FRIDAYEXTRA High schools

IN TOUCH EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR KIRK WESSLER 686-3216 E-MAIL kwessler@pjstar.com SPORTS DESK 686-3214

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2012

JournalStar

PAGE D6

2,906
Official seating capacity of the gym at Peoria High, the host venue for the first clash between the Manual and Central boys basketball teams this season.

PREPS DAILY

By the numbers
0 Times Brimfield has allowed an opponent to score 50 or more this season. The Class 1A No. 4-ranked Indians (20-0) allowed a season-high 45 against Prophestown in the season opener. 4 Consecutive victories for Notre Dame, which was 4-11 before the win spree. The Irish host Dunlap on Friday. 10 Total points deficit in Washingtons four losses this season. Washington lost by four to Plainfield East, by three to Pekin, by two to Morton and by one to Montgomery (Ala.) Carver. 11 Years since the Manual-Central games were annually played at Robertson Memorial Field House. The since demolished dual airplane hangars hosted the series for 14 seasons.

East Peoria record-setter

Corey Crotzs 44 points for East Peoria last Friday against Pekin established a single-game school record at EP according to coach , Ron Kelch. He said according to records passed down through the program, the previous single-game high was Mark Dicks 39 points in a game against Canton in 1990.

WELCOME HOME
Brimfield basketball in its first season with new high school gymnasium
Large as life: Five little, err, big Indians
Nick Unes and his four senior teammates keep a watchful eye on the new court. He hatched the idea of putting the life-sized cutouts of each player on the north wall behind the far basket. I discussed it with our seniors, the 6-foot-3 guard said of the Fathead-like posters, and they liked the idea. After getting final approval from his coach, Scott Carlson and athletics director Jim Blane, Unes went to work. According to Unes, all the seniors paid for their own cutout made through the graphic services company Technicraft. But finding the right place to hang the posters was key. Well, most important youre going to have to put them somewhere where somebody is not going to walk by and draw a mustache on them, Blane said of what he told Unes. The school then decided to display behind the north hoop cutouts of, above from left, Ryan Cluskey, Ryan Wilbur, Braden Streitmatter, Unes and Danny Dwyer. Unes turned to his summer baseball coach and photographer Frank Bradley, who took the posed pictures and sent them off to Technicraft. Coordinating the sizes of the posters and making sure everything was printed correctly was Unes mom, Marissa. Once the cutouts came in, Unes utilized the help of his parents, Bob and Marissa, and siblings, Adam and Helen, to hang them. It took three weeks to get the posters, Unes said, and a solid three hours to hang them up. We did it because its about having fun.

Whos hot
Blake Johnson, Peoria Heights: During the Patriots five-game win streak, the senior is averaging 21.8 points a game. Hes had three 25-point games in victories over Hartsburg-Emden, Lowpoint-Washburn and Knoxville. Jeff White, Manual: Senior G has made 16 consecutive free throws since two misses in a first-round game at the Pontiac tournament. Hes averaging 17.3 points over the same seven-game span. Aldonis Foote, Central: Senior G is averaging 16.3 points over the last four games. Included was 23 points (career high) and nine rebounds in a win at Richwoods.

rimfield High School basketball teams have been treated as grade schoolers. In terms of basketball facilities, that is. For 44 years, the school of 230 has played its boys and girls basketball games in the gymnasium at Brimfield Grade School, seen below at right. Pregame pep talks were given in the fifthgrade hallway, locker rooms were shared with junior high kids, and big games saw the 800capacity gymnasium swell at its seams. WORDS BY But on Sept. 1, 2011, all of that changed as ADAM DUVALL the new high school opened. With the opening of the new facilities, Brimfield moved into a PHOTOS BY 1,600-seat gym featuring full-size boys and girls FRED ZWICKY locker rooms and a state of the art scoreboard and audio system, above. Its just so much bet- JOURNAL STAR ter now, theres really no comparison, Brimfield athletics director and girls coach Jim Blane said. Weve been joking in the last month or so, how much basketball snobs were getting to be. All jokes aside, the new Brimfield gym is seriously nice. Heres a look into the past and present of Brimfield and its gyms.

Memories of a former Indians star

Old gym: You couldnt play ball in there

According to Brimfield golf coach and boys basketball assistant Kevin Kreiter, Brimfield moved from the old high school to the grade school in time for the 196667 season. That season, the Indians were 4-3 in their new home. After youve played in that (grade school) gym and then came back, (the old gym) just had a special feeling to it every time you walked in, the Brimfield golf coach and boys basketball assistant said. Thankfully the move was made. And as it turns out, , the critics of the old high school gym could have filled the new one. The high school gym was horrible, said Princeville athletics director Dan Sullivan, who was the Brimfield boys coach from 1987 to 1994. The high school gym, it was not fit to play in. It was a like those gyms in Hoosiers with the permanent bleachers and restraining lines all over. You couldnt play ball in there. Brimfield athletics director Jim Blane laughs when talking about the old high school gym. He says that both teams boys and girls each spent time practicing on the non-regulation size court. It was awful, Blane said. There were no side baskets, obviously (The court) was probably . 70-feet long. It was pretty pathetic to practice in.

