Massey- This was before Hudl fim exchanges. If you were going to scout, you had to go to the games with a notepad and write down what you saw. During the regular season, Coach Owens usually had Coach Wright or me go to scout one game each weekend. One of us would scout on Fridays and the other on Saturday. Barry then acted as the main assistant on the benches during games.
The way it worked for me, Coach Owens usually told 3-4 things he wanted me to watch. I did not scout Richwoods many times, but I remember when I went he always had me watch who Holcomb guarded and how far he would go out on the floor. One of the times, I was supposed to write down every time Smith touched the ball, where he was when he caught it, and what he did. He wanted to watch to see if Smith left his feet to pass. It was obvious Coach Owens had a specific plan in mind and he wanted info to support his plan. He wanted Holcomb to have to go outside and guard Campbell or Kelley, and he wanted to put a smaller, quicker Carl Finley on Mark Smith to pressure him as a ball handler.
A great thing that year was that the Peoria schools played a lot of weekday games on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mike Owens and Jimmie Carr went over to watch Richwoods many, many times. Recently Jimmie told me that each trip, he could tell Mike was more confident in the strategy he wanted to use.
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| Mark Smith |
Doss- We saw them play a few times, and usually they were up 20-30 by half time. I don’t think they were challenged that often. Maybe Central and or Manual gave them a good game. We thought their guards were average and Holcomb wasn’t great offensively. Mark Smith, who was junior, was a very good scorer. (I think once the game started in the regionals, we found out their guards (Hohstadt and Dothard were very good and better than we thought, and that Cornelius was also solid.) Remember, Holcomb was 6’ 11” and Smith was 6’ 8” and both D1 players. So, all around, they were a great team and undefeated.
Kelley- Nothing specific comes to mind regarding the prep and scouting for the Richwoods game. We had played them earlier in the year and twice the year before. We had a pretty good idea of their players and how they played as a team. My recollection is that it was pretty much business as usual leading up to the game. Clearly there was excitement in the air leading up to the game. We had to get by our first Regional game against Macomb. And then played Richwoods a day or two later. So we didn’t have a lot of time for prep and scouting reports.
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| Reunion- Mark Brown, Scott, Bill Dwyer, Mike Campbell |
Campbell- I do not remember much about our preparations or scouting reports for Richwoods. Obviously, Holcomb and Smith were a focus of that scouting and our preparations. Holcomb was not so much offensively gifted and, frankly, seemed to have stagnated in his offensive development (a trend that would continue into his college years), but he could still score around the rim and in the paint, and he was a defensive and rebounding menace, with his very long arms and good shot-blocking instincts. Smith was a much more skilled and versatile offensive player, not fast but sneaky quick and smooth, getting where he wanted to go and getting shots that were difficult to defend effectively – he was one of those players that you just had to do your best to disrupt his rhythm and hope he missed. The real problem, from a scouting perspective, as it related to Richwoods, was that although Scott and I could duel effectively, and maybe even outscore, Holcomb and Smith, they could roll out another Division I player, Cornelius, and experienced guards, chiefly Hohstadt, who could handle the ball, get it to Smith and Holcomb efficiently, AND make shots when called upon to do so. It was this better balance that had defeated us in the December regular season game, even as our duel against Smith and Holcomb turned in our favor, which had to worry them.
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| Thiel Gym |
Massey- Galesburg High School was different than it is today. There were 2500 students in the school. During the regular season, the entire main floor section on the north side was just students. Do you remember anything about the buzz around school or leading up to that game?
Doss- Everyone was excited. The students knew we could play with them. We were at home, which was nice. It was exciting, but we were also trained to stay cool, not get too over hyped. I remember someone was going to put up a sign on one for the overpasses on the interstate coming in to Galesburg from Peoria, “3 miles to your last game” or something like that. I’m sure that didn’t happen.
Kelley- I think there was a buzz around Silver Streak basketball for much of our senior season. But it increased exponentially after the Richwoods game. It was a very fun time!
