State basketball finals to stay in Peoria, Normal

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Illinois High School Association, IHSA, Board of Directors met in regular session Saturday, March 21, in Peoria.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The board reviewed the host proposals for the IHSA boys’ and girls’ basketball state final tournaments as part of the agenda.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The board unanimously voted to renew the current state final site contracts at Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena in Normal for the girls’ tournament and Carver Arena in Peoria for the boys’ tournament from 2016 to 2020.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The IHSA received boys’ basketball hosting proposals from the University of Illinois to host at the State Farm Center in Champaign, and for the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates to host the Class 3A and 4A weekend of the tournament. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Bradley University’s Renaissance Coliseum in Peoria was the only other proposal for the girls’ basketball state finals. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Redbird Arena has hosted the IHSA girls’ state finals since 1992.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The first boys’ basketball state finals were played in Peoria in 1996.</span></p>