Colbert: What we learned from basketball championship weekend

It’s another season in the books for boys IHSA basketball after four champs were crowned at Champaign last weekend. What did we learn?

For an old-timer like myself, the first thing that comes to mind is the continuing saga of this being the domain of all-star type teams rather than that of home-grown teams. Seemingly gone is the era of public schools from small and large towns all over Illinois being in serious contention for the championship.

In 1A, it was Chicago Marshall from the Chicago public league, which has shrunk from over 1,000 students to 197. Still, it draws from the city of Chicago, giving it a competitive advantage over the rest of the 1A field, as evidenced by the 66-38 beatdown given to Eastland in the semifinals.

Peoria Manual, long established as one of the premier programs in Illinois, claimed the 2A crown. This is the same program that won four straight AA titles in the mid 1990s and continues to get some of the best talent in Peoria, along with fellow powerhouse Richwoods. Peoria has always been a basketball town.

Playing a 3A/4A schedule, 21-9 Manual came in tested. They trailed both to Tolono Unity and Quincy Notre Dame in the fourth quarter before coming back to win on superior athleticism.

Speaking of athleticism, the 3A champ was power East St. Louis, who also excels in football and track & field. In a dichotomy of communities, it was impoverished ESL handling a wealthy affluent suburban team in Deerfield.

It was a pair of private 4A schools going at it in the 4A game, with Chicago Marist taking down favored Lisle Benet. Looking at all 8 finalists, Goreville (1A) and Deerfield (3A) were the closest we had to home-grown teams.

Last year, it was even more unbalanced with three private schools and one Chicago public league school winning titles.

Another drawback to town-based teams not in the mix for a state title is low attendance. Private schools and Chicago public leaguers do not have the same fan base as whole communities.

In its heyday, Assembly Hall at Champaign used to sell out. Now, I would be surprised if the upper bowl is even needed.

While I’m lamenting the modern era, here is a legitimate gripe I have. Did you know there are some schools or gyms that do not allow players to climb up on ladders to cut down the nets after winning sectional titles.

I saw a post on Facebook about this and the reason given is that it is too dangerous and it’s better for school officials to handle. I imagine this is another case of potential liability, which continually crosses the line into absurdity.

There was a time when players would get on each other’s shoulders to snip the nets. That’s teamwork and nobody worried about it then.

On a similar subject, I would like to express my disgust with the organizers of the LA Marathon and deciding to give finisher medals to anyone that completed 18 miles instead of the standard 26.2 Their reasoning was that it was going to be hot that day and anyone having a “tough” go of it could quit early.

That’s pathetic and sends the wrong message. It’s also another reason why we have become so complacent and lazy as a society. It’s also so California.

Though Eastland lost handily in both games downstate, they probably had more radio stations covering them than any other teams. While watching the game online, I recognized local FM stations WCCI 100.3, WFPS 92.1 and WLLT 94.3 broadcasting courtside.

I saw most of the games over the weekend and commend all the teams for how hard they played, especially on defense. That is how Marshall and Manual won, because of their quick hands in forcing steals for easy lay-ups.

The best-coached team appeared to be DePaul Prep by Tom Kleinschmidt, which was going for a 4A title, after winning 2A and 3A in the two previous years. Though they lost by 1 point in the semifinals to Benet, they only had 3 turnovers and were so effective in how fundamentally sound they played as a unit.

Under long-time coach Mark Tripp, Goreville also looked like a team that got the most out of its talent. It had Marshall on the ropes until 9 steals in the fourth quarter spelled their demise.

In watching 1A and 2A, it was like both Marshall and Manual toyed with their opponents for the first three quarters. Then, like clockwork, they made it almost like a men-against-boys scenario.