Game 98: Galesburg vs. Minooka (Boy's Basketball)

Game 98
Galesburg vs. Minooka (Boy's Basketball)
Galesburg Martin Luther King Tournament
(1/17/11)

Monday began with the normal wakeup call for a work day.  However, I would be spending just one hour at the office, then off to the gym for an entire day of basketball.  Darn my luck!  Fortunately, I had spend 4-5 hours in the office on Sunday night in preparation for being away for three days.



Still, there was plenty to finish up in the hour I had in the morning.  I was able to get everything accomplished and head to the gym in time.  I still had a lot to get done at the gym, filling out the scorebook, and trading out equipment.  Our MARTI has been down nearly one month, so I have had to use our Cellcaster for the home broadcasts, and the quality is not nearly as clear as the MARTI transmission.

Galesburg baseball coach Arnie Gonzalez walked into the gym at the same time I arrived just before 8:30 a.m.  He jokingly said, "I got on (Mike) Reynolds for scheduling these games so early!"  The first game of the day tipped off at 8:30 with Maine South facing Marian Catholic.

Quincy head coach Sean Taylor and his two kids were with him to watch his brother Mike's team, Marian Catholic in that opening game.  Sean's son was sporting a Troy Polomalu jersey, a day after the Steelers advanced to the AFC Championship game.

The Marian Catholic cameraman was back in our booth filming.  The team had stayed in Galesburg all weekend, staying overnight Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  On Friday, the Spartans went out to the Knox College games, and on Sunday they practiced at John Thiel Gymnasium, went out to eat and then went to the movies, and watched The Green Hornet.  He said it was a funny movie.  Maine South spent part of Sunday at Knox College for a study session.

One of the officials for the tournament would be Jude Kiah, and we spoke for a while.  Jude works at Western Illinois University, and is preparing for the winter break to end, with school beginning on Tuesday.  He said he was working just one day, then had to go to work.  We spent quite a bit of time talking about the Illinois High School Glory Days website.  He is on the Macomb School Board, and mentioned looking at some consolidation plans from 1947, in which it was suggested that there be one county school in McDonough County.  That never came to fruition, and today there are still three high schools (Macomb, West Prairie, Bushnell-Prairie City) in the county.  He also explained the meaning behind the C.U.S.D. you see on school buses, which stands for Community Unit School District, dating back to the movement to consolidate all of the one-room school houses throughout the state, many of which were individual districts.  Kiah comes from New York state, where they have Central school districts.

The Silver Streaks took on the Minooka Indians in the 9:45 a.m. game, following a Maine South victory.  It was a hot start for Galesburg, scoring 22 first quarter points, while limiting Minooka to just six points.  It was a 39-19 game at halftime.

Galesburg finished the game with only 7 turnovers, while Minooka only turned the ball over 8 times.  The Streaks improved to 17-3 with the 74-50 win.  Brandon Thompson scored 18 points, and Garrett Williams added 14 points, and Trimaine Carson pitched in 12 points.  Chad Thompson came close to double figures, finishing with 9 points.  Adam Reynolds scored 17 points, and Lavell Dean added 12 points.

There were several college coaches in the stands for this morning game.  Spotted in the crowed were representatives from Knox College, Illinois Wesleyan, and Augustana.  I'm sure there were more, but those were the only ones I noticed.

Game 98 Miles:  50