Former Storm, Tigers show they’ve still got game in BV-Princeton Alumni Game

MANLIUS – They came to play and watch for their own reasons in Sunday’s inaugural Bureau Valley-Princeton Alumni Basketball Game at the Storm Cellar.

Some wanted to reunite and get the old gang together again even if just for a few minutes of court time.

Some wanted to see if they’ve still got it, and others came to watch to see if they did.

All came to support the two schools' booster clubs, which are missing out on the large pay day from the gate and concessions from the high schools' yearly meetings that are no longer being played.

For Michael Grieve, a 2006 Bureau Valley alum, the game held special meaning.

He came to play in memory of his friend Danny Nelson, a PHS grad and former Tigers star, who was killed in an October 2016, auto accident. Grieve sported “Hoopar 22″ on the back of his shirt, which was what Nelson had on his license plate.

“I thought it was a nice way to remember him tonight. I know he would have loved to play,” Grieve said.

The game started with the “oldies but goodies” featuring the 40 and older group, which actually started at 37 years up. The venerable Don Smucker, 71, a 1971 Tiskilwa graduate, certainly showed he still has game.

“I had to show them that us old guys can still get up and down the court,” Smucker, who plays once a week in Rock Falls, said with a smile.

Newly retired coach Brad Bickett, the former Storm mentor who guided BV to three straight Class A third-place finishes at the turn of the century, schemed a game plan after seeing the PHS alums warming up.

“We were going to either box-and-1 Poke Clark or put a triangle-and-2 on him, but we didn’t need to because he couldn’t get down to the other end of the court,” Bickett said with a laugh.

The retired coach was in midseason form, harassing referee Dave Shepard for not calling fouls on his shooters. Shepard, who has made a career officiating at state along with his partner Buzz Fisher, promptly responded with a few of Bickett’s patented foot stomps.

The ladies took their turn on the court, a group that not only included recent stars from BV, such as Saige Barnett, and Princeton, such as Anna Murray, Sara Grieff and Kelly (VanDenBussche) Bostrom, but saw Melissa (Milby) Jackson, who played on BV’s first team in 1995-96, suit up.

“It was so fun playing with my pals Sara and Kelly as well as with other female alumni. It felt like we were back in the high school basketball season,” Murray said. “I wish I had the same endurance like I once had.”

The young guns took over for the third quarter, a team Bureau Valley loaded up with a starting five from its 2019 Sweet 16 Team featuring Kale Barnett, Tyler Gustafson, Corbin Endress, Noah Johnson and Noah Simon.

“Quickly remembered why those Elite 8 boys were elite. I enjoyed that as much as anything,” said BV coach Jason Marquis (2004), who played with the 40 and older group. “Also fun to see Yep [Justin Yepsen] still has the step back in the paint. And that my teammate [Adam] Franklin can still jump.

“What an awesome time to see some folks I hadn’t seen in quite some time. Great idea. Executed well. Good turnout.”

Matt Wiggim (BV 1998) needed a little push by BV Booster Club President Josh Egan to play.

“I said absolutely no way am I playing unless you need me. I guess he needed me. Apparently he needed 15 guys so nobody would get burned out,” he said. “And I had to show Zac, my son, and his team how to play.

“Look at the crowd. This was something a lot of people were looking forward to. It was a good thing for both booster clubs.”

Wiggim joked that Bickett told him, ‘You better be on fire tonight because we’re going to run some sets for you."

Yepsen, who was a member of the Storm’s first state basketball team in 1999-00 and serves as the president of the BV school board, said it was a good day.

“Not to be able to have our schools play outside of Colmone, it’s real neat to get the school districts back together and the fans. I think it’s a pretty cool experience.”

Like Wiggim, Yepsen wanted to show his son, Teegan, 9, that he could play.

They wanted to see if i can still do it. I don’t know if I kept up to my word or not. He says, no. Hopefully, these guys do better than me," Yepsen said.

Teegan gave just a so-so signal when asked if he thought his dad could still play.

Perhaps the biggest two stars of the day were Kelly Sissel-Morris from Princeton, who saw a few minutes of court time, and BV counterpart Barbie Patnoe entertain the crowd with their commentary.

Egan, who played in the game, said the event went over great.

“I will say the crowd was bigger than I thought we would get. Great to see people show up on a Sunday to support us and kick off their holiday season,” he said. “Lots of players commented how great it was to get on the court again in front of spectators. No matter how much rec ball you play, nothing beats playing in front of a crowd, especially in your home gym.

“Overall, I think things went great. Between our sponsors, the admission money, concessions sales and our raffle we raised a lot of money for the two clubs. But more importantly we hope we started a new community tradition.”

Egan said the two booster clubs will meet together in January and start planning for an alumni softball event for this spring.