And So It Begins

Three games in one night, down to 97 games left to broadcast in the quest. I will write a blog entry for each game covered in the quest for 100. As I set up the first game, here are some notes about the Macomb Lady Bomber Classic 2009. Brand new scoreboards in the Washington Street Gym. Very, very nice! For those of you unfamiliar with Macomb, the Washington St. Gym is located in the old Macomb High School building, which also houses Spoon River College-Macomb campus now. The programs for the tournament were literally hot off the presses, being delivered less than a half hour before the first game's tipoff. Fortunately, I had time to make chicken scratchings of the Rockridge roster, since they failed to make the cut in the program, and I had also not received one from the school, but all went well. Great to see many familiar faces around the gym, including MHS Athletic Director Dave Bartlett, girl's coach Jeff Thorman, former Macomb JV coach Jim Scott, among several others. Now, on to the games!!!

15 Mintues From Game One

IHSSN has staked claim at the Washington Street Gym for three games tonight. My first game will be Pleasant Plains against Rockridge, followed by Havana vs. Knoxville, with Macomb and Rushville-Industry in the nightcap. Both Plains and Rockridge are warming up. The special Lady Bomber Classic programs are hot off the presses, arrived about 30 minutes before game time tonight. Spoke with both coaches and here are tonight's starting lineups.

Rockridge
Kaylee Moseley
Tia Fuhr
Emily Watkins
Rebecca Wolf
Dalinda Widdop

Pleasant Plains
Abby Bruce
Marissa Jenkins
Kelsey Owens
Kaylyn Yakel
Quinn Stitt

Game 2 Preview (Lady Bomber Classic)

GAME TWO PREVIEW
Havana vs. Knoxville

The game of the night should be the middle matchup in the Washington Street Gym on Monday night. Havana, coming off a Supersectional appearance faces Knoxville, who advanced to a Class 2A Sectional a year ago. The Ducks graduated four starters last year, but this was a team that went nine-deep and had a lot of interchangeable parts. With that said, Havana should be in for another 20+ win season under coach Jerry Wilson, but without that leadership from last season, but could go through some minor growing pains at the beginning of the season as they adjust to a slightly changed lineup. Meanwhile, Knoxville lost a few good seniors, but returns Evansville-bound Hannah Weedman (6'3"), along with Haley Jones (6'0" So.). Jones missed about half of last season with an injury. Knoxville has a distinct height advantage, with Havana being a very quick, guard-oriented team. It will be interesting how these two teams matchup with that differential. It would be a shame for these two teams to meet up right out of the opening gates, but with the switch to the Prairieland Conference for Knoxville, the two teams will match up again in conference play later this season.

The Quest Game 1 Preview

The quest begins at 5:00 on Monday. The first step in the journey to broadcasting 100 games this winter. Monday night features a tripleheader on IHSSN.net. Thanks to our friends at Network1Sports, who host the IHSSN-based streams. Here is a preview of game number one from the Lady Bomber Classic at Macomb's Washington Street Gym.

Pleasant Plains, coming off of a (27-5) season, looks to begin it's run tonight against Rockridge. The Rockets graduated a bulk of their starters from last season. The lone starter returning is Jen Krueger, while Ericka Price, Dalinda Widdop, Kayla Macke, and Hillary Dowell all saw minutes at the varsity level. Meanwhile, Plains returns their entire starting five (Marissa Jenkins, Abby Bruce, Kaylyn Yakel, Kelsey Owens, & Quinn Stitt). Both Jenkins and Owens were 4th team All-Staters by the IBCA. There are big expectations at Pleasant Plains in 2009-10.

The Scoreboard Cometh

Monday night (11/16) marks the tip-off of the 2009-10 high school basketball season, with girl's Thanksgiving Tournaments beginning. Boy's hoops starts a week from Monday (11/23). With the new season, IHSSN will have a new scoreboard up and running starting Monday. The scoreboard will be a Google spreadsheet that will get updated almost instantly when I add scores each night, unlike the old fashioned save, FTP, upload, etc. IHSSN is also reaching out to coaches and athletic directors to get final scores with leading scorers upon the final horn to better serve our large scoreboard following. An exciting time at IHSSN.net. Coming up later tonight, a preview of the first night of IHSSN.net broadcasts on Monday from the Macomb Lady Bomber Classic, a trifecta of games for your listening pleasure!

Meet the Streaks....Basketball at a Fever Pitch

Just days away from the debut of the 2009-10 basketball season. Tonight, I partook (is that a word?) in the Meet the Streaks Girl's Basketball night at John Thiel Gymnasium in Galesburg. The event had a freshman vs. freshman scrimmage, sophomores facing off, and the main event was four quarters (8 minutes each) of the varsity playing male faculty members. This was a barnburner, in your face, fast-paced contest. The faculty roared back in the 4th quarter for the win. This marked the mainstream public's first witnessing of coach Evan Massey's Grinnell-style offense at Galesburg. It should be a fun season, and look forward to broadcasting most of the Streaks girls games on 1590 WAIK. Next week marks the start of the girl's hoops season, and IHSSN.net will be covering many girl's games this year, plus the revamping of both our boy's and girl's basketball scoreboards. I will blog about the new scoreboard, and the start of the games on Friday.

The Journey Begins in 12 Days

The journey of 100 games begins with a tripleheader on Monday November 16th. The Macomb Lady Bomber Classic at the Washington Street Gym is the setting. Opening the season will be the first broadcast on IHSSN between Pleasant Plains and Rockridge. A great battle will be seen in the second game between Havana and Knoxville, while Macomb and Rushville-Industry square off in the nightcap. IHSSN will return to the tournament on Wednesday (11/18). My fourth broadcast of the 2009-10 season will be on Tuesday (11/17) at Galesburg between the host Silver Streaks and the Illini West Chargers.