1990
For the only time in tournament history, all games were conducted in two 16-minutes halves instead of the traditional eight-minute quarters.  The Three Amigos (Donnie Boyce, Sherrell Ford and Michael Finley) electrify the masses, as Proviso East crushes all of their opponents by double digits in winning the Pirates eighth Holiday Tournament championship.  Tournament Most Valuable Player Sherrell Ford caps the tournament with a 28 point performance against Proviso West on 12-for-14 shooting.  Michael Finley adds 20 and Donnie Boyce scores 17.  The Pirates go on to capture the state championship in March.  Chicago Vocational's Juwan Howard led the tournament in both scoring and rebounding for the second year in a row -- the only player to ever accomplish that feat.  Results from 1990

TEAMS IN:  Dunbar
TEAMS OUT:  Waukegan East 

 

Michael Finley was the only one
of the Three Amigos not to make
the All-Tournament Team
 

1991
The tournament starts on December 23, marking the only time in tournament history that the dates of the event did not fall between Christmas and New Year's Day.  Despite the graduation of three players who would later go on to play in the NBA, Proviso East repeats as champions in both the Proviso West Holiday Tournament and the Class "AA" State Tournament.  This time, transfer Jamal Robinson leads the Pirates to the title against his former school (Saint Joseph) with a 24-point championship game effort, as Proviso prevails 65-59 in a battle of unbeatens.  Results from 1991

TEAMS IN:  None
TEAMS OUT:  None

1992
Westinghouse shatters the record books by scoring 123 points against Bloom in opening round action.  The Warriors Kiwane Garris is named to his third consecutive All-Tournament Team.  Proviso East runs their tournament winning streak to 11 games, before falling in the championship 48-38 to archrival Proviso West and coach Lowell Lucas, who won the tournament in his final season.  In one of the tournament's most unusual oddities, the Panthers were shutout in the second quarter of the title game, but still managed to win.  Rockford Boylan's Lee Lampley sets the new tournament scoring record with 128 points.  Results from 1992

TEAMS IN:  Loyola Academy, Rockford Boylan
TEAMS OUT:  Fenwick, Saint Martin

1993
Computerized game statistics debuts, as the Proviso West Tournament becomes the first high school event to utilize electronic boxscores.   King's Landon Cox returns to the Proviso West Holiday Tournament and promptly wins his second championship -- a 57-52 victory over Westinghouse.  The Jaguars Michael Hermon sets the tone early with a 44-point performance against Loyola Academy in first round play and is named Tournament Most Valuable Player,  scoring 114 points in four games.  Results from 1993

TEAMS IN:  Gordon Tech, Martin Luther King
TEAMS OUT:  Bloom, Rockford Boylan




 

   
 
   Love him or Like him:
   King's Landon Cox made
   the Final Four eight times
 

1994
Kevin Garnett makes his Chicagoland debut and does not disappoint as the man-child averages 14.8 rebounds and 7.0 blocks, as the Admirals win their first Proviso West title 83-63 over Westinghouse.  Farragut is so dominant, they win their opener by 31 points over Chicago Vocational; defeat quarterfinal opponent Gordon Tech by 32 and establish the biggest margin of victory in a semi-final game, with a 28 point win over Evanston.  The Admirals' Freshman Michael Wright sets the all-time tournament shooting proficiency mark by making 21 of 24 shot attempts.  Garnett saves the best for last, as he scores 26 points, grabs 18 rebounds and has nine blocks in the championship game.  The 6-11 senior is selected as the number five pick in the NBA draft six months later.  The title game is televised live by Sports Channel which picks up the game to fill a scheduling void due to the NHL players' strike.  Results from 1994

TEAMS IN:  Farragut
TEAMS OUT:  Collins

1995
Six of the top twelve teams in Chicago partake in the 35th Annual Proviso West Tournament.  Farragut  Part II stars on the Proviso hardwood, as the official record for single game attendance is set -- 4188 for the quarterfinal game between Farragut and New Trier.  the gymnasium was officially sold out at 5:35 p.m. for the second quarterfinal game which was the earliest sellout in tournament history. The Admirals squeak by with a 47-44 victory.  Doors were later opened to allow the general public to attend the final two games of the evening after the Farragut-New trier game has concluded and spectators exited the building. Ronnie Fields breaks the 20-year old single game scoring record as he nets 51 points in first round play against Loyola Academy.  Fields also breaks the tournament four game scoring mark.  Despite the Admirals accolades, its Red-West rival Westinghouse that wins the title 57-55 over host Proviso West.  Long-time Proviso West Athletic Director Bernie Skul retires after tournament administration of all 35 past Proviso West Holiday Tournaments.  Results from 1995