IVC adds to HOF

Illinois Valley Central will induct a pair of state trophy-winning teams into its Athletics Hall of Fame before the varsity game against Princeton on Friday night. The first of two teams scheduled to be inducted is the 2005-06 boys basketball team. Led by all-stater Ryan Thornton, IVC went 27-6 and lost to Seneca, 47-44 in the Class A state title game. The 2006 baseball team, which won the Class A state championship, will be also be inducted. The Mid-Illini Conference champs finished 40-2, were nationally ranked and featured future New York Yankees draft pick and Illinois Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year, Zach McAllister.

New gym: Brrr ... its hot in here

The new gym isnt without its imperfections. Just ask the boys team, who one day can play shirts and skins and the next day be forced to play in long sleeves. One day, were practicing and its 80 Prior to the game fans degrees, coach Scott Carlson said, and we were being turned away played a game, its 60 degrees. Were still working at the door, as the gym was through some kinks. full by the end of the first Regardless of the climate, the boys team has had quarter of the prelim. no trouble winning in the new gym. The Indians are So read this excerpt from 10-0 at home, average 61.7 points and hold the the Journal Star about the early record for points scored with an 80-39 win Feb. 15, 1998 about game over Beardstown on Dec. 16. Scott Carlson still considers one of his memorable. The But those headaches come with having the brand new heating/ then-rookie Brimfield cooling system. The energy-savcoach led the Indians ing, high-tech device has its into a matchup with control located on the roof. unbeaten and Class A Its not one of those things No. 2 ranked Farmwhere you can walk over to the ington in front of a wall and set it to 70 degrees, packed grade school Brimfield girls basketball coach gym. Carlson, now and athletics director Jim Blane in his 15th season, SCOTT CARLSON recalls bleachers on said, and turn it up and down whenever you please. According to Blane, theres special software on a laptop which top of the stage filled with people, along with the door controls the heating and cooling, which cycles throughout the day entrances crammed full of fluctuating from hot to cold. It has occupy and unoccupied fans. modes, as well as the ability to set it based on traffic and gym I know they turned usage. away 100 people or more, Blane says it was 85 degrees Saturday at the beginning of the Carlson said. You couldnt Inter-County Tournament, but just 55 degrees Wednesday when PE get in the gym. was taking place. Brimfield held a oneWere going to eventually get it to where its comfortable, but point halftime lead, but the its hard to figure it out right now, Blane said. Its a matter of us Farmers went 25-of-34 from learning the technology. Im sure it does exactly what we tell it to, the free throw line to win, but we just havent figured out how we want it to be set yet. 87-71. It was the most points

Check this out

Putnam County at Midland, 7:30 p.m.: The Panthers (15-4, 41) are looking to remain unbeaten in Tri-County Conference play. Midland (11-7, 3-2) took two of three from PC last season including a 54-39 victory in the Class 1A Granville Regional semifinal. Richwoods at Metamora, 7 p.m.: A Mid-State 6 and MidIllini nonconference crossover. Richwoods beat Notre Dame by 19. Metamoras only loss in its last seven was to ND by eight.

Grade school: A home-court advantage

eventual third-place state finisher Farmington (33-1) allowed all season. Carlson, who won more than 70 percent of his games at the grade school gym (88-37), appreciated the general atmosphere and volume there. It was a cozy feel for Brimfield and its fans, but a hostile environment for visiting teams. You had the band with their legs hanging over the stage and just two feet from the players warming up, he said. That loudness helped. The crowd kind of always got us going more than taking the other team out but really getting us excited. Jim Blane points to atmosphere and familiarity of knowing where people were sitting. He remembers beating eventual Class 2A state champ Warsaw West Hancock, 52-43, on Dec. 21, 2007 as a point of pride. We always shot well there, Blane said. It was a nice home-court advantage.

Star of the day

Noah Hanold, Richwoods, boys swimming: The sophomore was a four-event winner in helping the Knights to a 114-71 dual victory against host Pekin.

They said it
I tried to go to a Manual-Central game last year but I didnt get there early enough. They said the gym was already full and I couldnt get in. I just went home. Limestone coach Eddie Mathews

he only home gym Eddie Mathews ever knew as a high school player at Brimfield was across the street, in the grade school. We shot around and stuff in the high school gym, but it was old and small, Mathews said. The gym at the grade school was just bigger and better. Thats where we played. The only true coach Eddie Mathews ever had was his father, Don, who in Brimfields golden years of boys basketball helped turn that gradeschool gym into a highEDDIE MATHEWS school hot spot. I remember a lot of nights in those years when that gym was packed, DON MATHEWS Eddie Mathews said. We won a lot of games in there. Don Mathews died this past October at the age of 78. Among other things he was a former administrator, coach and English teacher at Brimfield. Eddie Mathews is in his first year as teacher and head coach at Limestone, after coming there from Notre Dame. My dad took a lot of pride in Brimfield and the basketball team, and that gym was our home, Eddie Mathews said. For me, it is a little sad to think they dont play there anymore. The place was often abuzz in 1978-79, when Brimfield went 29-2 on the way to the Class A state quarterfinals in Champaign. Eddie was an all-state senior guard who would go on to play at Bradley . When I look back on those years now, especially with everything thats happened, theres a lot of emotion, he said. Eddie Mathews said goodbye to his dad in the fall. He said goodbye to Brimfields longtime home gym in the final game there last season. It was going to be the last game there, I had a chance to go and Im glad I did, he said. I havent been in the new place yet, though, but I hear its nice. One of these nights, Ill get out there and check it out. Lonnie Schwindenhammer