NORMAL, Ill. – This time, they were ready for the bright lights and big stage.
St. Thomas More of Champaign came to the Illinois high school Class 2A state tournament in 2013 as the overwhelming favorite but saw its hopes fizzle thanks to a confident opponent (Nashvillein it’s 8th appearance), foul trouble for its superstar freshman (Tori McCoy) and a blaze of horrid shooting (25 percent below it’s season average) in the championship game.
The second time around helped to ease those bitter memories. The Sabers (33-2), top-ranked the entire season, thrashed Prophetstown 70-34 Saturday night at Redbird Arena in a tour de force fitting of their championship season.
St. Thomas More’s only two defeats came against a Class 3A team and a 4A team. It beat seven postseason opponents by an average of 36 points. And the title game victory was essentially sealed when the Sabers raced to a 46-16 halftime lead on the strength of 60 percent shooting.
“They were crisp,” STM coach Chris Mennig said of his team. “You always hope the kids will play their best when the lights are on but it’s never a guarantee.”
By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Sabers’ starters had exited, spending the final eight minutes yukking it up on the bench. There were no tears this time. Only smiles and shouts and poses. Even Mennig could allow himself to succumb. When the STM student section began chanting “We want Micki!” – a request for little-used freshman guard Micki Walker – Mennig smiled and immediately inserted her into the game.
No Saber played more than 22 minutes. All had a robust opportunity to enjoy the program’s first state title.
“We really wanted to get the biggest lead possible so that everyone could (know) what it feels like to play at state,” starting guard Liz Bristow said. “What an amazing opportunity it was for them.”
The starters certainly did their part. McCoy (17 points, 10 rebounds), Bristow (13 points), Lexi Wallen (18 points) and Randy Harshbarger (12 points, five steals) led the effort.
“We were relaxed,” Bristow said. “Seeing what we went through last year, we had a better feel of what we were going to see here today.”
By halftime, the outcome wasn’t in doubt. The atmosphere in the locker room ranged from euphoria to let’s-keep-it-real.
“We were going crazy, we were so happy,” Bristow said. “Coach obviously came in and told us we haven’t won anything yet, we had to finish out the second half so it was a pretty good feeling.”
It was in contrast to the emotional state the Sabers were experiencing in December, when the pressure of being the Class 2A heavyweight was creating burdensome expectations. Mennig challenged his team with a schedule loaded with higher-class ranked teams, trying to preserve focus and reinforcing the notion that improvement must be earned.
But it wasn’t as smooth as it might have appeared.
“This was one of the more emotional roller coasters I’ve ever been on,” said Mennig, in his eighth season at STM after a multiple-school career as a college assistant. “People think when you have a ton of talent that it’s easy, it’s keeping the peace. That joy you see with our girls now, I can promise you was not even close to what we saw in December.”
Mennig checked his own emotions when discussing what turned it around.
“(It took) me to look in the mirror and lay off the hammer on them,” he said. “I was coaching them as a college coach the first part of the year. I was wanting in November (the same type of basketball) that I saw here in February. We were winning by 25 and people were disappointed.
“This (weekend) is what I envisioned they could become, (by) getting them to make that emotional connection, and selflessness and basically building new friendships. We put five kids on the floor that had never played together all summer long. Our first game this season was the first time that starting five ever played together. I looked in the mirror, and mea culpa’d to them, said I’m sorry, it’s not fair to you for me to treat you as a college coach. And said we’re just going to do all the things we did to start this program eight years ago. Work hard, have fun, and get better at our skills each day. From that point on, you could see them start to loosen up slowly as the months went by.”
The Sabers’ warm-up shirts were emblazed with the phrase, “Rise to the Occasion.” On the back was a bulls-eye with the school mascot in the middle.
They were expected to be in this spot.
“Having everyone say that, we kind of took it as a compliment but also as a goal to work harder,” Harshbarger said. “We knew we had to work hard every day. Going into every practice we would ask each other, ‘Who’s working harder than us today?’ We knew we had to push through it.”
The reward? Those final eight minutes of the fourth quarter, when the STM reserves were drawing the biggest cheers of the game and the starters were so excited they couldn’t remain seated on the bench.
“It’s tough to go wire to wire,” Mennig said. “For them to go through the gauntlet of challenges I gave them this season, and to be able to finish it off, to show all that hard work was worth it, you can’t say enough. It’s just a great memory for those young women.”
