The Little Engine that could - the Neponset Lady Zephyrs

NEPONSET - The town of Neponset had 500 residents, a few more if you counted the chickens, as Village Mayor and basketball coach Chuck Blake liked to say.

The high school, which closed in 1999, had but about 50 students.

The Lady Zephyrs basketball team, however, proved to be the Little Engine that could.

For three straight seasons, the Neponset girls took on all comers. It didn’t matter the size of the school, shocking powerhouse Westchester Immaculate Heart of Mary, an all-girls school nearly 10 times the size of Neponset, 56-45, in 1991-92.

They had no home gym of regulation size, and played all their games on the road. When they had a chance to host games in Kewanee, they ran onto the floor to John Cougar Mellencamp’s classic “Smalltown.”

The Lady Zephyrs won three straight sectional championships in 1991, 1992, 1993, a remarkable feat for any program let alone a school so small as Neponset. They compiled a 78-8 record along the way.

Neponset was small, but played big time girls basketball.

While the Lady Zephyrs were unable to take the next step down the tracks to state, their accomplishments are what legacies are made of, and earn them into induction into the BCR’s Bureau County Sports Hall of Fame.

Lived for basketball

What made the Lady Zephyrs so special? Rachael (Weeks) Porter, a standout on all three Sweet 16 teams and a 1994 graduate, said the Neponset girls all lived to play basketball.

“Our only sport was basketball,” she said. “We had hard-working, tough players and manager with close friendships/supportive families. ... We were small, but mighty.”

“The size of our school is what made it special. We all grew up together and were like family,” 1992 grad Kim Hansen said. “The amount of time we spent in the gym together allowed us to know what someone was going to do before they did it. We could anticipate each other’s moves.”

Blake said it was an easy group to coach, who strove for excellence.

“They were pretty much self motivated, very easy to coach. They got to the gym, they practiced, they loaded the bus, they were ready to play,” he said. “Things like that as a coach made it easy to prepare, because you knew the kids were in tuned to what you were trying to do.

“They were dedicated year around. They played basketball year around, and enjoyed one another’s company. They played hard.”

They also had talent. A lot of talent.

Jolene Bair, who moved to Neponset when her parents were looking to relocate for a centrally located town between their new jobs, was an All-State center. Blake said Bair, who went on to play for a national championship team at ICC, was a primetime player.

“The bigger the game, seemed like the better she played. She just made mince meat out of the girl from Immaculate Mary, who won Class AA State the year or two before. When it was a big game, you could always count on her,” Blake said.

Bair was accompanied by Hansen, a sharp-shooting guard Kim nicknamed the “Microwave” for how her shot warmed up fast, and the talented Porter. Both Bair and Hansen are still listed in the IHSA record books.

“They all had good leadership qualities. They led by example and they were always ready to play,” Blake said.

That trio was surrounded by a strong supporting cast, including Lynn Brady, Sarah Pratt, Courtney Blake, Tiffany Benecke, Heather Wager, Brandi Hamilton and Marty Ann Loibl.

“When you think about how small of a school we were and all the talent we had on our team, it truly is amazing how far we went,” Bair said. “Each of us had our role on the court from the guards, to the forwards, to the center. We all knew what our role was and we did it very well.”

Blake credits the impact assistant coach Lauri Steger made. She was also the grade school coach and developed the girls to be ready to step right in and play at the high school level, he said.

Sweet memories: Brandi (Hamilton) Elias, a 1993 grad, told the Illinois Glory Days site that she will never forget all the great times she had playing basketball.

“We were all friends and thats what made us such a good team,” she said. “And I’m so glad we had Chuck Blake as our coach. He and his family did so much for me through out my school years. And ask anyone about running the ‘HOG JOG’!”

For Bair, it’s always remembering their fans in the stands.

“There were times when it was standing room only and it was so loud, we could barely hear our Coach yelling at us. Little does he know, we just shook our heads and agreed with him even though we couldn’t hear him. I’m sure he will love hearing that. But truly, as a player, it is such an awesome feeling to have a following like that.”

