Best of the Season: Best Moments
PrepHoopsIllinois evaluated over 150 games during this season. We thought it would be fun to take a look back in our Best of Season Series at some of the standout moments, games, performances, etc. Today we have our Best of the Season: Best Moments!
Let’s look at our three favorite moments of the high school basketball season that we saw.
Mark Smith “Im The #1 Player in the State.”
To me my favorite moment of the year was at the Salem Invitational Tournament. Edwardsville was heavily favored throughout the entire event. They were without their star post presence and Iowa commit AJ Epenesa, but the top seed had the hottest recruit in the entire state on their team in Mark Smith who was on fire coming in landing multiple high major offers and was scorching the nets! Smith and his Edwardsville team got a pair of relatively easy wins to open things up in the first two games. Smith was getting a little too fancy trying to shoot threes from the volleyball line. I spoke with him after one of the games and said “There is no one that can stop you going downhill in this area. Just do that.” The championship game against Centralia was a test for Edwardsville. The Orphans are a well-coached team that play as a unit. Smith needed to bring his A game. After an annoying kid wouldn’t quit jumping on the risers on one side of the gym I moved underneath the hoop setting on the floor next to my old athletic director. Great view of the game. Smith needed to spark his team and he did just that by going to the hoop over and over for five scores in a row at the rim. Just like I told him two day previously. On the fifth one he got an and-1. I start to write it down in my notebook and hear him about 5 feet from me yell “Scott, I’m the #1 Player in the State!” I started laughing. He even cracked a smile at the free throw line. Within about 30 seconds I had texts from about 10 people in the gym asking what just happened. That was the moment that Mark Smith won my vote for Mr. Basketball and was most likely going to be the choice for PrepHoopsIllinois Player of the Year. #1 prospect…….not quite, but best player this season. Yes!
Ping Gets #1000
Gene Pingatore is a coaching legend in the state of Illinois. He has been coaching for probably double the number of years I have been alive. The St. Joseph’s coach has been instrumental in the careers of players such as Isaiah Thomas and Evan Turner. He was a main character in the movie Hoop Dreams. When people think of Chicago basketball Ping is one of the first names that come to mind. He is the nicest man ever. Very funny, charismatic, and charming. He knows his basketball too! Coming into the season it was thought that St. Joseph’s would get the number of wins needed easily for Pingatore to reach the 1,000 career win milestone. As the season went along St. Joe’s struggled with team chemistry and play on the court. I’m sure looking back on it this wasn’t Ping’s favorite team to coach. They put themselves in position to get his 1,000 win if they won their first round game in the Catholic League Tournament. Their opponent was higher seeded St. Rita. The game was played in St. Joe’s gym which is one of the oldest in the state. St. Joe’s willed their team and coach to the win. In the post-game it was great to see all the love Pingatore received and as always he said it was about the kids and people in the program that helped get him there. First class coach and person!
Upset Quarterfinal Day at Pontiac
The Pontiac Holiday Tournament is annually one of the best fields for basketball across the state. This year four teams came into the event undefeated in Curie, Simeon, Bloomington, and Joliet West. We were in the house for the quarterfinals where all four were expected to win. Only one did. Joliet West played a Bloom team that is loaded with up and coming young talent. They played solid, but it was their star senior Austin Richie who is headed to St. Cloud State that went off! He is known as a perimeter shooter, but he took it to the cup with authority throughout the contest. He led Bloom to the upset win over Joliet West. Bloomington faced Benet. The same Benet team who led a magical run to the state championship the previous season and had many of their players returning. Bloomington looked like the better team for much of the game, but Benet’s Jack Nolan would not let them lose. He hit deep threes over and over including sending it to OT and then put his team on his back again to win the game. The third upset of the day might have been the biggest. Curie was playing outstanding coming into the tournament including wins over the top two prospects in the state in back to back days just weeks earlier. They were the #1 team in the state and favorites to win Pontiac. Danville had other ideas. Especially their point guard Kendle Moore. The junior exploded for 34 points including the best we have ever seen him shoot it from the perimeter. He pushed the tempo and led his team to the win. Simeon would be the only of the four undefeated teams coming into the day that would advance to the semifinals.