Prairie Central using love and support to get it through the pain

The Princeton Tigers and Prairie Central Hawks had a connection throughout the boys basketball season.

If it wasn’t the Tigers on top of the Associated Press Class 2A rankings it was the Hawks. Both held the top spot on two separate occasions.

Prairie Central claimed the No. 1 ranking at the start of the new year from DePaul College Prep, but surrendered it to the Tigers the next week.

The Tigers remained at No. 1 for three weeks for the Jan. 11, Jan. 18 and Jan. 25 rankings. Princeton, however, lost it after losing to Normal U-High, scooped up by Columbia on Feb. 1.

Princeton reclaimed the No. 1 ranking on Feb. 8, only to lose it to Prairie Central for the final rankings on Feb. 15.

Their connections lie even deeper.

Princeton’s Grady Thompson and Prairie Central’s Dylan Bazzell were both named to the prestigious First Team Associated Press All-State Team.

Another tie during the season between the Class 2A powerhouses saw Princeton beat Pontiac twice during the regular season, which would come back to knock out the Hawks for the sectional championship.

The two schools have also been intertwined in other sports the past two years.

Prairie Central came to Princeton for a Class 3A second-round playoff game in 2021 with the Tigers shutting out the Hawks, 40-0.

Last spring, each school’s standout athlete battled out for the Class 2A state high jump championship with Princeton’s Teegan Davis (1.99m) edging Bazzell (1.96m) for the blue ribbon.

Sadly, the Fairbury community suffered a horrific tragedy with the death of Bazzell and classmate/friend Drew Fehr to a sledding accident on Sunday, March 19 in Colorado. Fehr was an all-state running back for the Hawks football team and a starter in basketball.

Both were great kids, very talented, but humble, and well liked. Great role models for their community.

These kind of things shouldn’t happen to high school kids.

Dylan and Drew should have finished out their senior years, took their girlfriends to prom, received their diplomas in May and make plans for college next fall.

Sadly, they will never get the chance.

Through darkness, however, a light has shone over the Prairie Central community.

The Bazzell and Fehr families and the entire community have received an outpouring of love and support from not only its own town folks, but many, many other central Illinois schools and communities.

Students and staff from many schools are wearing navy and Columbia blue in honor of Drew and Dylan and the Prairie Central community as they continue to grieve.

Athletes from rival Pontiac left a banner at the memorial walk at the Prairie Central football field with signatures that read, “more than a rivalry.”

In a statement Wednesday, Prairie Central superintendent Paula Crane said, “We are incredibly thankful for this and would like everyone to know that we feel this love and support and it’s making a difference. This has been tremendously uplifting.”

As a school and a community, how can you move on?

I don’t think you ever do.

The support of others will help. Send the Hawks family a card and let them know you are thinking of them.

Get well Teegan: I just hate writing bad news like the Prairie Central kids and about the knee injury to our Teegan Davis. Teegan is the best all-around athlete I’ve seen come through my 37 years covering PHS. A great, hard-working kid. To see him suffer his devastating knee injury is just heartbreaking.

Like many are saying, if anybody can come back, it’s Teegan. Praying for a speedy recovery Teegan. We are all behind you.

Officially speaking: March Madness has officially underway with one upset after another in the NCAA Tournament. Princeton grad John Washo (’97) had enjoyed a unique taste of March Madness.

He officiated a second round game of the NCAA Div. 3 tournament and was an alternate sitting at the scorer’s table for the Div. 3 semifinals and championship game in Fort Wayne, Ind.

He’s been officiating for 16 years, the past four in Div. 1. His wife, Jen, is doing Div. I women’s basketball. They once worked a prep game together at PHS.

Kevin Hieronymus has been the the BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com