Peoria Journal Star

Peoria Notre Dame wins State Farm Holiday Classic

December 31, 2010

Notre Dame's Max Bielfeldt, right, celebrates with his team after a 78-64 win against Lombard Glenbard East in the large school championship game of the State Farm Holiday Classic on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010, in Bloomington, Ill. Bielfeldt was named to the all-tournament team after the victory.

Glenbard East's Johnny Hill (44) grabs a rebound away from Notre Dame's Nate Bell (3) during the championship game in the State Farm Holiday Classic on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010, in Bloomington, Ill.

2010 Year in Sports Pictures

December 29, 2010

Just like most photographers, I shoot a ton of sports. This year was no exception. Compared to the past few years, it seems like I shot a wider variety of sports this year than usual. I shot a few sports I had never photographed before including hockey, golf and soccer. So continuing with the year in review posts, here are my 15 favorite sports shots from this year.

James Poscascio, a freshman at Butler, watches the action between his fingers during a viewing party of the Duke-Butler national championship game on Monday, April 5, 2010, at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Indiana forward Bobby Capobianco, right, reaches out to grab a rebound in front of Illinois center Mike Tisdale during the second half of IU's 66-60 loss to Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010, at Assembly Hall.

State Farm Holiday Classic

December 27, 2010

After a day in the snow and cold weather on Sunday, I retreated today to the friendly confines of some of the darkest gyms in the world … or at least it seemed that way. I shot a large boys and girls basketball tournament over in Bloomington, Ill. This first game was in the morning and the second game was a few hours later. It ended up being one of those hurry up and wait kind of days along with my second consecutive work day were I logged 11 or more hours on the clock. For all the stuff I shot, my three favorites came in the second game. I got a little creative (bored) and tried some panning since there were some bright spots of color in the background.

Peoria Notre Dame's Katie Schuler dives after a loose ball during a game against Sterling in the State Farm Holiday Classic on Monday, Dec. 27, 2010, in Bloomington, Ill. Notre Dame won 52-44.

Sterling's Kaitlon Busser, left, leads a fast break during a game against Peoria Notre Dame in the State Farm Holiday Classic on Monday, Dec. 27, 2010, in Bloomington, Ill. Notre Dame won 52-44.

Christmas outtake

December 27, 2010

Being that I’m the low man (intern) in the photo department, I worked on Christmas this year. My second assignment Christmas morning was to photograph the scene over at the South Side Mission where volunteers were preparing meals to deliver to the needy along with an in-house meal. Because of an earlier assignment, I showed up at the mission as they were preparing to serve the in-house meal in the afternoon. I shot this feature of a guy reading our newspaper as he waited for the meal to start. What struck me about it is that it’s a desk chair without a desk. It’s kind of a quirky little thing that I noticed.

Steven Johnston, of Farmington, relaxes as he reads a Journal Star before the start of a in-house Christmas meal on Saturday, Dec. 25, 2010, at the South Side Mission.

Bears-Jets NFL football

December 26, 2010