Triad and Litchfield have been invited to join the Highland Girls Tournament.

Those two schools replace Edwardsville and Olney East Richland.

Litchfield beat Pana, ranked No. 5 among Class 2A teams, 53-45 this past week.

Edwardsville, which on Saturday won the championship for the fourth time in five years, wasn’t invited back.

The Tigers have won 19 of 20 games since rejoining the Highland Tournament in 2008.

The Tigers also haven’t been asked to the Salem Invitational at the start of the season.

The Tigers (22-0) are looking for new early season and mid-January tournaments to join.

It would benefit the Tigers, who have outscored their opponents by more than 28 points per game this season, to find a tourney with more large-school powers.

Playing against some of the top Chicago schools or some of the Missouri powerhouses would better prepare them for postseason beyond the first round of the sectional.

— Steve Korte