O'Fallon makes trip to Morris with the time
By Mike Cunniff
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mcunniff@morrisdailyherald.com
The O'Fallon Panthers traveled nearly 250 miles to take part in the 24th Annual Morris Boys Shootout.
The trip home probably seemed a lot shorter.
That's because the Panthers won seven straight games over Tuesday and Wednesday to walk off with the team title. O'Fallon, located near St. Louis in St. Clair County, thus becomes the southern-most school to claim a team championship. Quincy, the 1994 champ, had been the previous southern-most school.
"Even though O'Fallon was missing its second best player, it was a team that was very athletic and well-coached," said Morris Redskins coach Joe Blumberg. "They had good balance with both an inside and an outside game. It was good to see a team from Southern Illinois come up here and do so well."
The Panthers, who play in the Southwestern Conference, were 7-7 in conference action and 13-16 overall last winter.
O'Fallon began play on Tuesday, capturing the Pool G championship via victories of 70-42 over Pekin, 46-33 versus York and 61-39 against Yorkville. The Panthers moved into the Gold Tournament portion on Wednesday, collecting wins of 44-32 over Joliet, 69-67 versus Oswego and 63-59 against Quincy Notre Dame before edging Lockport 63-51 in the championship contest.
Most attendees of the Shootout expected defending champion Hyde Park to play in the final game but the Thunderbirds were knocked off 57-40 by Wheaton North in the second round of the Gold Bracket.
"That was probably the upset of the tournament," pointed out Blumberg. "And Quincy Notre Dame was not a bad team, either. And while Minooka has been a surprise team to some people, what the Indians did here the last two days was no shock to me."
The eight pool champions (in order, from A to H) were the Porters of Lockport, East Aurora Tomcats, Hyde Park, Minooka, Quincy Notre Dame Raiders, Galesburg Silver Streaks, O'Fallon and Deerfield Warriors.
Deerfield got by East Aurora 60-54 in the consolation title game of the Gold Bracket.
The Maroon Bracket was composed of teams that finished in third and fourth places in the pool play. Springfield beat Normal 43-35 for the Maroon title while Wilmington (with just five players) downed Kankakee 48-42 in the consolation part of the Maroon Bracket title contest.
The Wildcats of Wilmington and Dwight Trojans, both out of the Interstate Eight Conference, were two of the five new teams that entered this year's Shootout. The other teams making their debut were the Dukes of York, Normal and Galesburg (which has been in the Shootout in the past).
And just how does Blumberg, wearing another hat as Shootout director, place the teams in the different pools?
"There are a lot of different factors," Blumberg explained. "Some of the teams are still playing in summer leagues and thus can't play on a Tuesday night, so we put them in a morning pool. Teams that have to travel a long distrance, we try to schedule later in the day. That way, they won't have to stay at a hotel for two nights.
"And then, I try to be sure that two teams from the same conference don't wind up in the same pool," added Blumberg. "I also try to avoid scheduling schools against non-conference opponents that they see during the regular season. And finally, I try to place at least one local team in each pool. It probably takes me about three to four hours to get the pools organized. I also ask for input from the coaches, because they want to play new teams. They also know the talent level of their team. It actually is not that complicated a process."
After the Shootout was over, Blumberg wanted to "thank all the officials and volunteers for all the hard work they put in. I also appreciate all the coaches getting their teams here on time. And my sophomore players and parents are also involved helping out. The volunteers put in a lot of hours even before the Shootout begins."
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