On Friday night, a high school basketball squad in the state of Illinois pulled off a huge upset in the semifinals by taking advantage of an incomprehensible time regulation. Even though the unconventional approach was entirely legal, it ultimately produced a highly contentious outcome.
A shot clock should be implemented by the state as a result of this most recent incident in order to prevent future shenanigans of this nature. It was a disgrace to the sport!
Less than 400 students attend Eastland High School, which is situated in the tiny Illinois town of Lanark. It was placed fifth in the Class 1A classification at the end of the 2024–25 regular season.
Pecatonica, Illinois is home to Pecatonica High School, or Pec for short. Additionally, it has fewer than 400 students enrolled and was the top-ranked team in Class 1A at the end of the regular season.
In Friday night’s Class 1A Pecatonica Sectional final, the Cougars travelled 38 miles east to play the Indians. They spent most of the first quarter just refusing to play basketball.
In the state of Illinois, high school basketball does not have a shot clock. On offence, teams are free to hold the ball for as long as they choose. Failure to shoot—or even to dribble, for that matter—carries no consequences. Nothing can prevent them from purposefully halting play.
In an attempt to upset a Pecatonica club that had won all three of its previous meetings in the previous year, Eastland made the decision to take advantage of the regulations. After taking possession of the bus from the opening tip, the Cougars parked it right away. For most of the first quarter, they didn’t even attempt to score.
It was a literal standoff. Nobody moved for more than six minutes.
As a result of Eastland’s frustrating strategy, Pecatonica led only 1-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The home team trailed 8-5 at the end of the first half and the visitors were met by a loud chorus of boos. Head coach Tyler Zumdahl did not care.
The Indians had one of the best offenses in the state during the regular season but their sectional final opponent kept them from their usual up-tempo pace. They lost by 5.
Eastland won its first-ever sectional final by a final score of 36-31 and will advance to the Super-Sectionals on Monday night. It did what it had to do to win.
