Tigers see familiar faces at state

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PEORIA — The Princeton Tigers didn’t quite make it to the state basketball tournament in Peoria, but they saw some familiar faces there Friday.

Two teams they’ve played over the course of the past two seasons squared off the 2A semifinals at Carver Arena. Breese Central, whom the Tigers faced in the Feb. 13 Riverton Shootout, met Peoria Manual, Princeton’s foe from the 2009 sectional finals.

Looking on at the action, PHS senior Brik Wedekind said, “I’d say it means we play a pretty good schedule.”

Teammate Scott Roseberg, who sat in the opposite corner of the lower arena bowl Friday, said it was “pretty sweet” to have two teams there like that the Tigers played.

Wedekind made no secret who he was cheering for. Sitting in the front row near the Breese bench, he stood during timeouts and helped lead the Cougars cheerleaders on their cheers. The rest of his family, however, was cheering for Manual.

He said he was cheering for Breese because PHS played them this year.

Roseberg was pulling for Breese for the same reason, but also because that was “upset special.”

Princeton lost to Breese 50-37 at Riverton, but led in the game by as much as 10 points (21-11) early in the second quarter. Seeing Breese reach state only enforces the caliber of the kind of team PHS fielded this year.

“We played them a good game, at least for a half,” Roseberg said. “It shows we can play with some of the best teams in the state.”

• No Breese for Rams: Manual held on for a 39-38 win, with Breese’s Keaton Scheer electing to drive for a two-point bucket with his team down three with five seconds left. Marvin Jordan just let Scheer drive on by for the shot. Scheer caught the ball as it went through the net and tried to toss it to a Rams player, who let it fall to the ground, knowing Breese was out of timeouts.

Jordan said he was surprised, but more than happy to let Scheer shoot for two.

First-team all-stater Lawrence Alexander led the Rams with 16 points.

The Rams will face Robinson, which knocked off top-ranked Chicago Hales Fransican 64-61 in the nightcap. Senior guard Ben Jones tallied 21 points for the Maroons. Meyers Leonard, a 7-foot all-stater and cousin to Princeton’s Michael Murray, added 19 points with 14 rebounds.

• A good Knight for Fieldcrest: Fieldcrest sent two players into the 2A state tournament Happenings finals — senior Nathan Ropp in the 3-point Showdown and classmate Tyler Baxter in the Slam Dunk contest. Ropp led all 2A shooters by making 12 of 15 attempts in Thursday’s preliminary round. Baxter scored 33 points out of a possible 40 to advance in the dunk contest

On Friday, Ropp claimed the 2A 3-point crown, surviving three shootouts with Harrisburg’s Cain Sheldon, making 8 of 10 shots. Sheldon had four. Ropp will come back to compete for the King of the Hill honors next weekend against the winners from classes 1A, 2A and 3A

Baxter finished as the dunk runner-up, scoring 31 points, one less than 2A champ Logan Lewis of Pleasant Plains.

In 1A, Woodlawn freshman Gabe Owens won the 3-point contest and Chris Baker of Ullin Century claimed the dunk title.

Neither Princeton senior Ryne Vrana or St. Bede sophomore Joe Galas scored in the dunk contest. Vrana made one dunk and ran out of time to get down the required second dunk to score in the allotted 45-second time block.

• IBCA All-State: Both Ropp and Baxter were named Thursday to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association 15-man 1-2A All-State First Team. Vrana received third-team selection, with 23 players selected overall. There were 15 players picked to the second team.

Princeton’s Murray picked up honorable mention honors, along with St. Bede junior Alec Schwab and Hall senior Billy Gaull.

• Comforts of home: Peoria Manual may be playing in their hometown, but the Rams spent Thursday and Friday evenings at the nearby Pierre Marquette Hotel just like all the other state squads in town.

Manual coach Derrick Boothe also collected all of his player’s cell phones to take away any outside distractions.

“I took all their phones. If there’s go off as much as mine does, it’ll be a distraction. I wanted them to stay focused,” he said.

• Hometown heroes: Princeton High School guidance counselor Brian Church was happy to see his hometown Catlin Salt Fork Storm in Friday’s 1A semifinals. He said it’s pretty big news back home in the small town which has no stoplights.

The top-ranked Storm outlasted Lanark Eastland 48-38, which suffered a key injury to standout Tony Dunlap (22 points) in the fourth quarter. Salt Fork will meet Sesser-Vallier, who beat Madison 58-40.

• Princeton South: Peoria looked like Princeton South with all the many ties to the town in the Arena. Former PHS coach Roger Lowe returned to his role in the IHSA broadcast man as color analysis for the 2A games. Princeton native Nicole (Coates) Schafbauer, an executive director for the IESA, was lending a hand with the IHSA. Administrators from at least three Princeton schools watched from lower bowl seats and members of Tiger teams over the past three seasons were abundant throughout the arena.

• Moving up: If Manual returns to state next year, it will do so in Class 3A. The former 4-time AA champion has been in 2A since the split into four divisions. Next year, it will be bumped up to 3A due to the addition of students from crosstown rival Woodruff, which will close at the end of the current school year.

The Rams will hardly notice the difference, as their schedule is littered with 3/4A schools already.

“We play a tough 3A/4A schedule. That prepares us for this tournament,” Booth said. “Teams like Winnebago and Breese bring you a different style. They’re disciplined and play to their strengths and cause you problems.”

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