galesburg boys basketball - The Register-Mail

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D2 The Register-Mail, Galesburg, Ill. Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008 GALESBURG BOYS BASKETBALL ‘Galesburg basketball ... is a big deal’ Reynolds intends to restore the glory BY ZACK CREGLOW The Register-Mail GALESBURG — After a late practice, Mike Reynolds stood in the middle of where his Galesburg boys basketball team stretched in a circle. It was pushing 9:15 p.m., and the new boys basketball coach was reminding his team that they were expected back at Thiel Gymnasium at 5 a.m. the next morning for another workout. No one grumbled. “I figure it’s going to benefit us,” senior post Brian Gernant said before he left that night practice. “Like he said, while the KENT KRIEGSHAUSER/The Register-Mail Galesburg High School basketball coach Mike Reynolds gets serious during a Silver Streaks camp session last summer. Molines and Rock Islands are sleeping, we are going Table of Contents to be up working.” Since coming to Galesburg in mid-April after a sterling run as the Bismark-Henning coach, Reynolds has pushed a message of hard work and tireless dedication to his team. With the Silver Streaks brand tarnished, the team bought in early, Gernant said. “Right off the bat, you could tell he was going to be tough,” Gernant said. “There wasn’t going to an easy way out anymore.” Reynolds’ summer basketball camp was one of the most well-attended in recent memory, and it was no cakewalk. The boys varsity traveled across the region, playing — and winning — in high-profile summer shootouts in Illinois and Indiana, and the off season work didn’t stop there for the team. A casual happening in recent years, according to players, the open gyms this fall were gut-wrenching battles, occurring about three times a week, and the bestof-the-best in the program who were not busy playing football were there. “For the most part, they want to win. Losing is not very fun, and they have lost a lot,” Reynolds said. “We had some success in the summer. We played with some of the better teams in the state, beat some of them and lost to some of them. “Sometimes losing becomes a bad disease and we are trying to break that right now.” Reynolds has talked exten- sively about restoring the luster that the Galesburg basketball program once carried. The program’s history was a chief reason why the Orion native left Bismark-Henning, where he racked up a 118-38 record. His actions have mimicked his words. Reynolds has returned holiday basketball tournaments to Galesburg, with both Thanksgiving and Martin Luther King Jr. tourneys set to begin in the 2009- 2010 season. He even refitted the team in new basketball gear, emblazoned with the Nike logo. “Galesburg basketball, in the history of the state of Illinois, is a big deal,” Reynolds said. “It’s much like the University of Indiana. We are the See REYNOLDS, Page D3
GALESBURG BOYS BASKETBALL Streaks eager to generate hoop revival Defense a big part of hopes to improve BY ZACK CREGLOW The Register-Mail GALESBURG — The mention of the Galesburg High School boys basketball team’s record from last season brought a look of pain to senior Brian Gernant’s face. “It’s kind of embarrassing,” he said. Going 5-21 has that effect. With new coach Mike Reynolds bringing a renewed sense of discipline and a roster loaded with experience and young talent, the Silver Streaks plan to end the days in the cellar of the Western Big 6, the conference they once dominated with regularity. “We got a lot of height and a lot of power this year,” said Gernant, a 6-foot-3 bulky lefthander with a deft touch. “In the Western Big 6, we should have the stronger big men so I think we have a chance this year.” Gernant is joined inside by fellow seniors Caleb Weaver, an honorable mention allconference pick as a junior, and Tanner Libby, along with rising junior Victor Davis. They bring a variation of skills. Reynolds From Page D2 primetime place of high school in Illinois but in the last 10 years, to be very honest, we haven’t been very good and we are trying to change that.” The toughest obstacle, more so than getting the community or kids to buy in, is developing a steely mental toughness that festered as Galesburg struggled to only one winning season in the last nine years. KEN EXUM/The Register-Mail Galesburg High School sophomore Chad Thompson and other Silver Streaks prepare to run a drill in preseason practice. Weaver is a classic lunchpail worker who hits the open jumper. Gernant has strength and can be dangerous as a pickand-pop shooter. Then there’s Libby and Davis, the team’s top two scoring options, who present threats both on the perimeter and in the paint. Reynolds will also look to incorporate 6-foot-5 sophomore Chad Thompson, considered by the coaching staff as the best shooter in “We are just trying to teach them that when it’s tough, you still have to fight through. When you’re tired, you have to still keep playing,” Reynolds said. “Some of them haven’t grasped that concept yet. They would rather fold the tent up, but we are changing the culture.” “We are learning how to play together instead of focusing on attitudes like we did last year,” Gernant said. “It’s just so much different. Everyone is listening. Everyone is playing hard. Everyone going is going full out until practice ends.” Even if the practice started at 5:30 a.m. the program. “Chad Thompson is a sophomore who is trying to figure out where he fits in the mix. His skills are different than theirs. They are big and strong and physical, and he’s more of a slasher and shooter. We need him to get stronger and more physical and we need the other guys to shoot it better,” Reynolds said. “But obviously our front line is our strength. We need those guys to bring an effort every day to lead us through.” Credits Cover design and layout by Jay Redfern Cover photo by Kent Kriegshauser Page design and layout by Mike Trueblood and Zack Creglow The Register-Mail, Galesburg, Ill. Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008 The guard position is anybody’s guess. Galesburg will be in the uncomfortable predicament of putting the ball in the hands of sophomores. Dalton Davis is a safe bet to start at point guard and is the best outside shooter of the guards, while Pierce Ferguson is an absolute jet with the ball in his hands but is playing his first year of organized basketball. Their classmate Brian Thompson can play both guard positions and has a good midrange game but is slight, while junior Bailee Ricketts brings offense to the lineup. “We got a lot of sophomores out there but we have sophomores that can play,” Reynolds said. “They got a lot of talent, and we are trying to cultivate that.” With so much undecided in the backcourt, a lot will be determined by the their ability to defend, a prerequisite Reynolds has set to play. “We are going to guard. If you are not capable of guarding, you are not going to play,” Reynolds said. “We have made that clear since Day 1. Most everybody is buying into that. If you are going to play basketball in our program, you have to rebound and you have to guard.” “That’s his first main concern: sit and play,” Gernant said with a chuckle. “That’s his famous line: ‘sit and play.’” Defense is the cornerstone of Reynolds’ philosophy, and the new coach hopes the Silver Streaks’ play on the back end can shore up any offensive deficiencies. “We want to rebound the basketball and defend. “Just like in baseball, the pitching is ahead of the batting, so right now the defense is ahead of the offense,” Reynolds said. “We are still struggling with some of our concepts and we are hoping by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, we will have everything in tow.” D3
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Page 5 and 6: PRAIELAND CONFERENCE BOYS BASKETBAL
Page 7 and 8: Abingdon Nov. 24-29 — at AlWood B
Page 9 and 10: OLYMPIC CONFERENCE BOYS BASKETBALL
Page 11 and 12: LTC BOYS Galva From Page D10 He hop
Page 13 and 14: Aledo Nov. 17-19 — at Cranberry C
Page 15 and 16: Streaks From Page D11 Galesburg’s
Page 17 and 18: LINCOLN TRAIL CONFERENCE GIRLS Blen
Page 19 and 20: PRAIRIELAND AT A GLANCE Abingdon Ro
Page 21 and 22: GALESBURG HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SWIMMING
Page 23 and 24: Knox Men’s Basketball Dec. 5 —
Page 25 and 26: After years in cellar, Knox goes ne
Page 27 and 28: CARL SANDBURG BASKETBALL CSC men re

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