Evolution of IHSA Boys Basketball State Series impacts former downstate powers

If you are a fan or a coach, and you know Illinois basketball history- here is a quick test. What is the answer to these questions:

1- Were Districts always just for small schools?

2- In the 1920’s and 1930’s, who were the “powers” in Illinois basketball?

3- Has a school ever won a District and a State Championship?

4- Has a school ever not won a Regional but won a State Championship?

5- Did any teams ever play each other twice in the State tourney series?

The IHSA Boys Basketball State Series has changed throughout the years. Most fans and coaches are aware of the move from a one-class system to two-class system, and four-class system, but there are many other changes that have taken place thru the years that people are probably not aware of.

This post looks back at the State Tourney series.

1- In the 1920’s, 1930’s, and 1940’s- who were the “traditional powers” in Illinois basketball?

2- What changes were made to the Illinois Basketball State Series in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and did these changes impact the “traditional powers?”

3- How did changing to 2-class basketball impact the “traditional powers” ?

4- How did changing to 4-classes impact the old “traditional powers?”

1908-1935

Everyone in Districts

Winners/Runner-Ups Advance to Sectional

Winners Advance to State

1908- First State Championship

1922- District Teams Advanced to Sectionals

Everybody starts in the Districts

During this era, all schools started in the District tourneys. Each district might have a different number of teams. In 1935, Galesburg District had 11 teams, Casey District had 8 teams, and Effingham District had 16 teams. Before 1936 there were no Regionals. Before 1936, District championships were the equivalent of a Regional championship.

Thru 1933, there were either 7 or 8 teams in each Sectional Tourney. 2-3 teams would advance from the District Tourneys to the Sectional Tourney. So teams who had lost in the District might still play in the Sectional.

If the Sectional only had 7 teams, one of the teams received a first round bye. In the 1929 Peoria Sectional, Canton entered with a bye.

Thru 1933, there were only 8 Sectional Tourneys in the State. So 8 teams advanced to the State Tourney. Historically we assume a team had to win their Sectional to be in the Sweet 16. During this time, a team was in the Sweet Sixteen when they advanced to the Sectional Championship.

In 1934, the IHSA went to 16 Sectional Tourneys.

It does not appear there were restrictions set by the IHSA on number of games played. In the 1935 season, Springfield played 37 games while Galesburg played only 22 games.

What District Tourneys Looked Like

To give one a sense of what downstate District Tourneys looked like before 1936, here are a couple examples:

1935 Galesburg District– Galesburg, Wataga, Rio, Oneida, Gilson, Victoria, New Windsor, Viola, Knoxville, Altona, Abingdon.

1935 Canton District– Canton, Table Grove, Smithfield, Prairie City, Ipava, London Mills, Bryant, Lewistown, Cuba, Fairview, Ellisvile, Adair.

1935 Quincy District– Clayton, Quincy, Ursa, Camp Point, Warsaw, Liberty, Coatsburg, Golden, Hamilton, Payson, Lima, LaPrairie, Mendon, Loraine.

1935 Kewanee Regional– Kewanee, Annawan, Woodhull, Geneseo, Galva, Atkinson, Bradford, Alpha, Cambridge, LaFayette, Toulon, Neponset.

For those unfamiliar with this area of Illinois, in these 4 Districts- today only Galesburg, Canton, and Quincy have been 3A/4A schools. By 1960, 34 of the schools listed in these Districts no longer had high schools in their communities.

The “Traditional Powers” in the 1920’s & 1930’s

Downstate large schools surrounded by small towns had a real advantage. From 1920-1935 of the 16 possible District Championships- here is how many some downstate powers won of the 16.

Galesburg 15, Canton 14, Centralia 12, Mt.Vernon 11, Quincy 11, Marion 10, Freeport 9.

The legendary coaches of the period of 1920-1950 tended to come from downstate communities- Arthur Trout (Centralia), Ernie Eveland (Paris), Mark Peterman (Canton, Springfield), Dolph Stanley (Equality, Mt.Pulaski, Taylorville), Stan Cangnon (Mt.Vernon), Gerald Phillips (Galesburg).

While there were other great coaches in the era- many of the “legends” came from big towns, surrounded by small towns.

1936-1942

Small Schools in Districts

Winners/Runners-Up Advance to Regionals

Winners/Runners-Up Advance to Sectionals

Winners Advance to Sectionals

In 1936, the IHSA revamped the State series. Small schools started in District competition. 2-3 of the teams in the District would advance to a Regional Tourney. All Regionals had 8 teams, once the District teams were added.

Not Many But Some District Teams Had Success

In 1938, Braidwood advanced from the District, Regional, and Sectional to take 2nd place in the State Tourney. This was the best finish by a District team until Hebron won State in 1952. In 1940, Hebron came out of the District and won a Sectional. In 1941 and 1942, Sheldon is the only other District team between 1936-1942 to make the Sectional Championship game.

Some People Deserve A Second Chance

From 1936 thru 1942, in one of the most unusual things, not only did runners-up advance from the District Tourneys to the Regional Tourneys, but runners-up in the Regional Tourneys advanced to the Sectional Tourney.

Teams who were runners-up in the Regional and won the Sectional-

1936- Moline, Zeigler

1937- Zeigler

1938- Glenbard

1939- Champaign, Cicero Morton, Peoria Woodruff

1940- Herrin, Salem, Granite City, Taylorville

1941- Collinsville, Athens, Cicero Morton

1942- Olney, Cicero Morton

From 1936-1942, there were 15 rematches of the exact teams who played for the Regional title, again being matched up in for the Sectional Championship. In 1936 and again in 1937, DuQuoin beat Zeigler in the Regional and lost to Zeigler in the Sectional Championship. In 1940, Centralia beat Salem in the Regional but lost to Salem in the Sectional Championship. In 1942, York beat Morton Cicero in the Regional, only to lose to Morton Cicero in the Sectional Championship.

