Althoff survives tornado scare, advances to state with win over Springfield Southeast
Mother Nature only threatened to blow the roof off the Prairie Capital Convention Center on Tuesday. The Althoff Crusaders finished the job.
Althoff shot 59.6 percent from the field including 10-of-17 from 3-point range to defeat Springfield Southeast 83-69 in the Class 3A super-sectional.
With the victory, the Crusaders (30-2) advance to make their second straight Illinois High School Association state tournament appearance and a rematch with Westchester St. Joseph, the same team that defeated Althoff in last season’s state championship game.
“We scouted them and knew they played the 1-3-1 zone, so we just knew we had to share the ball, find the open man and luckily hit some shots with a few easy buckets in there,” said senior Brendon Gooch, who had 15 points to go with 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. “We got a few good looks early and just kept shooting.”
The game was marked by the report of a tornado that touched ground about eight miles west of downtown Springfield and prompted convention center security to evacuate a crowd of 2,798 fans from their seats and to the building’s lower-level corridors.
The game resumed after little more than a half-hour with the Crusaders leading the Spartans 63-38 with 47 seconds left in the third quarter.
“I told them I’m good if they want to keep playing — you can clear the fans,” Leib said. “No, you’ve got to think safety first. I’ve got my own three little kids in here. I’ve never seen it before. We knew there was going to be severe weather.”
Heading into the game, Leib expressed concerns about the “unusual” shooting backdrop at the Prairie Capital Convention Center, which are deep, dimly lit, and darkened by navy blue seats.
Southeast (24-7) struggled from the floor early, hitting on just 9-of-27 first-half shots. The Crusaders, meanwhile, shot 52 percent in the first half and only got better, landing 68 percent after the intermission.
Keenen Young and Marvin Bateman each scored nine of their 11 points from behind the arc. Four others contributed 3s as well.
“Our main goal is to win the state championship,” Gooch said. “We were upset last year because we didn’t win it so we’re trying to get back to it again. It’s good to get a super-sectional win, but it doesn’t really mean anything if we don’t get the state championship.”
Friday will be nearly one year to the day that the Crusaders fell to St. Joseph in Peoria. Leib says his team has been looking forward to a rematch ever since.
With 962 wins, St. Joseph’s coach Gene Pingatore is the winningest boys coach in state history.
“I know they’ve been waiting. It’s been 364 days since we played each other last year, so it should be a lot of fun,” Leib said. “I’ve got the utmost respect for Coach ‘Ping.’ He’s a great coach and a great ambassador for all of us who step foot on the hardwood.”
Key moment
Goodwin missed a dunk on a three-on-one breakaway with a little under four minutes left in the first half. Southeast answered with a pair of free throws by Trevyon Williams to narrow the Althoff lead to 29-22.
That’s the closest the Spartans had been since the end of the first quarter and it would be as close as they would get the rest of the way. C.J. Colden hit his 3-pointer and Young scored on a drive through the lane to put the Crusaders up 34-22 by the end of the first half.
Behind seven points from Gooch and long 3-pointers from Young and Bateman, Althoff turned an 18-6 run into a 22 point lead. They scored seven unanswered after the delay.
Key performances
Junior forward Jordon Goodwin scored a game-high 17 points for Althoff. Gooch pitched in 15 to go along with 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Also in double figures were Young and Colden with 11 each and Tarkus Ferguson with 10 to go with six assists.
For Southeast, D’Angelo Hughes and Williams each had 17 points.
Fans take cover
As tornado whistles sounded outside, convention center security stopped the game with 47 seconds left in the third quarter, and the public address announcer instructed fans to take cover in the east end of the building.
Fans stood in long corridors that slopped below street level, many checking their smart phones for weather updates and weather radar sites.
“They absolutely did the right thing,” said longtime Althoff football coach Glenn Schott, who stood among the fans. “They didn’t have a choice.”
According to the National Weather Service, trained weather spotters reported a funnel cloud over downtown Springfield at 7:54 p.m.
The weather service issued a severe weather statement and warned of the potential for a tornado and half-dollar-sized hail in northeastern Sangamon and southeastern Menard counties. That warning expired at 8:15 p.m. A tornado watch was announced at 8 p.m. and was expected to remain in effect until 9 p.m.
The State Journal-Register reports authorities are investigating reports of a house destroyed west of downtown Springfield. The storm also downed trees and power lines in the area, according to rescue personnel.
The crowd was released back to its seats at 8:15 p.m. after the threat had cleared.
This story was originally published March 15, 2016 at 8:06 PM with the headline "Althoff survives tornado scare, advances to state with win over Springfield Southeast."