The memories of are endless for Porter.

She fondly remembers their devoted fans and the parades through town after their wins at regionals and sectionals, joking (but true) that the only person home in Neponset “was an old lady on Maple Street flashing her porch light, because the rest of the town were fans following the bus.”

The games with neighbor Annawan were classics and always drew huge crowds, creating a super small-town girls basketball rivalry, and created lasting memories for Hansen and Porter.

“This might sound weird since we did not win, but my favorite memories are the Annawan games at Annawan. The atmosphere in that gym was incredible. I can remember not being able to hear each other on the court. That is something that I don’t think many girls get to experience anymore. Other than that, definitely the two sectional championships.

“I’m pretty sure the fan crowd was above fire capacity at all of our games. We developed close friendships with many of the players and it was always an intense, respectable battle,” Porter said.

And of course there was coach Blake.

“Oh, memories of us annoying him with our music on the bus and how red his face/neck veins appeared when he was not happy with our performance,” Porter said.

And there were the good times at the Blake house after big wins, “Thanks to Sue (Blake), Porter adds.

Bitter sweet endings

Neponset had won seven regionals leading into the 1992 season, dating back to 1984. But the fun was only beginning.

They went 26-3 in 1990-91, defeating Henry (63-34) and Bradford-Tiskilwa (64-36) for the regional championship at Wyanet, and Princeton (57-49) and Dunlap (46-44) for the sectional championship at Western. They reached the Sweet 16 for the first time, falling to eventual state runner-up Seneca 58-53 at the Bradford Super-Sectional.

The Lady Zephyrs best season was 1991-92, going 27-2, losing only to Annawan. They beat Wyanet (74-17) and host Bradford-Tiskilwa (68-27) for the regional championship, and Eureka (75-31) and St. Bede (61-42) for the sectional championship at Princeton. Their old nemesis, Seneca, knocked them out once again at the Normal Super-Sectional, 51-49 in overtime.

“My senior year was the most disappointing,” Hansen said. “I think my junior year we surprised everyone by how well we did. So, the expectations were very high my senior year and I think people just assumed we would make it to state. I felt an enormous amount of pressure and responsibility for not making it to state.”

Neponset made a sectional 3-peat in 1992-93, defeating Wyanet (66-31) and Bradford-Tiskilwa (63-28) for the regional championship, and Ottawa Marquette (69-49) and host Dunlap (44-42) for the sectional championship. They fell in Super-Sectional play once again, this time to Gibson City 59-53 at Fairbury. The Greyhounds would finish third at state.

In three super-sectional games, the Lady Zephyrs, were outscored by just a total of 13 points.

“Looking back now at the size of our school and team, it was impressive to think we had made it that far to the Sweet 16,” Bair said. “We had fought so hard and to come up short three years in a row, it was very disappointing. Looking back now at the size of our school and team, it was impressive to think we had made it that far to the Sweet 16.”

“Every one of those games was pretty close,” Blake said. “That last one was a tough one, I think we outplayed them (Gibson City). Got off to a poor start, caught them, actually went ahead and lost it in the end. That was Jolene’s class last game. Kind of hurt. Several college coaches were there to see Jolene that night and she didn’t want to talk to anybody. I didn’t blame her. She was depressed. I was depressed. We were all depressed.

“The second one at U-High. That was also bittersweet, because we were a block away from Redbird Arena (for state) and we couldn’t get over there.”

Porter said the team handled their disappointment of not making state and playing on the floor by taking in the tournament as an “honorary team” in special seating.

“(We were) close enough- a lot less pressure,” Porter joked.

Blake won one more regional in 1993-94, his last season coaching his hometown team, before moving on to Wethersfield and later Kewanee, hanging up his whistle for good in 2017. He went 261-79 with eight regional championships in 13 years at Neponset.