Red Devil Reunion

Hall 1: Hall alum Craig Olson flies into the lane while being defended by Beau Bezely Saturday night at the “Welcome Back to the Jungle” Alumni game. (BCR photo/Chris Yucus)

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SPRING VALLEY — Saturday night Red Devil Gymnasium turned into a time machine. With the guitar intro to “Welcome to the Jungle” transporting the fans in attendance back to the late ‘90s, the members of Hall’s back-to-back state runner up squads once again stormed out on to the floor of their old stomping grounds.

The “Welcome Back to the Jungle Promotion,” organized by the Hall Athletic Parents Club, featured a who’s who of Red Devil basketball as 10 members of the 1996-97 and 1997-98 hoops team — the “Red” squad, coached by Eric Bryant Sr., squared off against another squad of more recent Hall alums coached by Bob Jiles, who took Hall to the Sweet 16 in 1974.

The former state runners-up were back to their old tricks, with Craig Olson leading the way with 22 points, and 1998 Class A Player of the Year Shawn Jeppson adding 18 as they topped the “White” squad 104-86.

“It’s good to get back out here and see all the guys, and it’s for a real good cause,” said Jeppson, a former ISU Redbird who added he had not played in an organized game in several years.

Former Hall coach Eric Bryant Sr., who helped lead his former charges to a win, said the event was a great way to raise money for Hall athletics and brought back a lot of good memories of their back-to-back state tournament runs.

“It was definitely interesting putting on this old suit again,” said Bryant of the bright red number he sported on the sidelines for the event.

Bryant joked while he had actually lost a few pounds since his coaching days, it didn’t appear that was the case for his former players who came out on the floor in some very tight-fitting old warm-ups.

“There’s still a lot of talent there though,” said Bryant of his former players.

The two squads wasted no time setting a quick pace as they raced out to a score of 48-42 after the first 20-minute half. Brett Olson, a 2003 Hall grad, and water boy to the state squads, paced the “White” squad early with 12 first-half points, including a pair of threes. Jeppson tallied 11 first-half points for the “Red” team.

The “Red” squad pulled away in the second half, outscoring their counterparts 56-42 behind a balanced scoring effort to take the 104-86 win.

Jiles, who topped Bryant in a pre-game free-throw contest, knocking down seven of 10 from the foul line, said he was glad to have been invited to take part in the event and joked about hearing the “Red” team had squeezed in a couple of practice sessions prior to the game.

“I hear they’ve been practicing; that’s not quite fair,” Jiles chuckled, adding his squad’s younger legs might make up for the practice advantage.

Jiles coached Hall’s first Sweet Sixteen squad in 1974.

Hall football coach Jason Bland, one of the event’s organizers, said 660 tickets were sold for the game, and well over $4,000 dollars were raised for the HAPC.

“It was a great game,” Bland said. “The guys played hard, and it was for a great cause.”

• Notes: Members of the “Red” squad included 1997 grad Eric Bryant Jr (7 points), as well as 1998 grads Olson (22), Jeppson (18), Ryan Anderes (12), Tony Orlandi (9), Derek Baird (3), Joey Reed (9), Adam Curran (11), Nick Sterling (7), and ‘99 grad Jason Burkiewicz (5).

Team members for the “White” squad included ‘99 grad Dan Prokup (4), 2001 grad Brad Foster (7), 2003 grads Beau Bezely (4), Brett Olson (14) and Chaise Thomas (11), 2004 alums Mike Fusinato (6) and Nick Larsen (6), 2005 grads Matt Bezely (10) and David Ponsetti (2), as well as 2006 alum Gregg Fanning (14),  2008 grad Korby Kasperski (3), and 2009 grad Ben Miklavic (5).

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