TEAMS IN:  None
TEAMS OUT:  None

1996
The workings for the 1996 tournament actually started more than a year earlier as underclassmen Fenwic's Corey Maggette and Deerfield's Ryan Hogan were present at a top player photo shoot at Proviso West for the 1995-96 season preview.  Tournament Director Joe Spagnolo convinces the two players to ask their coaches to join the event the next year.  Hogan becomes the first player to ever score 30 points in all four games and is crowned as the all-time tournament scoring leader, tallying 136 points in the four day event. Day One action is highlighted by the breaking of a backboard in the Dunbar-Deerfield game when Mighty Men defenders Jason Holmes and Mark Wilson try to block a shot and simultaneously grasp the basket.  Action is halted for a little more than an hour as the backboard is replaced as 2315 spectators sit and watch.  Westinghouse and coach Frank Griseto defeats Farragut 83-79 in overtime to win the title -- marking the fourth straight year that the Warriors reach the title game, and the sixth straight year they make it to the tournament's Final Four.  Farragut's Michael Wright breaks the 21-year tournament rebounding record grabbing 67 boards.  The tournament was televised live for third straight year and for the first live internet updates and real time scores were posted on the world wide web.  Results from 1996

TEAMS IN:  Deerfield, Fenwick
TEAMS OUT:  Chicago Vocational, South Shore 


 

   

   Record crowds came to see
the high flying Corey Maggette
and the Fenwick Friars

1997
Westinghouse's bid to become the first team to win three straight Proviso West ends when first-time entrant Schaumburg defeats them in the Quarterfinals 60-56.  The Saxons upended Proviso East 66-55 in the opening round and defeated New Trier 62-48 in the semi-finals to advance to the title game in their very first appearance at Proviso West.  Farragut proves too much in the title game and ends Cinderella's hopes 67-52.  The Admiral's Michael Wright becomes the tournament's all-time scoring and rebounding leader.  Wright plays in sixteen games over his four years, scoring 293 points and grabbing 168 rebounds.  The third place game is delayed 20 minutes when Martin Luther King arrives late after playing earlier that afternoon in the Mayor's Tournament.  The late wait doesn't effect New Trier, as they take home the third place trophy 65-60, and King records their third loss in the last 24 hours. Results from 1997

TEAMS IN:  Manley, Schaumburg
TEAMS OUT:  Gordon Tech, Loyola Academy

1998
Two south suburban schools, Hillcrest and Homewood-Flossmoor make their tournament debuts, as the two teams would combine for 46 wins, 12 trophies. and five title game appearances over the next ten years.  Five teams enter the Christmas Classic unbeaten and all ranked in the Top Ten.  Westinghouse (15-0) coasts to a 64-50 title game victory over Proviso East, in a battle of the remaining unbeatens, as Cedric Banks nets 25 for the Warriors.  Saint Joseph loses in the opening round to Dunbar 71-67 -- for their only loss of the season, as the Chargers win the Holiday Tournament Consolation Championship and never look back en route to the state crown.  A record six different teams from the Holiday Tournament advance beyond the Sectional Final round during the 1998-99 campaign -- including the state's first, third and fourth place teams. Results from 1998

TEAMS IN:  Hillcrest, Homewood-Flossmoor 
TEAMS OUT:  Lyons Township, Wendell Phillips

1999
Cedric Banks guides Westinghouse to its second straight title, as Banks captures Tournament MVP honors for the second straight year, as the Warriors beat Hillcrest 60-50.  Quitman Dillard, an All-Tournament Team selection in 1987 coached the Warriors to first place (one position higher than as a player in 1987) serving as interim coach during Chris Head's suspension by the IHSA.  The tournament championship semi-finals (Hillcrest 49, Homewood-Flossmoor 45; and Westinghouse 48, New Trier 43) mark the only time that none of the semi-finalists did not  reach the 50-point plateau in tournament history.  Games are cybercast live over the internet in real-time and fans could cast their votes electronically for the next year's All-Time All-Tournament Team.  Results from 1999

TEAMS IN:  Elgin Larkin, Providence Saint Mel
TEAMS OUT:  Deerfield, Dunbar

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