Game 88: United Township @ Galesburg (Boy's Basketball)

Game 88
(2/12/10)
United Township @ Galesburg (Boy's Basketball)

Humans react to the weather on a daily basis in a humorous way. Of course, weather is a part of our daily existence, but it becomes comical once you think about it, on the way we accept the weather patterns.

I woke up to this Friday with a light dusting of snow and flurries falling from the sky. My first thought as I peered out the window was, "MORE snow!?!....regionals are here, that means springtime is coming!"

Thinking about my gut reaction to the snowfall, I stepped back and pondered the thought of snowfall and how most of us react to snow. In November, when the snow falls, we look outside in astonishment at those foreign flakes falling from the heavens. We act as if this substance coating the ground has hit Earth for the first time in history. By December, we think, Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow, as we gleefully welcome in the holidays and wish for a white Christmas. When January rolls around, we think to ourselves, okay, it was nice a few weeks ago, but now it's not really necessary anymore. The dog days of winter are fully upon us in February. When the flakes fly, we gaze out the window and snarl at the snow, cursing at every flake that touches the ground.

I stepped in on tonight's Western Big 6 matchup between United Township and Galesburg for our regular Streaks play-by-play man Gary Petersen. John Ring and Jeff Thompson handled the Monmouth-Roseville Titans duties in their game against Farmington.

Upon arriving at John Thiel Gymnasium, I unpacked all of the equipment, but one thing was missing. A small piece of cord that plugs from my digital recorder (pregame interviews), into the microphone input on our Marti (or mixer board). Scraping through the bag three or four times, then my laptop bag, it was unfound. Thinking back to last night's game at Wharton Field House, I had just felt like I left something when I left the gym that night. The way everything was scrunched in where are setup was just set me up for leaving something. Not having anything to even rig something up, I did it the old fashioned way....sticking the digital recorder up to the stick microphone. It actually sounded ok, which worried me that the background noise from the gym would drown out the interviews. Saved for another broadcast!

Jimmie Carr got to the gym in the first quarter of the sophomore game and he complained about keeping him up too late the night before at the Green Briar in Moline. He says he just can't hang like "us young guys" anymore. During the second quarter, he went down and interviewed United Township head coach Marc Polite.

At halftime, I headed down to get Galesburg coach Mike Reynolds. There was a Junior Streaks game going on during the intermission. A familiar name was on the floor....Joey Range Jr. Yes, the son of former Streaks All-Stater and one-time Iowa Hawkeye Joey Range, who was in attendance. Speaking of Big 10 basketball, former Wisconsin Badger and current Monmouth College head coach Mark Vershaw was also in the gym. He was scouting a pair of UTHS Panthers, including Shaquille Lowery.

Before coach Reynolds came over I talked with Brad Swanson, who mans the northwest corner of the gym. Also on this side of the bleachers were the varsity officiating crew. A very familiar crew led by Joe Thompson, along with Aaron Furrow and Jake Kilberg.

Galesburg sophomore coach Ryan Hart was sporting a bright orange shirt tonight. Orange happens to be the color of the UTHS Panthers. I asked coach Reynolds about the selection of shirts by Coach Hart, and he replied with a comment I won't repeat, lol.

The Streaks were hot to start the game, jumping out to a 19-15 first quarter lead. Victor Davis scored 9 points, the first of which was a thunderous one-hand slam dunk on a breakaway. Midway through the first quarter on an in-bounds play, there was some "positioning" going on between the Streaks and Panthers. UTHS' Demetrius Singleton was warned by official Furrow. It continued. Joe Thompson stepped in, and it continued. Thompson, and now Kilberg, stepped in a third time, and Singleton was issued a technical foul. He would not return to the game until midway through the third quarter.

A second technical foul was issued, this time on the Streaks, in the second quarter. This time it was on the free throw line, and Ryan Ricketts was whistled on the "T" for a flagrant elbow. No more technicals were issued the rest of the game.

Galesburg started to cool off during the second quarter, with UTHS outscoring the Streaks 18-12 in that frame, and took a 33-31 lead into the half. Victor Davis had 16 points to lead GHS, while UTHS was led by Shaquille Lowery's 9 points.

Speaking of Lowery, it is starting to make me feel really old that kids are now playing high school basketball, named after Shaquille O'Neal. The first instance of this happening was with the influx of high schoolers named Ryne a few years ago, after Ryne Sandberg. I guess we never stop aging and the trend will continue.

The Streaks battled back in the third quarter and trailed by a point (46-45) entering the final frame. In the fourth quarter, the Streaks just could not close. Trailing by three points midway through the fourth quarter, Galesburg missed three free throws on three-point play attempts. The Streaks would finish the game (16-30) from the free throw line.

United Township would hang on for the 65-60 win behind great performances by Nic Hoepfner and Shaquille Lowery, each scoring 21 points. Hoefner went (9-13) from the free throw line, while Lowery was perfect (8-8). Mitch Wright added 11 points for the Panthers, nailing three big three-pointers. Victor Davis had a huge night for the Streaks with 26 points and 16 rebounds.

I made my typical stop at the Galesburg Mobil station on Henderson Street, grabbing just an Orange Gatorade. I had some Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips in my car from a snack on Thursday. It was pretty foggy along Route 41 between Galesburg and Abingdon, but the fog faded once I pulled into Abingdon and was clear sailing the rest of the way. An old song came over the airwaves driving through Prairie City. It was Primus' "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver".

The Quest File Notes
Game 88
Date: 2/12/10
Result: United Township holds off Galesburg, 65-60
Miles: 100