Photos courtesy of Dispatch/Argus (Beal) and Visual Image Photography (Liddell)
The Chicago Tribune has named its 2019 Illinois Ms. and Mr. Basketball Award winners based on a statewide vote by coaches and media.
Rock Island senior Breanna Beal won her third consecutive Ms. Basketball award, joining Naperville Central legend Candace Parker as the only three-time winner in state history. Beal will play collegiately at the University of South Carolina next year.
Belleville West senior forward EJ Liddell, an Ohio State commit, repeated as Mr. Basketball after leading the Maroons to back-to-back IHSA Class 4A State Championships.
Per the Tribune, Beal’s 322 voting points were more than the next four girls finishers combined. Liddell cruised to a historically comfortable victory, with his 506 points more than the combined total of the other 38 players who received votes — the first time in the award’s 39-year history that a player has bested every other vote-getter’s sum.
Click here to read the Tribune's announcement story.