From 1936-1942, several teams lost in the Regionals but went onto to win State Trophies.

1940- Herrin (2nd), Granite City (1st)

1941- Morton Cicero (1st)

1942- Morton Cicero (4th)

So two teams- Granite City and Morton Cicero were State Champions, despite not winning a Regional Championship.

The 1942, Morton Cicero team has the distinction of being the only team in IHSA history to lose 3 games in the State series, and still winning a State trophy. Morton lost to York in the Regional, Paris in State semi-finals, and Freeport in the third place game.

In 1941 when Morton Cicero won the State Championship, they lost to Proviso 47-32 in the Regional. The IHSA sent Proviso to the Joliet Sectional where Proviso lost to Sheldon 30-28. Even though they were in the same Regional, the IHSA sent Morton Cicero to the Waukegan Sectional where Morton Cicero beat Waukegan 32-22.

In 1936, teams from the City of Chicago went thru Sectionals just like the other teams in Illinois.

1939 was the first year that the Illinois State Tourney was tabbed- “March Madness.”

In 1941, the IHSA went to 15 Sectionals and the Chicago Public League in a separate tourney.

Perhaps because of World War II, the IHSA set up four sites to play both the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games. The sites were Pekin, Elgin, Centralia, and Springfield. So only 4 teams advanced to the State finals.

1942-1971

Small Schools in Districts

Winners Advance to Regionals

Winners Advance to Sectionals

Winners Advance to State

Starting in 1942, no runners-up at any level have advanced in the State series.

In 1943, the IHSA went from 8 team Sectionals to 4 teams Sectionals.

Sweet Sixteen = State Appearance

From 1936 thru 1955 the Sectional Champions all went to State. So 16 teams played at Champaign. This is why Sweet Sixteen has been considered a State Appearance. Starting in 1956, the IHSA instituted Super-Sectionals. Sectional Champions played in the Super-Sectional with then only 8 teams advancing to State.

Green Giants & Appleknockers Make A Statement

During this era in 1952 Hebron advanced from the District to win the State Championship. In 1964 Cobden advanced from the District to take 2nd in State.

“Traditional Powers” of 1930’s Keep On Going

With the one class system, from 1936 thru 1971, there were 36 years and a possibility to win 36 Regional Championships. Some of the schools who had thrived in the District era continued to thrive from 1936-1971. Of 36 possible Regional Championships during this era, here is how some downstate large schools performed:

Freeport (34 of 36 Regional titles), Centralia 32, Quincy 30, Galesburg 28, Mt.Vernon 28, Paris 26, Canton 24.

So in one-class system from 1920-1971 of 52 possible District/Regional Championships-

Centralia 44, Galesburg 43, Freeport 43, Quincy 41, Mt.Vernon 39, Canton 38, Kewanee 33.

What Did One-Class Regional Look Like?

During this period, Regionals all had 8 teams. Here is what some of the Regionals looked like in 1964-

Centralia Regional– Centralia, Sandoval, Patyka, Carlyle, Okawville, Breese MD, Salem, Kinmundy.

Stockton Regional– Freeport, Dakota, Hanover, Aquin, Lena-Winslow, Stockton, Warren, Galena

East Moline Regional– Alleman, Moline, Orion, East Moline, Rock Island, Geneseo, Riverdale, Erie

Kewanee Regional-Kewanee, Toulon, Dunlap, Neponset, Wethersfield, Wyoming, Princeville, Bradford.

Mt.Vernon-Mt.Vernon, Wayne City, Albion, Enfield, Carmi, Mt.Carmel, Fairfield, Grayville.

Canton Regional-Canton, Glasford, Williamsfield, Lewistown, Farmington, Cuba, VIT, Elmwood

Peoria Regional- Richwoods, Chillicothe, Woodruff, Roanoke-Benson, Spalding, Manual, Metamora, Peoria Central

Galesburg Regional- Galesburg, Macomb, Macomb Western, Abingdon, Corpus Christi, Knoxville, Bushnell-PC, Monmouth

Quincy Regional-Quincy, Camp Point Central, West Pike, Payson, Mendon Unity, Liberty, Christian Brothers, Barry

Using how they split teams in 1972, the above Regionals each had the following number of what would be AA schools:

Peoria- 5, East Moline 5, Galesburg 2. (All others had 1 large school).

In 1964, the four Regionals that fed the Quincy Sectional had 3 AA teams (1972 measure) and 29 A teams. The four Regionals that fed the Peoria Sectional had 12 AA teams and 20 A teams.

1972-2007 (Two Classes)

Regional

Winners Advance to Sectionals

Winners Advance to State

District Tourneys were eliminated during this phase of the State Series.

This phase of the State Tourney was a tough period for many traditional downstate basketball powers. Of 36 possible Regional Championships during this phase, here is the total won by some of the downstate powers-

Quincy 28, Centralia 19, Mt.Vernon 15, Galesburg 13, Freeport 6

2008- (Four Classes)

Regional-Sectional-State

Of 18 possible Regional Championships during this phase, here is what some of the downstate traditional power have won-

Centralia 12, Mt.Vernon 6, Quincy 5, Freeport 2, Galesburg 1.

Class System’s Impact on “Traditional Downstate Powers”

1 Class (52 Dist/Reg), 2 Class (36 Reg), 4 Class (18)

Centralia- 44, 19, 12

Freeport- 43, 6, 2

Galesburg- 43, 13, 1

Quincy- 41, 28, 5

Mt.Vernon- 39, 5, 6