While many students were enjoying a relaxing winter break, the Rich Township Boys Basketball program hosted the Rich 227’s premiere event, The Big Dipper Basketball Tournament.   This year’s Dipper took place between December 26-29 and the Rich Township Boys Basketball was ready to showcase their talent.  The Big Dipper began in 1973 and is celebrating its 50th year as one of the most talked about basketball tournaments in the Chicago area.  

This year, the Rich Township Raptors went 4-1 in the tourney, for a solid 4th place finish.  In their first match up, they faced Bremen where they dominated the Braves 78-30.  In the second match, the Raptors took on the Hawks of Hillcrest where they again dominated the court with an 81-52 victory.  The third matchup brought in the Homewood Flossmoor Vikings for some fierce competition.  The game ended with the Vikings taking the victory by 15 points.  The HF Viking went on to become the champions of the 50th Annual Big Dipper.

In the final game for Rich Township, the Raptors took on the Hyde Park Thunderbirds where they would win the 3rd place bracket 67-59.  Overall, the Raptors were very pleased with how they played.  Junior Myles Young said, “We played as a team and it was evident how well we work together on the court.  The fans were packed for every game and we really felt the energy throughout the tourney.”  

In addition to the RTHS boys’ varsity basketball team, the following schools participated: Thornton, Thornton Fractional South, Hyde Park, Homewood-Flossmoor, Thornwood, Tinley Park, Eisenhower, Crete-Monee, Crane Medical Prep, Hillcrest, Evergreen Park, Bremen, Westinghouse, and Bishop Noll.