2 weeks Ago
CHAMPAIGN — The party was on before fans even had time to put on their coats. As the final buzzer sounded, the Bleacher Bums, Champaign Central’s student section, paraded onto the court at Combes Gym to join the Maroons’ boys’ basketball team after a 67-53 win over Urbana to claim this year’s Twin City title. “My freshman and sophomore years, I never beat them, so it's a good feeling to get that win,” Central senior forward Chris Bush said.
“We're the best in the city right now, and it feels great. Last year, we lost and weren't the best. So, for my senior year, it feels great.
” Once the Maroons finally made their way to the locker room, following numerous pictures and other celebrations, it was time to do it all over again. “One of my seniors said, ‘Coach, this is your first Twin City championship, isn't it?’ I said, ‘It is. I'm going to have to celebrate that,’” Central coach P.
J. Keaton said. “They cheered it up for me in the locker room.
” The fact is these games mean more. These Champaign-Urbana crosstown rivalry matchups mean more to the players, coaches and everyone in the community. Sometimes even more than the postseason.
With both Central and Urbana having already beaten Centennial earlier this season, Friday night’s game had an extra layer to it in that the winner would get bragging rights throughout the city for an entire year. “Coming into the season, we knew we could win the Twin City. I was just proud of the whole team for stepping up,” Central senior forward Aidyn Beck said.
“You could feel it. Both student sections were on top of you. We knew it was our last game in Combes Gym with a big crowd, so we just decided to go have some fun.
” With all that on the line, it stung even more for the Tigers as the score started to tilt in their opponents’ favor. Even though they played Central hard from start to finish, you weren’t going to find a smile in the visiting locker room. “I take no pride in losing,” Urbana coach Verdell Jones said.
“There are no moral victories. The moral of a moral victory is that you didn’t get it done. When we’re out here competing, we have a goal to achieve, and that’s to win.
I’m proud of the guys, but the bottom line is they’re not happy with the outcome. We’ll be better as a result of this.” The way the night started, it looked like Jaylen McElmurry might single-handedly carry the Tigers (7-12) to a win, as he scored 13 of his eventual team-high 17 points in the first quarter.
Urbana held a 30-27 lead at halftime, and it looked even better as the third quarter got going. The Tigers increased their lead to double digits early in the second half, forcing Keaton to call a timeout. “Coach P.
J. called a timeout and just told us to relax,” Beck said. “I don’t know what it was, but we still had the jitters in the third quarter.
We just locked in and started playing our basketball and playing hard. We knew that if we played hard, we’d beat Urbana.” The Maroons (14-9) heard the message loud and clear and immediately started forcing turnovers defensively and moving the ball more efficiently on offense.
In just a couple-minute span, they went from trailing by 10 to leading by 10, and the Bleacher Bums got louder with every basket. “We just started playing harder and hungrier,” Bush said. “That’s it.
It was all effort.” Bush ended up leading Central with 17 points, and Beck and Luke Swanson each put up 13. The Maroons managed to pull away late in both of their rivalry contests so far this season.
They’ve played in 12 games that have been decided by single digits, which Keaton said has contributed to their ability to stay poised in those close late-game scenarios. “We’ve been in a lot of games where it’s down to the wire and every possession matters,” Keaton said. “When teams make runs on us, we’ve learned to come together and stay the course of what we’ve been working on in practice.
We got down in the beginning, and I was worried. I was like, ‘Man, are my kids going to answer the bell and snap back and make a run?’ They locked in defensively and started playing together more.” Despite the loss, you can’t overlook the potential Urbana has shown this season.
The overall record isn’t great, but the Tigers have competed to where they were still in the mix for a Big 12 Conference championship before Friday’s outcome. They beat Centennial on Jan. 23 and turned right around and beat perennial contender East St.
Louis two days later. That’s what the Tigers can do, and no team should be looking forward to playing them in the postseason. “We just have to pay attention to the details of everything and make that the thing that carries the day from this point on,” Jones said.
“We all have to take an honest look at what we can do to be better. We hate to lose to crosstown rivals, but we have to keep perspective. Yes, we’re going to reflect, get on the guys and tell them they need to do better, but at the end of the day, we’re going to love them even harder.
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