The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) boys basketball state tournament is here, near, or somewhere close to this weekend. “March Madness” applies to high schools as much as it does colleges. Though I don’t keep up anymore, in 1980 there were only two classes based on school enrollment. Pittsfield High School, my hometown, was in Class A for the small schools, Class AA contained the large schools.
The Pittsfield Saukees made it all the way to the state tournament in 1980 under the coaching of Dave Bennett, who I believe was in his third year as the head coach. I was taking a year off from college and working for the local paper, The Pike Press, a weekly publication. All of this worked out perfectly for me to follow the team to Champaign and Assembly Hall.
The Saukees would face Luther South High School in the first (quarterfinal) game. Though Pittsfield had a great season and had gotten this far, scouting showed just how difficult it would be to beat the team from the Chicago area. They were stocked with talent and their players were tall. Two of them checked in at 6’6” and 6’7”. It would be a “David vs. Goliath” scenario.
In planning my coverage strategy and making sure I’d have the access I hoped for, I stopped in at Voshall Gymnasium a day or two before the team was to leave for Champaign to talk to coach Bennett and assistant coach Gary Allen. What I saw going on was an ingenious move by Bennett. As the team scrimmaged, the defensive players were holding brooms a couple of feet above their heads to force the offensive players to shoot with more arch, thereby replicating the height difference they would be up against.
The team left for Champaign on Thursday. I debated on leaving later Thursday or early Friday. I was anxious and went later on Thursday. More details and memories are in the column I wrote (last photo in gallery).
I caught up with everyone on Friday morning and had unlimited access. School principal Don Mellon and Coach Bennett had given the paper and me their full support and cooperation. Bennett and I had known each other for three years. He came to town my senior year, 1977. I knew most all of the players and staff. If you have read, or will read, my blogs, you know how I feel about access. For a photographer, access is everything! Without it you’re screwed. Unlimited access is usually gained by trust.
Time was spent with the team on that Friday morning at breakfast, in their hotel rooms…eventually moving to Assembly Hall where I also had total access, even the locker room (with Bennett’s permission).
Game time arrived. Pittsfield lost 61-38. It was never close but the Saukees played hard the entire game. Luther South won the tournament. One of those players went on to a successful career as a college long-jumper, appearing in a music video of the Pointer Sisters song, “Jump.”
Pittsfield remained in Champaign, watching the remaining games. I think I drove back home after my work was complete on that Friday, then covered a welcome home rally for the team on Sunday.
On Monday (remember, weekly paper) I worked with Julie Boren, one of the editors, and we came up with a plan to show off the events in a sequential manner covering two pages (a double truck). This remains the one and only double truck of my 43 year professional career. Looking at it, I’m struck there are no action photos of the game, but believe they were used on the front pages of the news and sports section. The double truck was devoted to feature photos.
Oh how I chuckle when I see that I shot five rolls of film, 20 exposures per roll, totaling 100 photos for the ENTIRE project! In this digital age, a photographer might make 100 exposures in the first 30 minutes or less! It was Kodak Tri-X film in those days, as T-Max (a much better film) wasn’t introduced until 1986. Tri-X was 400 ASA, I probably push processed it two stops to 1600. The odd-sized 20 exposures came the fact that the paper bulk loaded film cassettes.
All photos were made using one Nikon FM body (no motor drive) and three lenses, a 24mm, 35mm, and 105mm, changing lenses as needed, often every few moments. Some of the photos I made show advancement in how I was seeing things, some are pretty static and boring. I was 21 years old, learning, and having a blast. I’m not sure of the whereabouts of the negatives from this project, in one of my binders or left at the Pike Press and now surely lost to time.
My hope is there are scrapbooks out there with these clippings in them. Photos are powerful memory preservers.
