Game 123: West Central vs. B-PC/A (Girl's Basketball)

United High School
Host: Class 1A Regional

Game 123
West Central vs. B-PC/A (Girl's Basketball)
Class 1A United Regional
(2/7/11)

You're kidding me, right?  Regionals?!?!  Already!!!  Talk about time flying, but it's bittersweet.  With the onset of postseason basketball, it means that spring and warmer weather is on the way.  On the flip side, it means that basketball season is almost over. 

When I spoke about the lack of sleep over the course of the entire week due to the blizzard and the games at the end of the week, I thought that getting to sleep in on Sunday would make it all better.  I was able to get nine hours of sleep Saturday night into Sunday, and really wasn't that tired on Super Bowl Sunday.  I had a funny feeling about that, just knowing that it would probably hit me on Monday.  It did.

There have been times through the Quest that I have had moments of tiredness, but usually getting to the gym revives me, and I am refreshed and ready to go.  Today, a massive headache came on and I wondered if I was just really, really tired, or getting sick.  Unfortunately, the headache didn't go away throughout the night at the games.

One big plus on the night, was that the Regional site was just a few miles down the road from the radio station, so I was able to arrive early and get things set up.  In talking about the cell phone issue at various times we have at the radio station throughout the season, tonight was going to be another test night, since United is one gym where we have had many problems with the cell.

The problem has been one of the most frustrating and mind boggling issues I've ever dealt with.  There is no rhyme or reason for the calls during a broadcast to "drop out."  I've relayed the problem looking for a solution with other sports broadcasters, the makers of the remote mix board we use, U.S. Cellular tech support, and even the local U.S. Cellular tech support by showing them what is happening (of course the problem didn't happen while at the store).

We thought we solved the issue by getting a different phone.  So far, that phone has worked.  Since the problem arises at different times, and doesn't have any method to its madness, I wanted to make sure in troubleshooting to use our old cell phones and the new one, to cross check them.  Another crew did this last week, and one of our older phones did not work at all, while the new phone held up for an entire broadcast of two games, back to back.  Problem solved, right?  Not really.

After setting up the radio equipment for the first game, and my own equipment for the next game, I called our General Manager, Vanessa Wetterling to test the phone.  I used the old phone, and it held for more than 10 minutes.  Usually, the problem happens at the onset of the phone call.  Either that, or it will last throughout much of the broadcast before dropping out. 

My plan was to use the old phone, and see how long it would last, then go to the new phone if a dropout occurred.  I wanted to test both phones before going on air, to see if there was any difference in sound.  The old phone held its connection to the radio station, so I called in with the new phone.  My engineer at the studio, Julie Richardson, said the first (old) phone sounded better.  In fact, the old phone sounded better in my ears as well.  With that said, it also lasted nearly the entire broadcast, until dropping out at the start of our postgame show.  I made a quick call back to the station, and it held for the entire postgame show without a dropout.  So, I guess the mystery continues!

Pat Repp was my broadcast partner for the night.  This is the first broadcast we've worked together this year.  I haven't broadcasted too many of the Monmouth-Roseville or United games this season.  Pat does a great job on color commentary, and he is an Avon native, part of the co-op that we were broadcasting tonight (Bushnell-Prairie City/Avon).

The United Red Storm girl's basketball team was practicing when I arrived in the gym.  Coach Dennis Mann came up and talked with us before the opener of the doubleheader.  Up until this season, the Red Storm boy's basketball team played their home games in Alexis, and Pat mentioned that this was the first time he had been in the United gym since the consolidation (when it was Warren High School).

A new floor was recently put in at United replacing a pretty bad floor at the gym.  Mann shared a story about his coaching days with the Warren Warriors.  He said that there was a hump in the floor, that Repp remembered well, also.  Mann said that they would use strategies to push opponents to the hump.  He told one story about a game against Northwestern High School in the 1980's in which a player from the opposition had a fast break and went up for a layup.  The player went up in the air, but the last dribble hit the hump and stayed on the floor.  A Warren player picked the ball up, raced down the opposite end of the gym and scored.

United Superintendent Jeff Whitsitt also stopped by.  I told him that I didn't recognize him when he walked in the gym earlier in the night, because of the scruff.  He has grown a beard, and called it winterizing. 

The game started slow between the Lady Spartans and the West Central Heat.  In fact, B-PC/A didn't get too much gym time last week, since Avon was out of school for four days.  They also missed a Senior Night, which has happened a few times in recent years at B-PC/A.  The Lady Spartans will have their Senior Night on Tuesday of the boy's game.

B-PC/A led 8-4 after the first quarter, but fared much better in quarter #2.  The Lady Spartans outscored the Heat 18-13 in the 2nd quarter.  B-PC/A forced 14 turnovers in the first half, but turned the ball over 12 times themselves.

Things opened up in the 3rd quarter, as the Lady Spartans pressure defense came out in the 2nd half.  B-PC/A outscored West Central 18-8 in the 3rd quarter, and were able to cruise to a 60-37 win.  The Heat are a very physical team, and I was really impressed with a sophomore post, Maria Steck.  She scored 8 points in the 2nd quarter, but was limited in the 2nd half with foul trouble.

Both teams are limited with depth.  West Central dressed 11 players, while B-PC/A had 12 players.  One player that wasn't on the varsity roster on the program was a freshman, Kim Norris.  She played limited time, but in the minutes she played did very well.  She had 3 points, and probably around 4 rebounds.

The Heat are a very young team, with just four seniors, none of them a starter.  West Central started three sophomores and two juniors.  29 of their 37 points return next year.

Game 123 Miles:  40