THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JOEY WRIGHT
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PEOTONE — Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin has never finished a boys’ basketball season on the state’s biggest stage.
Nor had any of the schools that preceded the consolidation, which took effect in 2016.
But a come-from-behind, nail-biting 52-49 win against Bishop McNamara in a Class 2A sectional championship game on Friday night placed the Blue Devils within one win of program history.
Not that it was easy. Far from it. But these talented Blue Devils have only known winning since the season started in November, and the trend continued on Friday night in Will County.
“We got off to a sloppy start at the beginning of the game and ended up down 16 points in the second quarter,” BHRA coach Gary Tidwell said. “Our back was against the wall there. It just seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong.”
But not for long.
“Our guys did a great job of getting right back in the game,” Tidwell said.
Namely thanks to the talented efforts of junior standout Keison Peoples. The 6-foot-3 guard poured in 26 points, and Chaz Dubois complemented Peoples with 15 points of his own to keep BHRA’s March run going into the final week of the season.
The Fightin’ Irish — led by Trey Provost’s 16-point effort — had a chance to force overtime on three occasions during the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter.
“It was a great game,” Peoples said. “Great energy, great support from the fans. Everybody did a great job.”
Two missed three-point attempts and a turnover on the last Bishop McNamara possession of the game clinched the win for BRHA, which surged in the second half despite a 28-16 halftime deficit.
All but four of Peoples’ points came during the final 16 minutes of play.
“He’s really a dimensional player,” Tidwell said. “He’s hard to guard. He’s a hard matchup. … It just makes it a tough matchup for people I think. As much as he’s able to create offensively and draw so much attention, it makes everyone else better.”
Tidwell’s halftime message was simple yet effective.
“I just told them not to panic,” Tidwell said. “We weren’t going to play any worse than what we were, and we were only down 12 points. We just emphasized not trying to get it all back at once. … Just really proud of our guys for their fight and their resiliency.”
The Blue Devils faithful wasn’t deterred by a 176-mile round trip to Peotone, nor is a 107-mile one-way voyage to Joliet likely to turn the community away in two days.
BHRA (34-1) will face Chicago Dyett (24-7) at 7 p.m. Monday in the Joliet Central Super-Sectional with a trip to the Class 2A state finals on the line.
“We had great support this week,” Tidwell said. “Started out the game (Friday) a little slow, little sluggish, and they definitely helped us get back in it.”
Tidwell played at Assembly Hall as a state finalist for Prairie Central in the late 1980s. And he hasn’t been shy about the Blue Devils’ lofty aspirations to get back to Champaign.
“Our goal all along has been to make the state tournament,” Tidwell said. “Our guys are passionate about that. That’s been our vision. We’re one step away, so we’re just going to take the next couple days to prepare, enjoy the moment and be ready to go back to work (Saturday).”
BHRA would need to win on Monday to clinch the winningest season in program history; Tidwell’s 2019-20 squad finished 34-1 and captured the program’s only other sectional plaque until this year’s team broke though, too.
“Everybody’s cheering for us,” Peoples said. “Nobody has any doubt in us. It’s just us versus ourselves at this point. We’re going to enjoy our win (Friday night) and come back Saturday and be ready to get a win Monday night.”
