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| Galesburg Silver Streaks: Sectional Champs |
Galesburg vs. Richwoods (Girl's Basketball)
Class 3A Sectional Championship (@ Metamora)
(2/23/11)
Editorial
It's no secret that I follow the Galesburg Silver Streaks more than any other team. That's because my job during the day is Sports Director at WAIK in Galesburg (and WMOI/WRAM in Monmouth), and that's what pays the bills. IHSSN is just a hobby, and for now a not-for-profit entity.
In my broadcasting years, I have followed many teams, and there have been some teams you can really get attached to when covering. Over the course of my career, I try not to play "homer" and favor any team. Sure, there is a higher level of enthusiasm when the "home" team is on a roll, but I call it down the middle.
This 2010-11 Galesburg Silver Streaks girl's basketball team is special, and I am (hopefully) going to look back on a long broadcasting career and say this was one of the funnest times of my basketball broadcasting career. I have gotten to know this team unlike any other team I've covered. I spent many summer days and nights in John Thiel Gymnasium covering their summer leagues and shootouts, spent the day at their first practice in November, and have now covered 34 games with the Streaks.
When I covered the first practice in November, I sensed a high level of chemistry and team bonding with these girls. From the girls joking with Jessica Howard about wearing long sleeves in their practice, to Jamie Johnson's calling out a team dinner at her house.
As the year went on, it felt as though that chemistry built with each game, and more than not, each game ended with a win, further building the team's bond. I could sense it with the coaching staff, too. This is just the second full season of broadcasting their games, but I covered about 1/4 of the season in 2008-09. Coach Evan Massey seemed to be enjoying his role much more this season, even after a rare loss. In fact, when Moline came to town and shellacked the Silver Streaks on their own Senior Night, you would have never known the end result on the scoreboard with Evan's demeanor after the game. Massey also has two assistant coaches that the girls can relate to, in Jacque Gohlinghorst and Andie Allison. If they were giving out Manager of the Year Awards, Sarah Main and Lauren Riggs would be my joint selection. When each was chosen to raise the flag before a boy's basketball game, the list of activities each was involved could be counted in minutes, not seconds.
Winning 28 of 34 games certainly makes coming to the gym to cover these girls an added level of excitement, but even with an exit in the Regionals, I would have said that this group of girls has been one of the most enjoyable groups of high school basketball players I have ever been around, and this group now has a well-deserved trip to the Elite Eight at the Pontiac Supersectional on Monday night. The three-pointers are just an added bonus! So, if anyone wants to accuse me of favoring the 2010-11 Galesburg Silver Streaks....go ahead, I'll agree with you.
Sectional Championship
Good news before we headed off to Metamora, all equipment was accounted for, in fact our original broadcast board had been fixed (and certainly tested!), so there would be no hangups like Tuesday night.
Jimmie and I arrived in Metamora, and he directed me to pull into the Redbird Mini Mart so he could pick up his Lotto tickets. I grabbed a large Dasani water and a Hostess Lemon Pie. I've probably touched on my bottled water preferences, so I'll just touch on it, here. Dasani is my favorite, with Aquafina in second. It's all about the plastic bottle they use. Evian is my least favorite.
The team bus just beat us to the high school, as it passed by when we were pulling out of the gas station. We arrived at the gym and staked our claim right behind the scorer's table. There was a boy's basketball player shooting around with Metamora boy's basketball coach Jim Youngman. I assumed it was one of his high school players. No, it was Jim's son....a 6th grader!!! Jimmie Carr spoke to the elder Youngman and coach said he was projected to be 6'7". Jimmie was raving about the kid, and said he's one of the best 6th graders he has ever seen. Keep an eye on this kid!
I went to hang the WAIK banner, but the duct tape was in a different bag in the car, so I went outside to fetch it. On my way back in, WGIL broadcasters Tom Meredith and Eric Gibson were walking up. Eric said, "Geez, we thought we would beat you tonight." I responded that we were a little behind tonight, and if it weren't for Jimmie's Lotto habit, we still would have beat the team.