Campbell- I do not remember anything specific. As I recall, the students were, as one would expect, enthusiastically supportive of us, but I think that they were hesitant to give us their whole-hearted emotional buy-in, given how we had allowed them to be crushed by our 52-point loss to Richwoods the season before, and I’m not sure that they perceived our December regular season 10-point loss to Richwoods as the sign of the coming potential storm that we did. Others might have had a different perception or have a different memory of it.
Massey- Later in life as a girls head coach, I grew to absolutely hate game days. It just seemed like game days went so sow and the stress just kept building. For you as players with that big game- do you remember anything about that day?
Doss-Just nervous, nervous energy. I think we had a pep assembly, and we were introduced, etc.
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| Streaks cheerleaders |
Kelley- One specific game day memory I have occurred in my Calculus class. Mike and I had Calculus together with Miss Gates (great teacher!). It was a good class with good classmates. I remember the game coming up at the beginning of class and one of the girls in the class pretty much dismissing any chance we might have of winning that night. It irked me and I think I might have said something like “If you don’t think we have a chance, don’t come to the game.” It wasn’t a big deal (OK, maybe it was a big deal for me personally.), but that comment served as extra motivation for the rest of the tournament.
I also remember leading up to the game that Coach Hammerton, the Richwoods coach, made the comment in the newspaper that my success in the first Richwoods game that year was a fluke and would not happen again. Again, this served as extra motivation going into the game.
Campbell- Well, yes, the anticipation was heightened because of all that had occurred over the prior now three seasons and even before that, for me; really since I arrived in Galesburg in third grade and realized how, at least in certain circles, high school basketball was a BIG deal, culturally and emotionally, within the town (and, really, within the region and state). The tendency may be to say, “Come on. Sports is trivial.” But I knew how much time and effort, and emotion and even love, a not insignificant number of people had put into this endeavor and, although like most teenagers, I wasn’t really thinking those “big picture” thoughts leading up to the Richwoods game, the recent history of the Galesburg-Richwoods rivalry, combined with my awareness that that game would be, one way or the other, a culmination of a basketball journey that started with such a game being perceived by me as an end in itself (even if now I knew that my hoops journey would continue in college), gave that game a heightened sense of “bigness”. I also knew that there were likely kids out there who, like I did when I was still in grade school, felt as if those of us on the court were doing what they now dreamed of doing some day. And now, here was my chance. Who would want to screw that up? Especially after “screwing it up” to the tune of a 52-point loss just a year earlier!!
The only real detail about the day of the Richwoods game that I remember (and I remember it vividly) is that I struck my head on the very solid door stop mechanism hanging down from the back door to Galesburg High School on my way into the building prior to the game. Being 6’9” tall at that time, I still cleared the typically 6’10” top edges of commercial or institutional door sills, but those metal closing mechanisms that hung down from the tops of such doors would sometimes get me, and this one got me REALLY good, almost driving me to my knees, despite the fact that I had previously walked through that door many times! Wouldn’t that have been something if the epic tale of Galesburg’s redemptive win over #1-ranked Peoria Richwoods had never happened because it was derailed by my having been concussed by a door mechanism!! Needless to say, I sheepishly shook it off and, knocked out of whatever mental fog I had been in that caused me to hit my head, went on to get ready for the game without further incident.
Massey- Before the game, the atmosphere- any details that stick out?
Doss- Electric atmosphere in the gym.The locker room was quiet, getting taped up, handling the ball, holding the ball, getting loose. We were a confident loose bunch, maybe a little cocky.
Kelley-I don’t have any specific details that stick out. I do remember that there was an air of excitement around the game and around town that I had not experienced before. This continued to grow through the entire tournament.
Campbell- I remember the energy in the gym was very high, and it was packed, with some college coaches standing along the end-line at the west end of the gym, there to see a high school game that would feature five future Division I players. I’ve heard others recount what Coach Owens said to us before the game, but I do not remember his talk. Apparently, it was short, direct, and simple, which seems like a wise choice, since the real risk would be that we would come out too hyped to perform effectively. With all that had transpired over the previous three years and with this potentially being our final high school game (and, for some, their final competitive basketball game at any level), we did not need any additional stoking of our emotions.
