Game 106
(2/27/10)
Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City vs. Ridgewood (Girl's Basketball)
IHSA Class 1A Third Place
Since I stayed up late on Friday, not hitting the sack until after 1:00 a.m. I had planned on sleeping in until 8:00 or 8:30. That would not happen, as I had too much to get done, and too much on my mind. My body's alarm clock beat the set alarm clock and woke me up at 7:00. I layed in bed thinking of all of the stuff I had to do, and needed to go out and find an ATM, get something for breakfast, and the most important of all....get coffee.
People have suggested to me to make lists. When I have a list, and accomplish things in an organized manner, it makes life much easier. Again, I need a personal assistant to make sure I do these things day in and day out, lol. The first task at hand, was making sure my scorebooks were filled out, so I wrote in the Class 1A games in the book. After that, I headed out to find an ATM and a McDonalds (sigh...more fast food).
Fortunately my bank (Heartland) is based in Bloomington, so there were plenty of ATM's to avoid those darn surcharges. Garmin took me downtown and to an ATM. One thing I have not conquered on the Garmin, is figuring out how to find a destination, on the way to a destination, as in finding a McDonalds on the way, or nearest, to the hotel.
As with my Winnteka trip and trying to find a Giordano's, the same happened with my McDonalds morning escapade, taking me out to College Avenue in Bloomington, in essence, taking me on a large out-of-the-way trip. The McDonald's dollar breakfast menu may be the best thing ever invented in the fast food history, ranking above the original McDonald's dollar menu in my book! I ordered a breakfast burrito, and a Sausage McMuffin, along with my large coffee. Driving back to the hotel, I passed a McDonalds (which was much closer and could have saved me at least five minutes!).
My next task was to collect everything and put it together in the room, in preparation for checkout. For some reason, I had stuff spilled out everywhere. After a shower, I packed everything up and took it down to the car and checked out around 10:15. My next stop was to find a gas station and pick up a bottle of water. I hit the Express Mart, which is half gas station, half liqour store near campus. For some reason, I am picky when purchasing bottled water. I don't like Evian or the Nestle, and it's all about the bottle. My first choice is Dasani, or Aquafina. For some reason, it just "tastes" better...if that makes sense, and I'm sure it doesn't!
Once again, I was one of the first media members at Redbird Arena, arriving around 10:30. Shortly after setting up, I peered down press row and WRMJ owner John Hoscheidt had settled in. With Jim Taylor broadcasting games on Internet for the IHSA, John was handling the play-by-play duties for WRMJ in covering the Ridgewood Spartans.
I worked for John when I broke into radio, giving a fresh-faced 19-year old a full-time gig as Sports Director at the former WHHK (Galva) and WGEN (Geneseo) while I was still in college. He also helped me get the radio gig in Macomb. We talked about the boy's basketball regional championships played out the night before, and he mentioned the teams they used to cover before consolidation hit the west central part of the state. WRMJ would follow Aledo, Westmer, Rockridge, Sherrard, Yorkwood, Warren, and Alexis. Now, those seven schools have been whittled down to four (Mercer County, Rockridge, Sherrard, United).
While we were talking Jim O'Boye walked over and we talked about my interview with Lee Hall that would take place at some point in the day for the IHSA TV broadcast. As the three of us talked, he looked at John and said, "You're Hoscheidt, you look a lot younger." I joked, "That's probably the first time you've heard that in a while!"
John's partner in crime Jim Taylor arrived shortly thereafter, and was filling me in on the Alleman-Sherrard Regional Championship game. There is no love lost between the Tigers and Pioneers that dates back to the 1990's. Apparently, there were some shenanigans on the floor at times during the game. The Alleman Pioneers won by 19 points, and at (6-20) advance to the Sectionals.
I felt CH-BC (How I will denote the Hornets from now on, over spelling out Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City) had the advantage in this 3rd place game. The Hornets were beat by 20 points the day before, while Ridgewood took Hinckley-Big Rock to overtime, and lost an emotional game. Spartans coach Bryan Brooks said in the postgame press conference, "That was the state championship game in my mind..." You see this happen a lot in games where teams leave everything on the floor in that semifinal game, and just have no gas left for a 3rd place game.
Early on, that's the way the game played out. CH-BC and freshman phenom Micah Jones were dominating Ridgewood. The Hornets jumped out to a 15-8 first quarter lead. Faith Wendte scored 7 points for CH-BC in that opening frame.
The Spartans slightly closed the gap in the second quarter, outscoring the Hornets 10-9, and a big basket by Amanda Kruger with 0:02 left in the second quarter made it a six-point game (24-18) at halftime. Ridgwood's momentum carried over to start the third quarter, as they had carried over an 8-point run after trailing by 11 points late in the second quarter. Ridgewood was down (24-13), and had closed the gap to (24-21) early in the 3rd quarter.
CH-BC rallied back and led by 8 points midway through the third quarter, but another Spartans run closed the gap to 35-32 after three quarters. Micah Jones entered the fourth quarter with four fouls. In their loss to Jacksonville Routt on Friday, the Hornets completely fell apart without her on the floor (foul trouble). Jones picked up her fifth foul with 5:32 left in the game, and CH-BC led by three points at that stage.
Jones, a FRESHMAN, would stun girl's basketball fans watching as she would notch a TRIPLE-DOUBLE in this game. Micah Jones finished with this amazing stat line: 13 points, 19 rebounds, 11 blocks, 4 assists, 2 steals. Remember the name: MICAH JONES!
Just like Friday, the Hornets looked lost with Jones no longer available. The Ridgewood run had begun, and would close out the game outscoring the Hornets, 22-9. The Spartans would go (10-15) from the free throw line down the stretch.
Obviously Jones stat line was most impressive. Faith Wendte (14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists), and Hillary Shelton (4 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) also helped the Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City cause. Shelton fouled out shortly after Jones in the fourth quarter.
Ridgewood, victorious by a 54-44 margin, were led by Amanda Kruger (16 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), and Danyelle English (12 points, 9 rebounds).
Next up, our first state champion to be crowned in high school basketball for the 2009-10 season.
The Quest File Notes
Game 106
Date: 2/27/10
Result: Despite (Fr.) Micah Jones Triple-Double, Ridgewood claims 3rd place in Class 1A with a 54-44 victory.
Miles: 10
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