Game 47: Ridgewood vs. (Biggsville) West Central (Girl's Basketball)

Game 47
Ridgewood vs. (Biggsville) West Central (Girl's Basketball)
Knoxville/Abingdon Tournament
(12/13/10)

You would think someone in my position would have no problem being interviewed, but that is not the case. I get nervous before getting interviewed. The fact could actually be that rarely I am the interviewee, rather the interviewer.



Usually it's not worrisome, but I just want to make sure I am prepared and don't stumble over my words. A few days ago, Nathan Baliva contacted me and wanted to have me on as a guest during the local afternoon drive show on Peoria's ESPN radio (WZPN). Nathan was filling in for Donnie Tillman on the two-hour slot.

You may recognize Nathan's name, as he is the play-by-play voice of the Peoria Chiefs, and very often throughout the summer you may hear his name mentioned during Chicago Cubs TV broadcasts with Len Kasper and Bob Brenly. His name would pop up quite often after sending Len and Bob text updates of Chiefs games, which were of great interest to Bob Brenly, when his son Michael Brenly was playing in Peoria.

Since I know Nathan, it was more of a casual interview, though I still get those frantic thoughts going through my head on different questions. Here are the toughest questions I get, and I usually have to stammer my way through an answer...

1) What's the best game you've ever seen?
2) What's the best team you've ever seen?
3) Who's the best player you've ever seen?

Even with time to think about those above three questions, I couldn't come up with a solid answer. Each game I see is unique, and there are so many that I could name, it's tough to narrow it down. Same goes for the best teams, and players.

My interview with Nathan went just great, which was conducted via cell phone while I made the trip over to Knoxville. Most of the talk surrounded the quest to broadcast 150 games, along with discussing the "System" employed by the Galesburg Silver Streaks girl's basketball team. We actually spent quite a bit of time talking Galesburg basketball, since the regional assignments were just announced and the Silver Streaks boy's are headed to the Dunlap regional, featuring some Peoria teams. All in all, it seemed to go pretty well. Nathan is a great interviewer, so I had no worries...as long as he didn't ask me what the best game I've ever seen!

I pulled into Knoxville, just behind the Ridgewood bus, it was about 5:00, one hour before tipoff, which meant a great parking spot right across the street from the front doors.

As the Spartans piled out and headed into the locker room, I talked with coach Bryan Brooks. Mainly, we discussed some of the area teams and players, along with holiday tournament talk. Last year, his team played at the Erie tournament, but many of the teams he sees during the regular season also play at that tournament. He mentioned some various tournaments he would like to play in next year, and mentioned the Prophetstown Tournament, which is pretty solid with some of the better teams up north, including defending Class 1A champion, Hinckley-Big Rock.

The West Central Heat seemed to be a little late. There was no sign (at least from my vantage point) of the team until the 10:00 mark on the clock. The team took the floor for warmups with just over 9:00 before the tip.

There were no starting lineups announced, each team's starting five just took the floor, which left me scrambling since I had not had a chance to get any starters for the Heat.

It was a slow start, offensively with just a 6-4 lead for Ridgewood after the first quarter. The Spartans led 22-18 at halftime, before pulling away for a 44-32 win. Ashley Kruger led Ridgewood with 10 points, and Ella Teel added 8 points. Emily Hopping scored a game-high 11 points for West Central.

Did You Know? West Central sophomore Emily Hopping is the daughter of Galesburg softball coach Scott Hopping.

Scouting: I spoke with B-PC/A Spartans head coach Julie Blout briefly at halftime of the West Central/Ridgewood game. She was at the game scouting with her daughter, Bridjet. B-PC/A picked up a big win over Knoxville, 57-33 on Saturday, avenging an earlier loss to the Blue Bullets. Julie said the team came together and played the way did in the postseason last year, when they won a Class 1A Regional title, and gave Ridgewood a good game in the Sectional.

Game 47 Miles: 60