The Illinois Basketball Coaches Association announced its Coach of the Year Award winners, and six coaches from the Sauk Valley area were recognized.
On the boys side in Class 1A, Newman’s Ray Sharp and Eastland’s Tyler Zumdahl were recognized. In 2A, Oregon’s Jarrett Reynolds was honored.
On the girls side in 1A, Newman’s Herb Martin and Eastland’s Nicole Brinker were recognized. Dixon’s Luke Ravlin was recognized in 3A.
Sharp was recognized following a season in which he recorded his 400th win with the Comets. Newman finished 33-2, setting the single-season school record for wins and taking home a regional title.
Zumdahl helped lead the Cougars back to state for the second year in a row, where they finished fourth. Eastland went 32-7 and 12-0 in the NUIC South.
Reynolds was recognized after leading the Hawks to their first regional title since 2006 as a No. 4 seed. Oregon finished 24-10 and 6-3 in the Big Northern Conference. The Hawks’ 24 wins were their most as a program since at least 2002.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/4G2JHG46X5FFNO7KD37YMI5GUM.jpg)
Martin led the Newman girls to a Three Rivers East Conference title and their first regional title since 2009. The Comets finished 26-7, their highest win total since 2005.
Ravlin led the Duchesses to a 29-4 record and second-place finish in the BNC at 8-1. It was the second straight year of winning 29 games. Ravlin also eclipsed 300 wins at Dixon.
Brinker led the Cougars to a 27-7 record, NUIC South title at 11-1 and a regional title.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/KYIE2HPO4ZBFLIUHJ7JHOOWJKA.jpg)
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/shawmedia/144099ae-b874-4f34-978c-0944d4f62d52.png)