03-11-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
PEORIA - For most high school boy's basketball programs the ultimate goal is to win a conference title and maybe, if all the stars are in line, win a regional championship.

But those aren't the kind of goals set by everyone.

Some programs strive to do more. Raise the bar a tad bit higher.

The Woodlawn Cardinals and Breese Central Cougars, the two ABV teams left in the postseason, are part of the latter select group of programs.

As of right now, these two are the Gold Standard.

The ones coaches talk about modeling their programs to be like.

For both of these stellar schools, not making the long journey in the postseason to Peoria is considered a bit of a failure.

After all, that is the ultimate goal each winter.

And these two programs have reached these goals more than any of the other southern Illinois squads in the past eight years of four-class basketball.

For Woodlawn, this is their fourth trip to the Carver Arena, having made the travel plans to the City on the River back in 2009, 2011 and 2012.

Those Final Four appearances produced a second place finish in 2009 in the first visit.

Head coach Shane Witzel's club ran into a tough Macon Meridian team who defeated the Cardinals 63-53 in the title game.

In 2010 an overtime loss to longtime rival Sesser-Valier at the Salem Supersectional spoiled another potential trip to Peoria.

But they were back at Carver Arena a season later in 2011.

This team was upended in the semifinals by Winchester West Central and had to settle for third place after defeating Deer Creek-Mackinaw.

The ultimate goal was reached in 2012 as the Cardinals nabbed the school's first ever state title.

The Cardinals finally got a chance to wear the the championship crown, as they won the 2012 title with a 48-45 victory over Carrollton in the title game.

Coach Witzel (443-147 in his 20th season) has his team back in the title hunt at 29-3 and with two more wins this weekend a second championship will come back to the already full trophy case.

"We're really excited about getting another chance to play in Peoria," said Coach Witzel after their supersectional win. "I saw a picture today, which is kind of cool, of the same five kids when they were in seventh and eighth grade. I'm really excited for them. They have worked awful hard and bought into what we are trying to do. They are a great group of kids that love to play."

The Central Cougars started their run of postseason success back in 2003 with their first taste of March Madness, making a run that eventually ended with a quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Hales Franciscan.

They were back the following year, again dropping a quarterfinal game to Chicago Leo, and again in 2005 where Winnebago sent them home early in the quarters.

In 2007, the Cougars made their fourth supersectional appearance, only to lose to Mt. Sterling-Brown County.

Four trips resulted in zero trophies but this didn't discourage this program and then head coach Stan Eagleson.

The 2010 campaign, the third season of four-class basketball, saw the Cougars again make it to Peoria.

But after losing a close 39-38 decision to Peoria Manual and then a 80-70 decision to Hales, again, Central finally got some hardware (fourth place).

A supersectional defeat at the hands of unbeaten Murphysboro in 2011 kept the Cougars away from Peoria.

But all of the hard work and persistence, as it did for Woodlawn, paid off for the Cougars in 2012.

The Cougars finished the season 34-1 and they won the championship that had alluded them with wins over Seton Academy and Normal University High, 53-47, to capture the championship.

As it turned out, both of the state titles for Woodlawn and Breese Central occurred in 2012 and both of those teams return to Peoria four-years later.

Head coach Jeremy Shubert, who was an assistant for Coach Eagleson back before taking over the program in 2013-14.

He is 75-20 in his third season as the head coach.

He learned the coaching game from two of the best that have ever wondered the sidelines in Eagleson and former head coach Dave Luechtefeld.

He was a player for Luechtefeld at Okawville when the coach recorded his 600th win.

He was an assistant for Eagleson for 14-years and saw Coach Eagleson reach the same milestone.

In his third season he has taken the program back to Peoria.

Two young eighth grade kids were in the stands watching as the older kids that they looked up to won the championships.

Ross Owens of Woodlawn and Logan Kohrmann of Breese Central were both at Carver Arena that weekend in 2012 and both dreamed of getting back their as players for their respective schools.

Owens watched as his older brother Gabe won the championship while Kohrmann remembers vividly watching the Brandon Book led Cougars cut down the nets.

Both Owens and Kohrman saw their dreams become reality on Tuesday night at SIU Arena as the Cards and Cougars both won their respective supersectionals.

Owens netted 21-points in his teams' 63-42 win over Patoka while Kohrmann scored 22-points in his squads' 67-53 win over Teutopolis.

No matter the outcomes this weekend, the programs representing southern Illinois are part of the legacy of high school basketball in the Deep South.