CARBONDALE — Faced with diminishing local interest from schools and fans, Carbondale Community High School has pulled the plug on the Carbondale Holiday Tournament.

“This was a very difficult decision to make–it was very sad,” said Carbondale Athletic Director Mark Albertini. “I remember being a little kid and getting the ticket book to go watch Tyrone Nesby, Troy Hudson, Rashad Tucker, Shane Hawkins all playing in the tournament. I just look back at three years ago with Murphysboro and Carbondale playing at 5:30 at the Arena, and there are 72 people there on a Saturday night.”

Fewer and fewer local teams meant smaller and smaller crowds–a vicious circle that ultimately led to the end of the tourney that started in 1964 and spanned 56 years. Not even playing at the Arena, in the facility that hosts the 1A and 2A Supersectionals in March, was enough to overcome the issues of having a large number of out of state teams.

“When I first took over as athletic director, Coach Moss and Ms. King both told me how special and important the holiday tournament is,” Albertini said. “And I get it. I played in it. I grew up in it. The thing you started to see over those years is less and less local teams. We started having to rely on getting teams from out of state, and they weren’t putting butts in seats.”

The host Terriers won what turned out to be the final CHT played in 2019, as there were no holiday tournaments played in Illinois this past season due to the pandemic. But as one door closes, another is opening. While the Carbondale Holiday Tournament is now history, CCHS is not quite ready to give up on hosting basketball after Christmas.

Carbondale and Marion have agreed to team up to host a new holiday tournament. It will be called the “Route 13 Christmas Classic.”

“When Mark started telling me the Carbondale Holiday Tournament could be over, it could end, I threw our name in the hat,” said Marion Athletic Director Ryan Goodisky. “(I) said ‘we would be willing to go in with you and revamp this thing and see if we can keep something alive together.'”

Here’s how the tournament with co-hosts will work: there will be pool play at each campus site the first two days with the trophy day rotating from year to year. No games will be played at SIU.

The multiple-host tournament format is starting to become a popular alternative.

“A lot of schools up north have gone to this format,” Albertini said. “I think the Effingham Tournament does a similar thing. Of course there’s is eight teams at each site, so that’s kinda the model we’re looking we’re following right now and just try to grow it from that.”

“Any athletic director or school that has put on a tournament of any sort understands there’s a lot that goes into it,” Goodisky said. “When we thought of even sponsorships and trying to make sure we have all the resources to host a nice tournament, we thought hey, between Carbondale and Marion, we could pull our heads together and probably take care of the resources a little easier working together.”

The first year of the Route 13 Christmas Classic will feature eight teams, four at each campus site. In addition to the Terriers and Wildcats, Jacksonville, Springfield Southeast, and Paducah Tilghman have committed, leaving three spots to fill.

“Of course we want local teams to attend and be a part of this, but if we’re not going to get local teams then we’ll probably focus on the Paducah area–teams that are about and hour, hour and a half away. I think we can pull some pretty good teams, some great competition like we’ve always had. I think it’ll be a fun environment.”

Being athletic directors at two of the biggest schools in the region, Albertini and Goodisky are all too aware of the challenges of trying to schedule local teams, who are most often one or two classes smaller. Kentucky schools of varying sizes may potentially be options due to the fact it is a single class state

“We feel like we’re gonna put a tournament on here that’s gonna attract some really nice names, some really nice schools, and some rich traditions in terms of basketball programs,” Goodisky said. “I think it will be something all the basketball junkies in southern Illinois will want to come watch.”

This year’s tourney is scheduled to run December 28-30.