Hawks enjoying a “crazy” turnover after a nearly winning season: “Anything is possible” | Sports

Broadlands – It was the storybook season for Heritage/Academy High Girls ‘Basketball Team. So it was only right to ask the Hawks for the title.

Senior Bailey Reuben has settled on “Dreams become reality.”

Junior Brapatten said this season was a “travel.”

And senior Rorantate didn’t hesitate to call this team “family.”

Here’s how the story unfolds:

“Dreams become reality”

The legacy ended last season with a 2-27 record. A year ago, it was 1-19. Simply put, the Hawks weren’t exactly on the radar of those entering the 2024-25 campaign.

Well, there are two games that go to the regular season, ages 18-11, with a fourth-place seed in Class 1A George Town Ridge Farm Regional. The Hawks will begin their Class 1A postseason play on Monday, February 17th in the Georgetown Ridge Farm area semi-final match against Tri County or Schlerman. Rather than having to win to reach the regional semi-final stage at least, the Hawks are now a single win from playing in the regional championship game.

Words like “amazing”, “strange”, “surreal”, and “mindblowing” have been thrown during recent practice to describe the team’s sudden success, but the most popular explanations was “crazy.”

“It’s crazy,” Hawks coach Brad Wilson said. “When I saw the schedule, I thought, ‘What do you know, I think we can get 10 wins.’ At first there was a bit of a rough patch, but when I started out with mesh I thought, “Oh, maybe I can get a 15.” Now our goal is 20. It’s a big shift and you don’t usually see it in high school basketball. ”

No, you don’t. That’s crazy, isn’t it?

“To be honest, I wouldn’t believe it. I’m saying, ‘You’re kidding,'” Reuben said. “Getting all these wins allowed me to enjoy basketball. It’s not like I didn’t enjoy it before, but winning feels good.”

The moment of realization across the team this season can be special from the beginning of the season until a few weeks before.

Wilson said he knew the Hawks would improve based on what he saw last summer. The Hawks have played around 25 games in various tournaments around the state and have only won a few games, but eye tests showed clear improvements.

Fast forward to the second game of the regular season, Heritage/Academy High was 2-0 after beating Westville and Georgetown Ridge Farm.

“That second game, you just saw everything click,” Wilson said of the Hawks’ 47-35 victory over the G-RF. “So I said, ‘If you play hard, you’ll have a pretty successful season.’ ”

In two games, the Hawks were already matched the combined pre-season victory. Following a three-game skid to start the Comet Classic before Thanksgiving, they rattled six wins in a seven-game stretch.

“After our fifth victory, it’s ‘Wow, this is the team this year. This is great,” Ruben said.

A month later, near the end of January, the Hawks realized they were slightly short on a 46-42 defeat against Alcola in the third place game at the Lincoln Prairie Conference Tournament, and at the time considered it a disappointing fourth place. I settled on something, and the year was removed from the dead last finish. The disappointment came after beating the tradition-rich Tri County 58-51 in the LPC Tournament quarterfinals.

“We were excited about the victory and everything, but when we beat Tri-County it was like, ‘You can get into every game,'” Tate said. “We had moments with practices like, “You guys can play all those games.” One of them was in tears and was very excited this year. ”

‘Journey’

Wilson was an assistant coach for the Villa Grove/Heritage Boys Basketball Co-op team in 2015. This was the same as these two schools merged for the girls’ program. Five years later, the girls’ cooperative disbanded, and the legacy needed a new coach. Wilson had just concluded his fifth season as UniHigh girls’ basketball coach at the time, and had planned to leave coaching until his son went to high school. But when Heritage called, he shrugged and said, “Why don’t you do that?”

The team played a JV-only schedule the previous year due to lack of interest. Wilson knew the challenge before him, so he said he would give him three or four years to begin seeing success before hanging the mouth whi forever.

These first few seasons were brutal, with doubt constantly surrounding the program. The losses after the losses have been accumulated. There was also frustration and suspicion.

“Every year,” Wilson said if he ever wondered about the stability of the program. “It’s hard to recruit kids or let them play. To be honest, I was worried every year.”

Heritage only had eight players last season. It simply needed more to keep the team. Luckily, the academy was expensive in Champaign.

The owls had only enough players to send their teams last year, but half of them graduated and only three left for the season – Patten, Meghan Fry and Hannah Walker, all Junior – Continue playing. For the past two years, paired up with softball heritage, they reached out and found a new home for girls’ basketball.

“It was a really great experience,” Patten said. “I didn’t know what it would be, but the three of us were welcomed with open arms. It was an overall very positive experience and all the girls were very It’s supportive.”

Of course, it wasn’t just the three players who made the difference, but simply having extra numbers was a world of help for the Hawks in itself. And the success that comes with it took a long time for Tate and Reuben. He saw the program at the lowest level when they joined as freshmen.

“When I was a freshman, it was a completely different team and it felt like middle school basketball. We were just there,” Tate said. “Now, it’s fun and exciting. It’s exciting to be able to come here every day and say, ‘There’s this next game.’ I started as an eighth grader, but until this year I didn’t know what that means to win. There are no words. It’s so much fun. ”

“You don’t think we’re the same team,” Ruben added. “It’s so great to see us at the bottom and then come all the way to the top. I’m really happy they helped us build something that wasn’t before. We’re here now. I didn’t expect to be in the place. It’s great to know that I’m going to keep some really expensive notes.”

‘family’

To begin all the practice, the Hawks go round to give them gratitude. There we list what everyone is grateful for. Wilson is a youth pastor during the day, and this is a way to remind his girl that life is more than just basketball.

There have been many reactions throughout the season, ranging from teammates to naps to basketball sports and even life’s challenges. This exercise brought everyone together to create their own family. This is the phrase that appears on the back of the Hawks warm-up shirt.

“Our shirts say family. A lot of teams say that, and we mean that,” Wilson said. “We meet every few weeks at home for team dinners on Sundays. We go to Illinois women’s basketball games and various outings throughout the season and summer. We’re like family for each other I’m there. I have two daughters. I consider all these girls as my daughters. And make my wife my assistant, it’s a really big family.”

The intimacy of this team was key. Certainly, gaining more players and improving their skills year by year helped, but the bonds created by the Hawks made them to the top.

Especially with the start of a new cooperative, Wilson knew that aspect was important, so he scheduled so many summer games and began team dinners and gatherings as soon as possible.

“The positivity and team chemistry are very good,” Patten said. “It’s been a huge part of our success, because we’re all doing really well. Everyone is really optimistic about things that are so fun, everyone has a lot of energy. I take part in all kinds of practice and games.”

That family vibe is revealed in the massive crowd the Hawks saw during their home game at Lyle Roman Court. Wilson said he’s been “a little quiet around here” in recent years, but the success and feel of the team this year has regained fans.

“Everyone is kneeling very closely now,” Tate said. “All of our shirts say “family” on their backs. Say it in every flock. That’s what we’re trying to show you what our team is. We are trying to bring an atmosphere of support for each other. Not only does it want everyone to be better, but when you see success, you want to continue building it. ”

As their winning goals grew throughout the season, another goal for the Hawks came to be: winning the regional title. Wilson doesn’t talk much about the possibility with the girls, but it’s now all in the minds of players that the postseason is pretty much here. Salt Fork (25-2) could get in the way if Heritage/Academy High wins a regional semi-final game.

But like the rest of his team, Wilson has not ruled out that possibility. Hope and belief have returned to the Hawks girls basketball program.

“Anything is possible,” Wilson said. “Our idea is that you can compete with anyone. If you play cards correctly, you don’t know why it isn’t.”