Champion Patriots

UPDATE 2/28: South beat Vashon tonight 59-58 in OT. Scott Pohle had 19 points, including three three-pointers. Ben Hoener hit the game-winner after driving to the hoop with about 3 seconds to go in the extra period. Next up: a Suburban West rematch with Lindbergh Saturday at 1:00 at UMSL!

Pardon me for sounding like Newschannel Five's Frank Cusamano here: If you think high school sports has nothing to offer, you're not paying attention.

Last night I had the opportunity to watch the Class 5 District 4 Championship game between the top-seeded Chaminade Red Devils and the second-seeded Parkway South Patriots. The game was being played at Chaminade and frankly not many folks were giving the Patriots much of a chance in this one. At this point I'll tell you I am not only a fan of Parkway South, but also the P.A. Announcer for home games and a close friend of mine is the assistant there.

Early on it looked like South may run away with the ball game. They went up 13-4 to start the game, and held a 15-9 advantage after a quarter. The home standing Devils took it to the Patriots in the second quarter, outscoring South 19-14 and led by 11 at half.

It was 44-33 and a friend of mine, and brother of the assistant coach, turned to me and said South may lose this one by 25 points. I agreed. Then South changed the game. The scored 10 unanswered points and ran away with a 23-14 third quarter to even the game at 52 headed into the final eight minutes.

The fourth quarter was back and forth and I think the largest margin was Chaminade getting to a five-point advantage at one point. South again fought back. They led by a point with 11 seconds to play when sophomore sensation Ben Hoener got the ball off an in-bounds play. He was fouled, and like usual, hit both of his free throws. He had hit seven of eight on the night and leads the team hitting 77 percent of his shots from the line for the year.

Chaminade had one last chance to tie, but junior John Simon's three-point attempt missed as time expired sending the Patriot faithful flooding on the floor. Thankfully the Suburban West Conference doesn't have a rule for rushing the court! (See previous post below)

Senior Julian Gilliam led the way for the Pats with 16 points. Hoener was close behind with 15 for the game, and I would be remiss to not mention all of the starters. Junior center Phil Atkins added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Junior guard Antonio Bryant scored eight and had six rebounds, including five on the defensvie end. I thought Freshman Scott Pohle had a great game. He chipped in eight points. He had a pair of three's early in the game, and forced Chaminade to keep a guy on the wing specifically to stop his outside shot.

It was a great game in a great atmosphere, and in the end the team I was rooting for took home the hardware! Congrats to South coach Mitch Stevens, assistant Mike Shanfeld and all of the Patriots-including the loud and suporrtive student section! It was a championship hard-earned and well deserved!

By the way the Patriots play Wednesday night a UMSL against perrenial power Vashon. Maybe I'll see you there?

The Storm over Storming the court

OK I am fired up. . .

I was appalled to learn that the SEC had fined Vanderbilt $25,000 after fans stormed the court following the men's basketball team's victory over top-ranked Florida. Are you kidding me? Aren't there more important things the powers that be at the SEC should be worrying about? Apparently it was Vanderbilt's second offense (a first offense costs you $5,000). The NCAA said the SEC is the only conference in the country that has such a penalty.

This only gets worse. . .Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski was on the Dan Patrick show yesterday and actually said he doesn't have to worry about Duke students rushing the floor because he tells the fans that since Duke is expected to win every game they host that the only reason they should ever storm the court is after a National Championship and obviously that's not going to happen at Cameron Indoor. He said it validates the other team, and they don't want to do that! I don't care about the record or anything that's just straight arrogant and just makes me detest Duke even more. Then today on the Mike and Mike in the Morning show on ESPN Radio Mike Greenberg says there are certain schools that should just be above rushing the court. PLEASE!

I have a fond memory of my first real college basketball experience. I was a freshman at the University of Dayton. Arch-rival Xavier was in town for a mid-week showdown. UD was nothing special that year, probably around .500. Xavier was ranked 12th in the country and I think maybe unbeaten. The game was televised by ESPN2-which was also a rarity! I sat in the student section with the rest of the "Red Scare" and when Dayton knocked off Xavier we rushed the court for all to see! Great moment! I loved it.

Why would you take that away from college kids? I fully understand that there can be safety issues, but I think for the most part it is a rush of emotion. It's a great part of the college experience.

Tom Izzo was on with "Mike and Mike" this morning also speaking on the issue. Greenberg specifically asked him about the fans rushing the court after last night's win over top-ranked Wisconsin. Michigan State was one of the schools Greenberg thought should be above the idea of rushing the court. "Greeny" noted that since MSU was a good program they should be expected to win-even pointed out that they were National Champs in 2000. First off Izzo pointed out that it was MSU's first win over a top-ranked team in a long time. (Magic vs. Bird I think). He also noted that while they were champs in 2000 that was seven years ago and none of the current players or students were there. He actually likes the idea of the kids rushing the floor, and lamented [the SEC] for trying to regulate everything. Then he told a great story:

A few years back when Michigan State was number one in the country they were beaten at Indiana, where the students rushed the court. A police officer offered to escort Izzo off the floor. Izzo refused, saying that he wanted to stay and watch! He said the students rushing the court were the best compliment he could have asked for.

Bottom line: NO SCHOOL is above rushing the court, and NO SCHOOL should be penalized for what is basically harmless fun. Granted, there are wins I don't believe are worth a court storming but to take away the opportunity-that is just ludicrous!