Game 73: Monmouth-Roseville @ Macomb (Girl's Basketball)

Game 73
(1/25/10)
Monmouth-Roseville @ Macomb (Girl's Basketball)

A surprisingly nasty weather night this Monday evening. As I drove down Route 67 around 3:30 in the afternoon, the section between Roseville and Macomb was pretty white, with blowing snow across the roadway. The area only saw about two inches of snow, but 40 mph winds created some white-out conditions. It would worsen throughout the night, and a winter weather advisory was issued in the early evening.

Always enjoy the Macomb games, first off because of the short drive home, but also to see old faces. Even though I live in town still, a majority of time is spent away from town, or on the road. I tried to sneak in a quick nap before heading up to the Washington Street Gym, but to no avail. I awoke and had one of those bachelor suppers, consisting of toaster strudel (Boston Cream Pie, wow!) and a banana.

I made my way to the home of the Lady Bombers around 5:30. There was already quite a few cars parked, but this is also home to the Macomb campus of Spoon River College, which was a majority of the cars parked here. I had to park in the west lot, but not too far of a walk.

Before the JV game tipped off, I walked over and talked with both head coaches, Jim Cole of the Titans, and Jeff Thorman of the Lady Bombers. My first interview was with coach Cole. We talked about the status of his team, and how healthy they were. Rebecca Gillen tweaked her ankle a few weeks ago, but has recovered nicely. However, the Titans have lost Chelsea Clark, one of their post players. Monmouth-Roseville is coming off a huge win in Olympic Conference play, defeating Sherrard last Monday.

After my chat with Cole, I talked with Jeff Thorman. His team is pretty young and inexperienced, but have played one tough schedule. They are coming off games against 3A competition over the last week (Galesburg, United Township, and Peoria Central), along with 1A (#1) Brimfield. Coach Thorman also informed me that the Lady Bomber Classic would be adding another strong team next year, with the addition of Illini Bluffs. They will replace Rushville-Industry. Knoxville is also looking to get out of the tournament to play in the Galesburg Thanksgiving Tournament. It looks like West Prairie will be replacing Knoxville at Macomb.

As we chatted after our pregame interview, we noticed the two-man officiating crew for the JV game was Marv Hillyer, and Chris Smith. Smith and I worked together for 3.5 years on the K100 morning show in Macomb. Thorman looked out on the playing floor, trying to get Smith's attention, asking, "Doesn't he wear glasses?!" He was not wearing glasses. Chris later came up to me during the JV game, and I posed that very question, saying he was wearing contacts. Sure!

After my talks with the coaches, I made my way back over to press row. I ran into Stan Day, and talked about the girl's team. His daughter, Ashton, his a senior for the Lady Bombers. After a quick chat, I headed back to my broadcast location courtside at the Washington Street Gym, where I ran into Jeff Miller. His son, Austin, is the state's #1 ranked wrestler in the 130 lb. weight division.

After leading by three points at halftime of the JV contest, the Titans squandered their lead, and fell by 13 points (38-25) to the hosts. With a couple minutes left in the JV game, I saw Macomb athletic director Dave Bartlett call over the officials and tell them something, then say something to the scorer's table. I assumed it had something to do with the varsity officiating crew, and it did. The varsity officials did not arrive until about 0:20 to play in the sophomore contest. They would get dressed and be ready with no delay.

As I went on the air for the pregame show, my old buddy Dana Nissen stopped by. We talked a little wrestling. Dana and I, along with Macomb football coach Kelly Sears took a trip to Keokuk a couple years ago to watch some pro wrestling, put on by the "King" Harley Race. We talked about TNA bringing back all of the old wrestlers, including Ric Flair. Dana said that if Ric Flair wrestles again, coach Sears will play 8-man football. Let's all cross our fingers for Ric Flair's return to the wrestling ring!!!

The first quarter was pretty rough for the host Lady Bombers, as Monmouth-Roseville jumped out to a 13-4 lead. Both teams had troubles handling the basketball, with some helter skelter play. It seemed everytime one team committed a turnover, the other team would turn it right back over.

In the second quarter, Monmouth-Roseville had a "power play", or a 5-on-4, when Macomb's Taylor Claudon lost her shoe running down the floor. The Titans did not capitalize with the extra player on that posession.

At halftime, the Titans led the Bombers 23-9. Lynsey Weber had 9 points at the break. During my break, Alan Thompson stopped by. An avid outdoorsman, he tries to expose me to the outdoor life. I did go duck hunting this past fall, my first ever experience out on a hunt. This time, we was talking about an ice fishing adventure, or possibly "shed hunting", for antlers. His daughter, Kali, a sophomore on the team, tore her ACL earlier this season. More on ACL tears later in this blog.

Over the next two quarters, sloppy play continued, but Monmouth-Roseville was able to hang on. The Titans picked up their 17th win of the season by beating Macomb 47-25. The last few minutes were pretty ugly. In all, Macomb turned the ball over 29 times, while the Titans had turned it over 26 times. Monmouth-Roseville also struggled from the free throw line, shooting just (10-22).

During the game, I was getting text updates from the Macomb/Orion boy's basketball game. In commercial breaks, I had my radio tuned to K100's call of that game (with Kipp Jones and Kelly Sears). As my postgame commercial break was coming to an end, there was still 0:20 to play in the Macomb/Orion game with a 52-49 lead for the host Orion Chargers. A small group gathered around my broadcast setup to hear the ending. Since I had to go back on the air to finish the postgame show, I handed over the digital radio with ear buds to some Monmouth-Roseville Titans boy's basketball players huddled around, with Tim Chick, Drew Cole, Alex Temple, and Alex Bresnahan all listening in to the conclusion of that game while I interviewed coach Jim Cole.

As I finished up my interview with coach Cole, I asked Tim Chick what the final score of the Macomb/Orion game, and the Chargers had prevailed 56-50. After my postgame show wrapped up, the group of Titans basketball players quizzed me on broadcasting solo and how many games I was up to.

Macomb coach Jeff Thorman stopped by, and we chatted about the game. We also talked about ACL tears. He had said he heard from a trainer that in girl's, as they grow, their hips widen, creating weakness in their legs, and a better chance for tearing the ACL (that is just off the top of my head, can't recall the exact conversation!).

The Quest File Notes
Game 73
Date: 1/25/10
Result: Monmouth-Roseville beats Macomb 47-25 in an ugly game
Miles: 3