Worst Kept Secret
I spoke with Richwoods head coach Todd Hursey on Thursday afternoon. Before our interview, I wanted to get his starters for the game to make out my notes. He went silent for a moment, and then said, "well....can I tell you something and promise that it won't get back to Galesburg?" I said I could that. He explained that All-Stater and Princeton-bound senior Mariah Smith was unavailable for the game due to an illness. In fact, she was hospitalized the day before, and doctors ran tests, but fortunately everything came back negative. In addition, 6'1" junior Center Breanna Baker was ruled academically ineligible.
This is one of those situations I hate to be in, in my position. This is major breaking news, but I was told in confidence. I wrestled with the idea of releasing it or not, but in the end I want to uphold my honesty and trustworthiness. Sure, many other media outlets would have broken that code of ethics, but I feel that if I miss the boat on this story, I can make it up in other ways.
It turned out, that this was the worst kept secret of the week. Former Metamora baseball coach Bob Schlemmer told me he received two text messages filling him in on the news. Coach Massey had found out, apparently through a trickle-down of sources.
Schlemmer
Always good to see Bob Schlemmer. We talked for several minutes, mostly about baseball. He said he was heading up the baseball state finals in some capacity, I wasn't taking notes. He mentioned that they would be honoring baseball state champions within a 50-mile radius during the Class 1A/2A state finals in June, held at O'Brien Field, home of the Peoria Chiefs. Included in that honor roll would be the 1988 Galesburg Silver Streaks Class AA state championship team. And....if you would like to hear the broadcast of that game, check this out. 1988 Class AA Baseball State Championship.
Game Time
Before the game, the 3-point shootout was being contested. The first four shooters knocked down six three-pointers each. The fifth, Sterling's Steph Echebarria broke the trend and drained seven.
Without Richwoods' two starters, I was much more confident in a Galesburg win, even though I felt they could win even with a healthy Knights squad. Little did I know that the Silver Streaks would end the night with a 28-point win (74-46).
The Streaks jumped out of the gates making five of seven three-pointers in the 1st quarter, taking a 27-7 lead after eight minutes. It was more of the same in the 2nd quarter, and Galesburg held an unbelievable 54-15 lead at halftime. The Streaks went 10-14 from three-point territory, and Jessica Howard was an amazing 7-9. She finished with eight three-pointers and a game-high 24 points.
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| Minutes Before Sectional Title |
Galesburg came out flat in the 3rd quarter, and only scored 8 points, and Richwoods had 14 points. The Silver Streaks played their sophomores throughout the 4th quarter and played a lot of stall basketball in the final eight minutes to cruise to a Sectional championship victory.
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| GHS Students Rush the Floor |
Jimmie Carr talked with Galesburg sophomore Jessica Lieber after the game. What's amazing about Jessica, is that if you talk to her, you would never know she's a sophomore. In fact, one night after a game Jimmie and I ran into the Lieber family at Sully's in Galesburg and had a conversation about Illini basketball. Jessica jumped right into the talk, where a lot of kids her age would be tugging on their parents to get home.
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| Jimmie Carr & Jessica Lieber |
I've covered Richwoods on a few occasions on IHSSN, and met the father of Maggie and Gabby Cunningham, Tom. He came up after the game and asked, "What time does the game start?" Richwoods loses some very talented seniors in Mariah Smith, Susan Lynd (missed 2nd half of season with ACL), Elise Tamplin, and Karissa London, but a solid nucleus returns starting with the Cunningham girls.
Supersectional Preview
The Silver Streaks will face off against Hillcrest in the Pontiac Supersectional on Monday. Here are season previews I wrote for each team back in October/November.
Galesburg Preview
Hillcrest Preview
Silver Streak T-Shirts
Coach Massey sent me a note that they are selling Elite Eight T-Shirts.
Saturday 2-4pm at Thiel gym
Sunday- 2-4pm at Thiel gym
Cost $10Game 142 Miles: 242
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