THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE ARTICLE BY JOEY WRIGHT
JOLIET — The Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin boys’ basketball team endured a series of highs and lows on Monday night.
The high points — 13 points from Micah Stanford and plenty of clutch shooting that helped the Blue Devils bounce back from an early 13-2 deficit — weren’t enough to outweigh the sting of a 40-36 loss to Chicago Dyett in a Class 2A super-sectionalgame that ended BHRA’s season.
The loss on Joliet Central’s home floor brought a conclusion to the second-winningest season in program history, but one game shy of its first-ever state tournament appearance.
“Just really proud of my team,” BHRA coach Gary Tidwell said. “They competed. They fought hard (and) played a very strong, athletic team. Our guys performed well and really controlled the tempo and put ourselves in a position to win.”
BHRA’s second-ever super-sectional game — played five years to the day of its 59-56 loss to Sacred Heart-Griffin in the 2020 postseason — started much like its 52-49 sectional final triumph against Bishop McNamara this past Friday night.
And like its most recent victory — in which the Blue Devils trailed 28-16 at halftime — it was Keison Peoples who led the offense back from the brink.
The standout junior put the Blue Devils on the board with a contested layup halfway through the first quarter to set the team on track to finish the half with an 18-5 scoring edge.
“We came out a little slow,” Tidwell said. “We got back in the game, did a good job of keeping our composure from that point on and really controlled the tempo of the game.”
Caden Keleminic took center stage during the third quarter, splashing a trio of three-pointers in his final high school game to key the Blue Devils to a pair of leads in the final minutes of the third quarter.
“He did have some clutch threes there,” Tidwell said. “And Micah Stanford had some knockdown threes as well. Micah did a nice job of handling the pressure, and he was the catalyst on a lot of those made buckets by Caden.
“He was able to get downhill and make that extra pass, and Caden did a really nice job in that third quarter.”
But Dyett — which will face perennial power Peoria Manual at 3:45 p.m. Thursday at State Farm Center in Champaign in its first-ever state finals appearance — led 27-26 entering the final quarter and employed a ball-control offense to hold the edge for the duration of the frame.
Jahmir Brown paced Dyett (25-7) with 13 points.
“Very athletic team,” Tidwell said. “Most athletic team that we’ve faced this year. I thought our guys handled it really well, but those are some quality teams there, and I’m sure they’ll have success in the state tournament.”
The Blue Devils will lose key seniors like Keleminic, Stanford, Ethan Dubois, Chaz Dubois and Anderson Thomas, but Peoples will return with the aim of helping the program to its first state finals appearance in 2026.
BHRA (34-2) matched its 2019-20 team as the winningest in school history.
“These guys have worked hard and these last two years have really been special,” Tidwell said. “We gave it a great run, and we just want to keep building on that for the future.
“I think we’re in a good spot right now, I think expectations are set pretty high, so we just need to put the time in the offseason and be ready to go next year.”
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