Barry Swanson- (In my blog in 2020 remembered the pre-game and the game)
Mike's pre-game was the shortest I have ever heard. Something like, "You guys know what to do, now just go out and do it." He really had confidence in those guys and they responded. He walked out the door and there I was standing in front of the team. I had coached most of them and played against them in the summer or on Sundays when we went over to Churchill and played. I had a couple of them in class at Lombard.
They all knew the criticism that Mike had endured, as had most of them. They also knew how much Mike cared about them. I think I said something like that to them, and they definitely had revenge in their hearts. It was a great team effort. Of course, Mike Campbell and Scott Kelley were magnificent going up against Derek Holcomb and Mark Smith. The game went to overtime (I actually thought we lost when they stole the ball at the end of regulation and made a basket, but it was only tied.) We won in overtime. I think it was the biggest upset in our gym ever, at least with the most on the line.
Massey- I have to admit, I am doing a blog on a game that I have NEVER seen. Don Wright and I were sent to Manual to watch Manual vs Central. At half-time of that game the Manual PA announced the half-time score of Galesburg 35- Richwoods 28, Don immediately kicked things up to another level. When we went together I was his assistant, so at that point the orders were flying.
On the trip back we tried to pick up the Galesburg game on WGIL. It kept coming in and going out. When got to the hill or over pass by Brimfield we could pick up the game clearly. We pulled over on top of the over pass and listened to the end of the game and the over-time. I got the WGIL commentary followed by Don Wright’s commentary of what he thought was happening.
Doss- This wasn’t a normal home game. Galesburg fans were behind the benches and scorer’s table. The Richwoods fans and students were on the other side. Usually in big games, after 2-3 minutes, the crowd would sit down and lower the volumes. But, for this game the atmosphere never slowed down. I think people stood the entire game and the noise level was very high!
I remember us taking an early lead and playing really well for 14-15 minutes in the first half and then losing a few points before halftime. So, this gave us confidence going into the 2nd half, we can play with these guys!
I did not get in until early in the 4th quarter. Mike Wilder was not shooting well that night and Richwoods was sagging off him clogging up the middle for Mike and Scott. I sat right next coach Swanson and next to coach Owens and was “in the game” from the bench, watching and waiting for my shot! Finally, coach Owens turns to me and said, “Okay get him out of there.” (Real vote of confidence! LOL)
We had few trips down the floor and were back and forth at this point 1-2 points either way.
Our offense was mostly free-lance, but we had 2 man plays and 3 man plays. I remember passing to Scott who passed back to me and set a pick for me, and I banked in about a 20-footer from the left side. This seemed to open the middle up again as they knew they had to guard me.
The other play I remember, was the steal by Carl pressing Smith who was bringing the ball up against our pressure. This was designed by coach Owens as Fin was very quick and was a tough match up for Smith. Anyway, I was almost down on the baseline, but I saw Carl jump up and tip the ball away. I anticipated him getting the ball and I took off on a perfect line for layup, and Carl took 1-2 dribbles and made a perfect pass to me, who going full speed (really fast for me on a bad wheel!) for the layup. “When you go, go hard”.
Campbell- I had forgotten how Carl Findley had been able to attack Smith’s ball-handling in the 1976 Regional Final game. That was one of those nice coaching adjustments that are (a) the product of good game-planning, but also (b) the result of the coach of the team that has lost in previous match-ups between two teams being more likely to dig for adjustments and new individual match-ups that can change the next game’s outcome, eh?
Doss- The other thing that is interesting especially looking back at the game, was that they fouled me continuously. I hadn’t played in the first game in December, and barely played the year before, so I’m assuming the scouting report for Richwoods was foul the substitute. But I think I had the led the Big 6 in free throw percentage my junior year and was near the top of the league my senior year as well. But under pressure strange things can happen. We practiced free throws every day and were well prepared. The other thing, if you watch that game, is that everything was a 1 & 1. There was no bonus 2 shot rule in those days. That added to the pressure, especially on the 1st one.
