Game 64: Galesburg vs. (Lake Villa) Lakes (Boy's Basketball)

Game 64
(1/18/10)
Galesburg vs. (Lake Villa) Lakes (Boy's Basketball)
Martin Luther King Tournament

The beginning of a doubleheader at Galesburg High School. Went into the office at 7:00 a.m. to get caught up, so I could leave late morning and spend the rest of the day watching basketball at John Thiel Gymnasium.

Arrived at the gym around 10:45 a.m. and set things up, and filled out my scorebook for this first matchup. The game going on was United Township vs. (Chicago Heights) Marian Catholic. After filling out my book, I tracked down coach Mike Reynolds of the Silver Streaks to get my pregame interview.

First, I stopped and chatted with GHS Athletic Director Ralph Henning. We talked a little basketball and wanted to make sure I could keep some of the broadcast equipment in our booth, since I would be back on Thursday for the girl's game.

I said hi to assistant coaches Steve Cheesman and Rob Williams before my talk with Reynolds. Coach Reynolds was pretty happy with his team's play on Saturday, and said they went through a normal practice on Sunday, as did the rest of the teams in the tournament, since all but United Township stayed in town Saturday and Sunday nights.

After finishing the interview, I had some time to grab a water in the hospitality room. Lunch had not arrived yet, but I grabbed something to drink. Henning, along with a couple officials, were in the room.

I learned for the first time, that if I powered my Marti unit on during the morning hours on WAIK, it would come across the air. From 9:00 a.m. to Noon weekdays, Jack Larson hosts a big band show on 1590 WAIK. He broadcasts from our Galesburg studios via a Marti unit. Apparently the sports Marti unit is stronger, and when activated, will overpower the studio Marti. When I turned it on, it took Jack off the air. Learn something new everyday.

This also created a small problem, since I need to check my levels, and Jack was hosting his show right up until my pregame show. Fortunately, the United Township/Marian Catholic game went a little long, so a quick two minute break from Jack's show to our pregame show gave us ample time to make sure everything was sounding good.

There was a small gathering of coaching minds in the bleachers near our broadcast location. Galesburg girl's basketball coach Evan Massey, Moline boy's coach Ryan Webber (Galesburg native), Rock Island boy's coach Thom Sigel, and Knox College men's basketball coach Rob Purlee all congregated together.

Lakes came in led by John Androus, who is averaging around 23 points/game and just surpassed 1,000 career points earlier in the season. It would not be his day against Galesburg.

The 6'5" guard/forward was mainly defended by 6'0" junior Ryan McElmurry (I think 6'0" may be stretching it!). McElmurry gave Androus fits, to the tune of three fouls in the first seven minutes of the game. Androus picked up his third foul with 1:13 to play in the first quarter, and sat the rest of the first half.

Galesburg jumped out to a 23-9 lead after one quarter, boosted by six-point efforts from Brandon Thompson and Chad Thompson (no relation). By halftime, the Streaks built a 40-19 lead behind a balanced scoring attack.

Androus would start the second half with three fouls, and played foul-free throughout the third and fourth quarters, finishing with 10 points in the game. The Streaks outscored the Eagles 21-15 in the third quarter, with Brandon Thompson and Dalton Davis each knocking down a three-pointer. Galesburg finished the game hitting seven, three-pointers.

Galesburg would down Lakes 70-43, and had five players score in double figures. Brandon Thompson scored a game-high 15 points, followed by Victor Davis and Chad Thompson with 13 points, while Dalton Davis and Trimaine Carson each added 10 points. Lakes was led by Tyler Swindle's 14 points, and Androus' 10 points.

After the game, I mosied on back to the hospitality room and grabbed a couple Reece's Pieces cookies and a water. A couple coaches from Marian Catholic were the only bodies in the hospitality room. I headed back up to my broadcast booth and filled out the scorebook for the 6:00 game and prepared my notes.

I took in the next two games, featuring Maine South against Marian Catholic, followed by United Township against (Lake Villa) Lakes. I took some video of the latter matchup, which can be seen on the homepage of www.ihssn.net.

During the second matchup, I headed back down to the hospitality room. A little livelier this time, with coach Reynolds, coach Massey, and a few of the referees sharing stories. Coach Massey was getting ribbed for wearing a Savanna basketball sweatshirt, with somebody in the group asking if they had won any games while he was there (Massey graduated from Savanna High School). Other knocks came on an elder official, upon telling a story and dating himself, Reynolds replying, "oh you mean before I was born."

Dinner was served in the hospitality room, catered by the great downtown Galesburg establishment, The Pizza House. I had a plate full of lasagna with a Pepsi.

The Quest File Notes
Game 64
Date: 1/18/10
Result: Galesburg improves to (3-0) in tournament with 70-43 win over (Lake Villa) Lakes
Miles: 50