As the bell rang on Dec. 18, which marked the beginning of break, though school was on pause, EHS athletes were in full swing.

Because conference play is also on hold during break, the time off proves to be prime time for the toughest non-conference match ups the teams will face prior to postseason.

The Tiger girls basketball team took the Edwardsville Holiday Classic title for the seventh straight year. The Lady Tigers are now 28-0 overall in their home tournament.

The squad cruised to the championship in dominating fashion defeating Dekalb 72-30, Teutopolis 68-37, Jacksonville 69-35 and Chicago Simeon 68-46 in the championship game.

“We were just excited to finally have a home game because most of our games had been away,” junior Makenzie Silvey said. “We just wanted to go out there and make a statement starting in the first game of pool play.”

Silvey and sophomore Kate Martin were both named first team all-tournament and sophomore Rachel Pranger was named second team all-tournament.

“I was excited to be named to first team again,” Silvey said. “My teammates always do a good job of setting screens and giving me good passes to score with and I like to give good passes back to them if I’m not open.”

Boys basketball traveled to Bloomington-Normal to compete in the State Farm Holiday Classic against some of the state’s best competition. The invite only classic claims to be the best basketball before post-season playoffs begin.

The Tigers defeated Mahomet Seymour 46-37 in the first round but fell to Zion Benton 50-38 in the second round. The team then battled through the losers bracket defeating North Chicago 74-57 and Wheaton Warrenville South 50-43 to capture fifth place.

“It’s [the Classic] really fun but also really good competition,” junior AJ Epenesa said.

Epenesa was one of six athletes from 16 teams named to the all-tournament team in the large school boys division after he threw down for 56 points in four games and broke the backboard on one of his signature dunks against Wheaton Warrenville South.

“I brought down the dunk like I do any other one but this time I knocked a couple nuts and bolts loose and the backboard piece came off,” Epenesa said. “They ended up taking about 10 minutes to pull it down and repair it in the middle of the game.”

Tiger Ice Hockey came two games closer to an undefeated season over break defeating Belleville 8-2 and Columbia 11-0. Both senior Tyler Hinterser and junior John Paul Kreckovich came away with hat tricks against Columbia.

In the pool the boys swim team finished second in a triangular meet with O’Fallon and Springfield with 92 points. The team also defeated Routt Catholic 85-83 in a dual meet.

Also dominating in the pool, junior standout Bailey Grinter achieved her second Olympic time trial cut in the 50 freestyle after swimming a 26.05 at the USA Swimming junior nationals.

“It was a great feeling [making the cut],” Grinter said. “I was very happy and also relieved because I knew I didn’t have to worry about the cut anymore.”

The 2016 Olympic time trials are set for June 2-July 3, 2016 in Omaha, Neb. where Grinter will also compete in the 100 backstroke.

Tiger Wrestling took 20th in the Al Dvorak Memorial Invitational which featured top teams from five states including three time defending Florida state champions Lakeland High Prep.

“Teams come from all over so it is interesting to see all levels of competition from places like Florida and Ohio,” senior James Watters said. “To know they think Edwardsville is good enough to compete year after year with the best teams shows that we have developed a legacy.”

Senior James Watters captured fourth for the Tigers at 182 lbs. and freshman Noah Surtin at 106 lbs. and senior Mason Taylor at 160 lbs. both took fifth.

“It was pretty nice to come away with fourth,” Watters said. “But I’m not satisfied and will keep getting better.”

As regular season play resumes, teams look to use their experiences from new non-conference competition to help them prepare for deep runs in postseason play.

“We see all sorts of different types of teams at these tournaments,” Epenesa said. “It helps us with our overall ability to handle different types of teams that are good at different specific skills.”