I remember talking to Jimmie Carr after the game and told him my first free throw was a little strong and hit the back of the rim, went straight up and came straight back through the net, whhhheww! If I had missed that one, I may have missed them all. But through the 4th quarter and OT I went 7 out of 9 from the line and had 2 field goals for 11 points.
I have watched the video a few times since, and the entire team played pretty well. Mike and Scott were terrific offensively and matching up defensively with Holcomb and Smith. Rance was great scorer and had several nice moments. I think Fin (Carl Finley) (amazing athlete) might have played the whole game? Wilder played well. I think Bill Dwyer and Jay Stone came in a couple of times and did well.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the end of regulation, UGGHH. We were up 4 and they rushed the ball up took a bad shot and the ball went right to Hohstadt under the basket. I could have fouled him but held back as I didn’t want to give them a 3-point play. One of our strategies was to inbounds the ball quickly before they could set up a press. I took the ball out of the net and looked at the clock and saw 8 seconds, so I knew I had to get the ball in before the 5 second count. The crowd was in a frenzy and Smith was completely across the baseline in my face. (Again, you have to watch the video) In hindsight I should have let the ball bounce a few times before I picked it up. I probably could have held it and let the clock run out.
So now I’m looking for someone to pass the ball too. No Fin, No Wilder, Scott and Mike were coached to head down to half court. I finally saw Fin but threw a soft lob to Fin which was intercepted by Hohstadt who shot and missed but Smith was right under the basket and rebounded and scored right at the buzzer to tie the game and send to OT. Bad pass!
I also remember Smith having the ball right in front of me and I thought about stripping the ball, but stopped and made sure I did not reach and get a cheap foul that could have cost us the game.
In OT, Holcomb had fouled out and Mike and Scott took over the boards and made a few great shots, and we added some free throws and won by 6.
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| Coach Owen’s handwritten game summary. |
Campbell- It’s Doss’s alertness to not try and strip the much bigger and stronger Smith in that moment -- which almost certainly would have resulted in a three-point play, giving Richwoods the win in regulation -- that now gives me an even heightened appreciation for Eric’s court smarts and poise under pressure. Think about it (as I’m sure Eric has!): after throwing that intercepted in-bounds pass at such a crucial moment, with the whole gym in a state of bedlam, every impulse must have been telling Eric to try to save the day by stripping Smith, and yet he didn’t, allowing us to win in OT.
How close we were to tragedy – even closer than I knew before reading Eric’s account! Of course, it IS Eric’s account, right? I suppose it’s possible that the savvy alertness that he describes in not risking a foul on Smith COULD just have been a demonstration of his relatively slow reactions, eh?! LOL
Kelley- I guess I could “cheat” and watch the game again on YouTube and recreate 4-5 memories around the game. But without that exercise, I have one main memory from the game. When we went out for the tipoff in the overtime, I got ready for the tip and was not jumping against Derek Holcomb. I looked around the center circle and he was not on the court. He had fouled out in the final seconds, and I did not realize that until the overtime tip. At that point, I remember thinking, “OK, this changes things.”
Another general memory (not a specific play) is Eric coming off the bench and playing a great game that was a big key to our win.
Campbell- I do not remember the Galesburg vs #1-ranked, undefeated Peoria Richwoods Regional Final game of 1976 in great detail. (My lack of memory for such details is both a blessing, in the case of, for example, that 52-point loss to Richwoods in 1975 and some subsequent tough losses to nationally-ranked opponents during my years at Northwestern, but also a deficiency, in the case, for example, of this 1976 Regional Final game and my Northwestern team’s upset of Magic Johnson’s eventual NCAA National Championship team in 1979.) I have, however, retained several impressions concerning how the game played out, and I do recall one play specifically.
