to sixteen teams. The Foxes' Brian Sloan earned the MVP award.
1984 - Capturing their sixth tourney Championship and their first since 1977, Eldorado upset heavily favored McLeansboro by 46-42 in the title game. Greg Goodley became the sixth Eldorado player to win the MVP award.
1985 - Carmi crushed top-seeded Carrier Mills 55-35 in the Championship game to claim their first title since 1969, when it was an eight-team affair. Carrier Mills received a consolation prize by having Erik Griffin named MVP.
1986 - Unbeaten Carmi, paced by MVP Rob Gaddey, won their second-season-straight title by nipping Sparta 63-60 in the Championship bout. The Bulldogs were destined to finish the regular season undefeated, but were then upset in the regional finals.
1987 - Harrisburg became the first Class AA school to win the tournament as the Bulldogs bested Eldorado 68-59 in the Championship contest. Harrisburg's John Crabb was named MVP, but Christopher sophomore T.J. Wheeler stole the spotlight by scoring 151 points altogether, including 51 in a first round loss.
1988 - Norris City, who won the very first tournament way back in 1965, ended a 23 year drought by drilling Christopher 77-57 in the finale. The Cardinals' Reed Jackson became the first sophomore to earn the MVP award.
1989 - Again led by MVP Reed Jackson, Norris City made it two championships in a row by beating Century 64-57 in the title game. T.J. Wheeler of Christopher became the first player named to the All-Tournament Team four times.
1990 - Top-seeded and unbeaten, Norris City became the first school to capture three straight titles, defeating Waltonville 61-52 in the championship game. Reed Jackson also became the first player to win the MVP award three years in a row.
1991 - Lone Oak, Kentucky became the first out-of-state school to win the title, defeating Meridian 60-53 in the Championship game. Lone Oak's Matt Wallis was named MVP.
1992 - McLeansboro, efficiently using a nine-man rotation, defeated Harrisburg 70-54 in the title game.
1993 - Returning to the Tournament after a five-year absence, Massac County bested Harrisburg 59-49 to capture the title.
1994 - Tournament newcomer West Frankfort led by MVP Lance Brown, destroyed Harrisburg 71-45 in the finals. Redbird coach, Bob Brown, who guided Eldorado to titles in 1973 and 1975, claimed his third Tourney Championship.
1995 - With eight seconds remaining, a bucket by MVP Cory Turner gave Massac County a 36-34 title game victory over Harrisburg, who finished second for the fourth straight year.
1996 - Massac County coasted to a 64-48 victory over Gallatin County in the Championship game. It was the Patriots' third title in four years and gave Coach Joe Hosman his fourth Championship overall.
1997 - McLeansboro became only the second unseeded team in Tournament History (the first was Meridian in 1976) to win the title, nudging Harrisburg 44-43 in overtime in the championship game. The Foxes had previously nipped West Frankfort 55-44 in double overtime in the quarterfinals and Eldorado 48-46 in the semis.
1998 - Never seriously challenged, with their closest game 12 points, Carmi cruised to the crown, climaxed by a 56-44 victory over perennial runner-up, Harrisburg, in the finals. Later, the Bulldogs made their first appearance in the Class A State Tournament, losing in the quarterfinals.
1999 - Massac County captured its third title in five years by defeating Eldorado in the championship game.
2000 - Anna-Jonesboro captured its first tournament title with a 55-50 victory over a tired Eldorado team, which had posted a grueling 82-80 triple overtime win over Harrisburg in the
2001 - Heavily-favored Henderson County won the title, but the real story of the tournament was Egyptian. With one of the smallest enrollments in the field, the crowd-pleasing Pharaohs led by MVP Dana Ford upset both the second and third seeds and then battled Henderson County down to the wire before falling 58-55 in the championship game.
2002 - Second seeded Massac County edged top-seeded Anna-Jonesboro 44-37 in a lackluster title game that dragged into overtime.
2003 - Craig Ramsey sank a pair of free throws with three
seconds remaining to give West Frankfort a thrilling 61-60 victory over Meridian in the title game. The Redbirds won their fourth tourney contest by a grand total of 11 points in a series of pressure packed performances.
2004 - West Frankfort rolled to its second straight tourney title by pounding 4 foes by margins ranging from 17-28 points, highlighted by a 59-38 win over Fairfield in the championship game.
2005 - Sixth-seeded Anna-Jonesboro mashed Massac County 52-30 in perhaps the dullest championship game in the 40-year history of the tournament.
2006 - Pulling off three consecutive upsets, eighth-seeded Fairfield claimed its first Holiday Tourney title, edging Harrisburg 53-49 in the finals.
2007 - After overcoming a 19-point deficit to edge Harrisburg in the semi-finals, unbeaten Eldorado cruised past Fairfield, 65-49, in the championship game.
2008 - Top-seeded Massac County, which later finished second in the 2A state tournament, rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat upset-minded Carrier Mills, 59-47, in the championship game.
2009 - Down 8 points with under three minutes to play, Meridian roared back to upset Harrisburg, 72-70, in an exciting finale. It marked the eight straight loss in the Championship games for Harrisburg.
2010 - Harrisburg ended a streak of 8 straight losses in Championship games by defeating Massac County, 61-57.
2011 - Harrisburg defended its 2010 championship by defeating Herrin in a close championship game by 1 point 46-45, in a year where all the championship games were decided by 3 points or less.
2012 - Harrisburg totally dominated the tournament, rolling over four opponents by 19 points or more to capture the title.
2013 - Harrisburg became the first team in EHT history to win four straight titles, eclipsing the mark of three set by Norris City-Omaha-Enfield as the Bulldogs beat Meridian 85-77 in the championship. Bahari Amaya became the fifth Bulldog in a row to earn Most Valuable Player honors.