Frustrate them if you can’t beat them. Slow them down, at the very least. And by slowing them down, we mean to just hold the ball and look at them without saying or doing anything.
That’s basically what a 1,500-person Lanark, Illinois, small division boys basketball team did in a Friday night sectional final to defeat the state’s top-ranked 1A squad.
To slow down the typically fast-paced Indians of Pecatonica, the Eastland Cougars controlled the ball for the first 6 minutes, 59 seconds, which resulted in a 1-0 first-quarter score.
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“Stall Ball” was used the rest of the way, and it worked perfectly as Eastland advanced to the Supersectional final on Monday with a strange and extremely calculated 36-31 triumph, one victory from the state tournament.
It was the final retaliation against the state’s top-scoring 1A team (74.9 points per game), which had scored over 80 points 13 times this season and over 90 three times, including a 102-52 victory over Forreston on February 4 and a 113-30 victory over Durand on January 27.
Friday, according to this report by Jay Taft of the Rockford Register Star, they watched the Cougars make 14 of their 22 shots while avenging a season-ending 60-50 defeat to the Indians last season. In fact, Pecatonica had defeated Eastland six straight times, including 67-36 and 63-55 earlier this season.
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The Cougars easily defeated Pecatonica, who is referred to as “Pec” throughout the state, the first two times, but coach Tyler Zumdahl had prepared the “Snail Ball” assault with the season on the line.
Thanks in part to Zyacn Haverland’s 14 points, it went perfectly, keeping the Indians 44 points below their average score.
The Eastland players stayed strong and patient throughout, and they celebrated with their hundreds of home fans wholeheartedly after winning the section championship hardware, while the Pec home audience enthusiastically jeered and mocked the technique.
Zumdahl told reporters afterward, “We had to do something different because we got off to terrible starts the first two times.” “We needed to lower the tempo. If they agreed to guard, we were still prepared to score. We kind of went along with it since they didn’t want to do it. And the men did it. They were not shaken. They persisted. and completed it.
“It’s been a long time coming,” senior point guard Peyton Spears said. We needed to change it up. The nature of our strategy was well known. They had to come out. They had to be put on watch. We had to restrict them because they are among the state’s best offences. You drag it out like that, even though they’re averaging a lot of points. I would be annoyed if I were them.
Bobby Heisler, the coach of Pec, declined to comment on any of it, according to Taft.
“It feels amazing to come out with a win,” said Braden Anderson, a junior at Eastland. It was our night, and I could tell right away when their followers began jeering. It was evident that their guys were genuinely unsure of what to do. Slowing down was quite beneficial.
Zumdahl’s pride got the better of him.
“The feelings are amazing,” he said to reporters. “This group of guys makes me so proud. ever since we were defeated in last year’s section final. Their objective was to return. and set winning as a goal.