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| 1976 Season Stats- Handwritten by Coach Owens |
I recall that we were able to get the shots that we wanted and that Scott and I continued the trend of being able to outscore Smith and Holcomb. As the game went on, however, Richwoods strategically left our guards wide open and, unfortunately, with Mike Wilder having a very untimely poor shooting night, Richwoods got back into the game. Our early success had served to bolster the confidence with which we had come into the game and, especially throughout the first half, we felt in control of the game. Early in the second half, our control began to slip, but Eric Doss came off of the bench to replace Wilder, hit several key bank shot jumpers and free throws, and helped put us in position to win the game in regulation. But then, the one play I (and lots of others who were there) remember occurred. After Richwoods scored with just a few seconds left in the game to pull within 2 points, our in-bounds pass went directly to Richwoods’ senior guard Hohstadt, resulting in a final Richwoods basket that tied the game and sent it into overtime!
I distinctly remember being NOT deflated as we got ready for the overtime period, despite the fact that this turn of events threatened to overturn everything we had worked for and end our season. I remember just being so determined not to let that happen, in a game that I felt we had controlled for a majority of it. In the end, with Holcomb having fouled out and with us making some critical free throws during the overtime, we prevailed, 85-79, avenging our earlier losses to Richwoods and ending their anticipated run to a state title.
In some ways, much like Richwoods’ win over us in the 1975 Regional Final, and although this 1976 Regional Final game seemed epic to all of us and to our fans, in retrospect and having played in and observed such games since, this game also reflected a not-uncommon pattern in which the team (in this case, us) that is steadily improving and maturing and is highly motivated by its previous losses to the more seasoned and highly touted team (in this case, Richwoods) gets off to a strong start, thus gaining increased confidence and rhythm, leading to even more inspired play and even better shooting, giving them a chance to pull off the upset, which, if achieved, can constitute an actual reversal of the teams’ roles (see e.g., the Chicago Bulls’ eventually overcoming the NBA Champion Detroit Pistons to win the first of the Bulls’ eventual six NBA Championships).
Viewing the game in this clinical, analytical way threatens to deprive it of its “romance” but, if you were one of the players or coaches in that arena and had lived through all of the events that led up to that game (or even if you were a passionate fan who had rooted for either team during that era of their intense rivalry), you would still feel that romance and, if you were on (or even just rooting for) the winning team, as we were, that experience did NOT suck!! In fact, you might even text with your teammates about it every year on the anniversary of that game, just so you could all reflect back on the feeling of collective euphoria that flowed from it!
Massey- Coach Wright and I stayed on the Brimfield over pass and listened to 5-10 minutes of the announcers describing the celebration. We arrived back at GHS about 40 minutes after the end of the game. It was amazing, there still had to be 500 people in the gym. What was it like after the game?
Doss- Bedlam. The students rushed the floor hugging and celebrating. I was in the middle and was pushed to the outer edges, crazy!! I remember Jimmie Carr interviewing everyone. Very cool.
Going through my mind was this was a win for all of Galesburg and the environment we grew up with. If you watch the game, you can see we were better fundamentally. They relied a lot on their talent. We boxed out on free throws and played solid “move your feet defense”. We passed the ball, looked for the open man, unselfish. We had learned these things early on in our careers from the guys who played before us Swede, Wilma, Boo-Boo, Ian Davies, Coach Swanson, Coach Denoma, Craig Johnson, and others. And at Lombard and Churchill through the Morgans and Phil Erickson. If you didn’t do those things, you probably didn’t play much.
Kelley- I remember the crowd rushing the court. It was crazy! Andy Hendricks (great teammate!) and I were under the basket as the crowd surged and we both hightailed it for the locker room. We got to the locker room, looked at each other, and said we have to go get our trophy! We headed back out to the court. I don’t remember the trophy celebration at all, but do remember hanging out in the gym for what seemed like quite a while after the game. It was an amazing night!
The other post-game memory I have occurred later that night. I couldn’t sleep in all the excitement. I was lying in bed in the middle of the night listening to WBBM (News Radio 78) out of Chicago on my clock radio and there was a news piece that said President Ford, who was campaigning for re-election, was at a rally in Peoria that evening. WBBM reported that in his speech that night he said he wanted to end up in Illinois just like Richwoods - #1 and Undefeated! Oh, the irony!
