The Quest: A Backseat Inventory

There used to be a floor

Backseat Inventory
(3/11/11)

It's a good thing that The Quest 2: 150 calls an S.U.V. "home" most of the basketball season.  If this quest were achieved by using a mid-sized car, it may have burst with empty coffee cups, granola bar wrappers, and fast food waste.  On a day off, here's a backseat inventory.

Game 153: Moline vs. Normal Community (Boy's Basketball)

Moline Maroons

Game 153
Moline vs. Normal Community (Boy's Basketball)
IHSA Class 3A Sectionals (@ Wharton Fieldhouse)
(3/9/11)

The end of the road.  There was a 50% chance that this would be my final broadcast of the 2010-11 season.  With a Moline win tonight, I would head back up to Wharton Fieldhouse on Friday for the Sectional championship.  If not, it would be time to focus on spring sports. 

Game 152: Bolingbrook vs. Zion-Benton (Girl's Basketball)

Class 4A State Championship
Zion-Benton & Bolingbrook Warmups

Game 152
Bolingbrook vs. Zion-Benton (Girl's Basketball)
Class 4A State Championship
(3/5/11)

The final game of the night, the last high school girl's basketball game of the 2010-11 season.  Really?  You're kidding, right?!  This can't be the end of the season, already!!!

Game 151: Maine South vs. Whitney Young (Girl's Basketball)

Maine South Celebrates 3rd Place

Game 151
Maine South vs. Whitney Young (Girl's Basketball)
Class 4A Third Place
(3/5/11)

Between the Class 3A and 4A sessions, I had pondered going out to get a bite to eat in Bloomington/Normal, however I did not cover the 4A games on Friday night, and wasn't as prepared as I would like to be, so I hung out at Redbird Arena doing my homework. 

Game 150: Montini vs. Hillcrest (Girl's Basketball - State Championship)

Montini Lady Broncos: State Champs

Game 150
Montini vs. Hillcrest (Girl's Basketball)
Class 3A State Championship
(3/5/11)

Here it is.  The promised land!  The quest has culminated at Redbird Arena, and the 150th game will come in a state championship game.  How about that perfect (wink, wink) planning....

Game 149: (Chicago) Marshall vs. Springfield (Girl's Basketball)

Marshall Warmups (IHSA Network filming)

Game 149
(Chicago) Marshall vs. Springfield (Girl's Basketball)
IHSA Class 3A Third Place
(3/5/11)

It certainly wasn't the start to the day that I was looking for.  Apparently, I didn't set my alarm clock at the hotel correctly.  Fortunately, I woke up around the same time (actually about 20 minutes earlier) that I had "set" the clock.  Then, I went 0-3 in my quest to find breakfast....

150!!!

The Quest 2: 150 has been reached!!!

Two weeks before the high school basketball season ends, the Quest 2: 150 has been reached.  The 150th broadcast concluded at 3:45 Saturday afternoon, March 5th at Redbird Arena.  Montini beat Hillcrest for the Class 3A state championship in girl's basketball.

Game 148: Galesburg vs. Peoria Notre Dame (Boy's Basketball)

Regional Championship at Richwoods HS

Game 148
Galesburg vs. Peoria Notre Dame (Boy's Basketball)
Class 3A Regional Championship (@ Richwoods)
(3/4/11)

Following my drive-thru trip to Popeye's, I was on the road.  It was between 4:00 and 5:00 on a Friday, so the traffic was a little tricky getting out of Bloomington.  Even the interstate from Bloomington to Peoria was pretty jammed up.

Game 147: Hillcrest vs. (Chicago) Marshall (Girl's Basketball)

Hillcrest coach John Maniati during warmups

Game 147
Hillcrest vs. (Chicago) Marshall (Girl's Basketball)
Class 3A Semifinals
(3/4/11)

Marshall is the only team of the final four in Class 3A that I am not very familiar with.  Of course, I am very familiar with the program, led by Dorothy Gaters and her 947 career wins and making her 25th appearance in the IHSA State Finals, but they have flown a little under the radar (or at least mine) this season.

Game 146: Springfield vs. Montini (Girl's Basketball)

Packed and ready for the weekend

Game 146
Springfield vs. Montini (Girl's Basketball)
Class 3A Semifinals (@ Redbird Arena)
3/4/11

Giving myself two hours, I wanted to be on the road out of Macomb at 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning, heading over to Bloomington.  Since I did most of my prep work and filled out all of the day's scorebooks on Thursday night, I had little to get done in the morning before leaving.

Game 145: Galesburg vs. Richwoods (Boy's Basketball)

Richwoods High School

Game 145
Galesburg vs. Richwoods (Boy's Basketball)
Class 3A Regionals (@ Richwoods)
(3/2/11)

The 145th game of the Quest was scheduled in Peoria.  Now that we are in complete postseason mode, the travel is getting further, and time is getting shorter, hence a longer wait between blog entries.

The Quest is Featured in Sports Illustrated's Hot Clicks!

The Quest 2: 150 is mentioned in Sports Illustrated's P.M. Hot Clicks for Thursday (3/3/11). It's a blurb right below the picture of the fairly (note: heavy sarcasm on the word fairly) attractive photo of model Lucy Pinder. LINK

The Quest on TV and the 150th Broadcast Scheduled

Broadcast #145 took place tonight at Richwoods High School in Peoria. A game blog will follow on Thursday evening. The Quest 2: 150 was featured this week on WGEM-TV, and the 150th broadcast has been set.

Game 144: Galesburg vs. Hillcrest (Girl's Basketball)

Galesburg crowd at Pontiac Supersectional

Game 144
Galesburg vs. Hillcrest
Class 3A Supersectional (@ Pontiac)
(2/28/11)

Never would have I guessed that I would be broadcasting a Class 3A Supersectional for the Galesburg Silver Streaks at the start of the season.  That's what has made this run so magical for Galesburg girl's basketball.  On a Monday night in February, the odds were stacked against the Streaks, but they persevered...