Old School Coaches- Great Road Atmospheres

This Week’s Question

As coaches, your teams probably played many tough road games. What was one of the best road game atmospheres your team played in? It could be the competitive level, the crowd, the things they did to intimidate. For football coaches, you can pick a playoff game that was truly a road game at your opponent's place. For basketball coaches, it needs to be a true road game, not a tourney game at a neutral site. 

Galesburg vs Pekin 1965- Sell Out

Pekin paper’s preview of 1965 game. 

Galesburg vs Pekin on January 30, 1965 maybe one game that captures the extreme interest in high school basketball in both Galesburg and in Pekin. I don’t have details about the game itself, but I think the built up to the game is fascinating.

Pekin’s paper- headline after 1964 game.

Galesburg and Pekin had developed a huge rivalry, dating back to the late 1950’s. In  1964, Pekin defeated Galesburg at Pekin in front of a record 4,300 fans by a score of 72-67. As many games in this rivalry were, this had its share of controversy. Pekin was whistled for 18 fouls, while Galesburg was whistled for 27 fouls. Galesburg led by 3 points after 3 quarters but was outscored by 8 points in the fourth quarter, which saw two Galesburg players foul out. Pekin was 24-30 from the line and Galesburg was 11-18 in free throws. 

Pekin paper’s picture and caption describing post game in 1964. 

Streaks Girls Team & Individual Records

Click below to see Streaks Girls Basketball Team and Individual Records.

Streaks Girls Basketball Team & Ind. Records

IBCA HOF Selects Barry Swanson, Joey Range, Todd Olinger

The Illinois Basketball Coaches Association has announced the inductees for their 2025 Hall of Fame Class. The class will have a Galesburg flavor with Barry Swanson, Joey Range, and Todd Olinger will be inducted. 

Two Worst Losses of the Season

There are not ties in basketball. If players or coaches find any loss to be fun- they are probably not meant for basketball. That said, some losses are harder to take than other-

Being upset by a team that was clearly weaker than us.

Losing to a team who I felt the coach or the players were arrogant and didn’t respect us. 

Losing in a championship contest such as a game for the conference championship. 

There are many more examples I am sure. But to keep thinking of bad losses would just depress me. The longer I coached, the more convinced I became that there were two losses each season that were the hardest to take.