Game 103: Olney East Richland vs. Mt. Vernon, IN (Boy's Basketball)

Game 103
Olney East Richland vs. Mt. Vernon, IN (Boy's Basketball)
Carmi-White County Tournament
(1/18/11)

Travel-blog features the amount of radio stations covering the Carmi Tournament, gym picture, an awesome roster of names, and my broadcast partner for the evening...



Something that has wowed me when I broadcast in the south, is the amount of radio coverage that is present.  Working in Galesburg, we have two radio stations that cover both the boy's and girl's basketball programs.  The only other radio coverage on the girl's side in the Western Big 6 is at Rock Island, where the school just started broadcasting on iHigh this year.  On the boy's side, Quincy is the only other team that gets covered.

Throughout the night in Carmi, I counted six other radio stations that were broadcasting!  Amazing!  I know that WRUL, WEBQ, WFIW were there, and three other stations were there that I didn't know the call letters (one station was based in Olney). 

The view of McDougall-Evers Gym from my booth

I was nice and cozy in the upper reaches of the McDougall-Evers Gymnasium at Carmi-White County.  The second game of the tripleheader featured Olney East Richland and Mt. Vernon, Indiana. 

When I worked the Iowa/Illinois Shootout before Christmas, I joked to Aaron Brenner of the Quad City Times that even though the Davenport schools were just across the river, I could tell you more about the Blue Division teams in the Chicago Public League than a team right across the river.  Obviously, I was at a disadvantage of any knowledge on the Mt. Vernon Wildcats.  They came into the game with a 3-7 record, and featured a lineup with some pretty sweet names.  In fact, I could make an All-Tournament Name Team of strictly Mt. Vernon Wildcats.

The roster has names that feel they could come right out of a Tom Petty song.  Let me share some of my favorite names from the team.

Mt. Vernon, IN Wildcats
River VanZant (6'0" So.) - Sounds more like a lead singer of a pop country band than a guard on a basketball team.
J.T. Silvers (6'2" So.) - I'd picture this name as a guitar player in a rock band.
Jevin Redman (6'2" So.) - Sounds like pro football player's name.
Drake McNamara (6'1" So.) - I picture him as a doctor on a soap opera.
Craig Dick (6'1" So.) - The younger sidekick on a comedy tour with Andy Dick.
Troy Paris (6'3" Jr.) - An arrogant professional wrestler.

To fill me in a little bit on the area and teams was a Fairfield High School graduate and aspiring sports broadcaster, Derek Dunn, a.k.a. The Radio Guy. 

Aspiring sports broadcaster Derek Dunn

I first "met" Derek through the website, Illinois High School Sports.  He was seeking some help in his radio career and how to better himself, so I shared some tips.  He is a regular commenter on the IHSS message boards.  Derek graciously helped to color commentary for the three games at Carmi.  He works part time at WFIW in Fairfield.

Olney East Richland jumped out to a 17-14 lead after the first quarter, and held on to a 28-24 lead at halftime.  The Tigers held off the Wildcasts throughout the 3rd quarter, clinging to a one-point lead entering the final eight minutes, but finished off Mt. Vernon, 55-52 in another close game at the tournament.

Brook Pampe (6'0" Jr.) was on fire for the East Richland Tigers, scoring a game-high 25 points, and knocked down four three-pointers.  Michael Fehrenbacher scored 11 points for the Tigers.  East Richland shot 18-21 from the free throw line.  Jacob Steinhart (6'6" Sr.) scored a team-high 23 points for the Wildcats. Brian Koch (pronounced Coke) scored 16 points.