Thrilling Games And Fantastic Individual Talent Are The Order Of The Day As The Peoria Irish Fall League Closes Out Another Highly Successful Campaign


Chicago Hoops
November 4, 2009

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The inaugural 2009 Peoria Fall League is in the books, and was without a doubt a wild success. Throughout the duration of the league many great games, performances, and matchups filled every week with excitement, and anticipation to see more.

Hats off to the Peoria Irish basketball program for an extraordinary league with excellent organization, competition, and talent. For more information regarding Peoria Irish basketball check out www.peoriairishoops.com .

Below is the breakdown of the top teams and players that played in the league complete with reports. The all-league and all-tournament teams are featured below as they were selected by league coordinators Jim Rochford and Gavin Sullivan.

Top Four League Teams

Team #1
Featured 2010 Peoria Notre Dame point guard Nick Rochford who was the catalyst throughout the tournament and regular season hitting jump-shots, distributing the ball, and playing sound defense. Jared Dehm a 2011 sleeper guard from Peoria Richwood’s was a pleasant surprise to see his development from week one to the playoffs; Dehm is the younger brother of junior Furman guard and former Richwood’s star Justin Dehm. Expect 2010 6-6 forward Drew Blumenshire from PND to have a big junior season. Chris Martin and Ben Ryan rounded out team #1 that went through the regular season undefeated.

Team #6
Starred with 2011 forward Max Bielfeldt was a man among boys week in and week out and put up monster numbers every week. Bielfeldt, had a strong supporting cast that included Sam Feehan, Beau Swinford, Garret Williams, and A.J Riley. Team #6 lost one regular season game against team #1.

Team #8
Drake commitment Rayvonte Rice was on full display all the way through the league featuring a fine tuned jump-shot, raw strength that is unparalleled around the basket and a killer instinct to games over for periods of times. Class of 2011 big Jens Kennedy was very solid throughout the league, Kennedy can go to his left or right hand around the basket and continues to extend his range outside of 15’. Ryan Sheipp, Mitchell McHale, and Josh Prosser rounded out the squad as solid contributors. Team #8 lost two games, one each to team #1 and team #6.

Team #11
Featured Quad Cities duo of Fred Van Fleet and Joe Danforth II, Van Fleet is a silky-smooth guard with a great on-court basketball savvy, and Danforth is an athletic slasher who can drive to the rim and score or shoot with range from the outside. Chad Thompson, Jordan Seele, and Quinton Love all helped contribute for a 4th place regular season finish.

Tournament Recap


In the tournament Team #6 defeated Team #4 in the finals, Team #6 led by Max Bielfeldt were victorious over Team #3 led by Dylan Sparkman. The consolation championship was won by Team #1 led by Nick Rochford and Ben Ryan as they defeated Team #10 led by Taylor Baxter, Chris Bryson, and Gerald Miller.

In the championship game the leading scorer was Max Bielfeldt with 41 points, Queton Lowe with 13 points, and Sam Feeham and Beau Swinford with 10 points each. Dylan Sparkman poured in 25 points for the opposition in a stellar championship performance.

The semifinals featured Team #1 led by Nick Rochford with 25 points followed by Ben Ryan with 11 points. Chris Bryson led Team #10 with points followed by Gerald Miller with 11 points.