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At the start of the season, a Bureau Valley boys basketball team member came late for practice.
It didn’t happen again.
“We had to make it up and run,” BV junior Brad Schoff said. “After that nobody was late. Everybody knows it’s important to be on time and there, and I think everybody goes by that well.”
With that commitment, the Storm ran perfect attendance to all events into the new year before illness knocked three players out of action for Tuesday’s home game against Abingdon-Avon.
“Just unfortunate for a team that’s had perfect attendance for half of the season. Sickness bug got the best of us,” BV coach Jason Marquis said. “There’s different things you can celebrate and kind of lament with every group. It just shows their level of commitment.”
BV senior Landon Hulsing said that commitment is important to the Storm’s success.
“I think this team cares about being here, which is nice to see,” he said. “I feel like, sometimes it can be hard, because basketball is such a long season. Having everybody engaged and wanting to play is huge. That really shows.”
That commitment is typical, Marquis said, for his Storm squad.
“The thing that stands out about this group is they work hard. Most athletes are going to work hard. There’s a difference between that and competing,” he said. “Competing is you’re going to do whatever it takes to make the guy across from you better and get yourself better. We’re getting there. Not a finished project yet, but if you’re in the gym and working hard, you’re getting better.”
It’s a process, Marquis said.
“Kids are committed. They’re not staying up to 1 a.m. playing video games. They’re getting sleep, putting good food in their body,” he said. “In today’s basketball game and physicality, you have to take care of your body.”
BV bigs come up big
Marquis said the Storm’s “big boys,” Hulsing (24 points) and Schoff (5), came up big for the Storm in Tuesday’s win over A-Town and fed well off each other. Hulsing agreed.
“There were a couple plays where Brad was boxing out the other guy and I just got the rebound because there was nobody there. He really showed up tonight,” Hulsing said. “I think that was a huge part of it. Our rebounding was so strong tonight that I think that just carried us.”
Schoff said having Hulsing to practice against makes him a better player.
“Going against Landon in practice, that’s what makes it easier in games,” he said. “He’s one of the harder workers and stronger guys in the conference. Going against him in all practices definitely helps.”
Billhorn joins LaMoille’s 1,000-point club
Senior Tyler Billhorn scored 25 points against Stockton on Saturday to become the eight player in school history to reach 1,000 points. He added 10 points on Tuesday against Hiawatha and now stands No. 6 with 1,013 points, passing Matt Shevokas (1991-95) at 1,003 and Josh Gross (2013-16), who checked in exactly with 1,000 points.
Billhorn could move himself up to No. 2 in the Lions scoring ranks by season’s end.
Roger Weller, who went on to play at Illinois State, is the Lions' all-time scoring leader, scoring 1,785 points from 1951-55. Other 1,000-point scorers for LaMoille include Jim Hild (1964-67) with 1,145, Phillip Stuepfert (1988-91) at 1,070, Rich Wheeler (1966-69) at 1,053 and Jesse Monroe (2006-09) at 1,050.
LaMoille senior Brayden Klein is the next to take aim on 1,000 points. He stands at 853 and is averaging 15.3 points per game with at least 11 games remaining.
Princeton junior Keighley Davis could become the sixth player for the girls program as early as Saturday afternoon when the Tigresses host Alleman. She stands at 968 points heading into Thursday’s game at Newman.
PHS had Saturday’s game canceled by Marquette, but have picked up a Feb. 4 home date with Seneca.
Bureau Valley senior Landon Hulsing has run his career totals to 953 points after Tuesday’s 24-point effort against Abingdon-Avon. He would become the eighth Storm to crack the 1,000-point mark, a list headed by Parker Neuhalfen (2012-15) at 2,228.
Grandy plays for Bengals
Former Fieldcrest basketball and football player Cam Grandy saw playing time for the Cincinnati Bengals down the stretch of the NFL season. An undrafted free agent tight end out of Illinois State had at last one reception in three out of the past four games, including two catches for 12 yards against the Titans Dec. 15. He finished the season with five receptions for 28 yards.
Grandy is the first player to have played in Hall’s Colmone Classic to go on to play in the NFL. Donovan McNabb of Mt. Carmel played in the former Hall Shootout and starred in the NFL for Philadelphia and Washington. His Mt. Carmel teammate Antoine Walker played in the NBA with Boston while Thomas Hamilton of Hall Shootout participant Chicago King played briefly with the Bulls.