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Princeville @ West Prairie (Boy's Basketball)
(1/25/11)
In a rare Tuesday night broadcast, I made the quick trip over to West Prairie High School. The first time I've seen a defensive player call a timeout during a posession, a table collapses on me, troubles with duct tape, and some Lincoln Trail Conference basketball.
Normally, I try not to schedule broadcasts on Tuesday nights since that is the night that I compile and release the IHSSN Coaches Polls. However, with a 15-broadcast week last week, I took Monday off as an extra day of recovery. With this switch in schedule, I needed to fill the Tuesday night spot.
With the coaches poll compiliation in the back of my mind, I wanted to find a game that met two scenarios. 1) There were no other broadcasts of the game already happening, and 2) It was a fairly short trip home. This really put a squeeze on potential matchups, but I found the opening just a few miles up the road between Princeville and West Prairie.
It was an easy schedule, and I've broadcasted a few games at the gym when I was at K100 in Macomb, and worked with athletic director Nancy Calvert quite often. I just headed down Route 67 after work and went straight to the gym.
After getting to the gym, I staked my claim in the corner of the stage of the gym, then filled out my scorebook, dodging errant basketballs flying my way. Cyclones basketball coach Andy Jordan showed me a table on the stage to use. Jordan is a Stockton, IL native in his first year at West Prairie, and first year as a head coach.
After getting my equipment set up, the table collapsed. Fortunately, it was more like a folding than a complete collapse. The brace of the table was unique, and at first, I couldn't find a way to lock the legs in place. Never did I realize, there was a picture diagram underneath the table that showed you how to lock the legs. It's the first table I've seen with an extra lock bar like this. There were no other collapses for the night.
There was something that occurred in the sophomore game that I have never seen. Down on my end of the court (nearest the stage), a West Prairie basketball player on defense during a Princeville posession was yelling for a timeout. It was granted...for a moment. Woops! It wasn't until the Princeville sophomore coach yelled out, "He can't call a timeout, they're on defense," that the officials realized this and the Princes kept the ball. I think it was one of those instances where it takes you so off guard, that it just seemed right to grant the timeout.
Throughout the night, I was having to secure my duct tape for the banner hanging at the front of my table. This is a constant problem which results from purchasing crappy duct tape!
Before the game, I did a count of players, cheerleaders, and band members at West Prairie. I think this may be the first time I have ever seen a game where all of the numbers for each of those was even, and it was less than 15! The Cyclones basketball roster listed 11 players, while I counted 10 cheerleaders, and during the National Anthem I counted 11 members of the band.
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| Center court at West Prairie High School |
The Princes jumped out to a 23-7 lead after one quarter, taking advantage of 13 West Prairie turnovers. Princeville never looked back, leading 42-23 at halftime, and 59-33 after three quarters. Princeville cruised to a 71-44 win at West Prairie.
West Prairie drops to 0-18 on the season, and almost had as many turnovers as points in the game (35 turnovers, 44 points). Despite the low scoring, Evan Gentes scored a game-high 20 points for West Prairie. He torched the nets with four three-pointers. Dylan Endress scored 15 points for Princeville. Nik Potter also scored in double-figures, finishing with 12 points.
Game 113 Miles: 80
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