Campbell- Right after the game ended, I remember the crowd rushing onto the court to celebrate with us and I got knocked down and piled upon (much as I had after my game-winning shot at the buzzer against Quincy – not really a good look for a jock-nerd (even an “heroic” one in the moment) who was trying to make some headway socially, eh?!) I remember being very tired. Such an intense game consumes a lot of both physical and emotional energy, especially one that has a dramatic and potentially traumatic end to its regulation time, plus an intense overtime period. I do not really remember what went on in the locker room after the game, but I imagine it was raucous, to say the least. After leaving the gym that night, being pooped, I remember just having a quiet celebration with my then girlfriend.
Massey- One of the Richwoods assistants went into girls coaching. He once commented how it seemed like once a week someone brought up the Galesburg v Richwoods game. You have all scattered around the country. Any unusual stores about bumping into someone who asks or tells you about that game still today?
Doss-I have bumped into people in Atlanta and Memphis who had a connection to Galesburg or Richwoods, and the game is mentioned almost every time. I met a guy in Memphis one night at a restaurant and he said he used to be the ball boy and floor sweeper for Bradley basketball. He said he went to Richwoods, and I said I was from Galesburg, and he asked about the game. I told him, I played in that game, not sure he believed me though, very funny! We talked for 30 minutes.
And every time, I get back to Galesburg somebody will bring it up.
Kelley- I have not lived in Illinois for over 40 years. Every once in a while, when I tell someone I grew up in Galesburg, the game comes up. That is always fun! And I must confess that when I meet someone from Peoria, there is a good chance I might work the game into the conversation!
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| Campbell vs. Morgan Park |
Campbell- In just the past few years, one of those quirky coincidental incidents happened. The husband of one of my nieces (the daughter of one of my three sisters) is the Senior Pastor of Central Presbyterian Church, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, in New York. One time, when my sister was visiting them and their church, she got into a conversation with one of their congregation members and somehow it came up that he was from Peoria and was a Richwoods High School graduate. So, my sister told him about her brother’s (i.e. my) involvement in the 1976 Regional Final game between Galesburg and Richwoods and, lo and behold, this fellow had been a high school student at that time, had been a big fan of the Knights, had been convinced that they would win the Illinois Class AA State Championship that year, and had been in the Galesburg gym on that fateful night to witness our win over Richwoods, eliminating them from the tournament and crushing his hopes of a trip down to State! He asserted to my sister that he was still not over the emotional toll that that game had taken on him as a Richwoods fan and alum! When I later came across a nice photo of me attempting to block a shot attempt of one of the Richwoods players during that game, I had a copy of the photo made, signed it to him, with an inscription that read something like, “Sorry to have blocked your team’s path to the 1976 State Championship!”, and had my sister deliver it to him at their church – just a bit of cross-continent, 40+-years-later “trash talk”! Such a story, and the whole perception of that game, takes on such a different (and, to us, glorious) tone because our defeat of Richwoods in 1976 followed our 52-point loss to them in 1975, and not vice versa!!
More poignantly, having both of our daughters play basketball for their New Trier High School (Winnetka, IL) Trevians versus Coach Massey’s Galesburg Girls team, in Galesburg, during a period in which the two schools’ girls teams played regularly, allowing our girls to experience a little of the Galesburg basketball culture that they, . . . ahem . . ., might have heard a bit about from their dad while growing up and getting started in basketball themselves, was a cool connection for me back to those days in Galesburg that, in many ways, culminated in that Richwoods game.
Next Up- Galesburg vs Richwoods 1976- Part V Reflections
PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE- SHARE YOUR MEMORIES AND YOUR NAME IN THE COMMENTS AT THE END OF THIS BLOG- THANKS!
These are unique insights and memories from those directly involved--what an interesting way to relive this significant event. Thanks to all who took the time to speak about this amazing basketball story. Well done!
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