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From when
it began in November, it was a season to
remember for the 1997-98 Centralia Orphans
boys basketball team.
From
winning the Belleville West Thanksgiving
tourney at the start, the Orphans went on to
a Centralia Holiday Tournament championship,
a regional title and an epic victory over Mt
Vernon in the Class AA sectional finals
followed by a super sectional win and the
program's first Elite Eight appearance in 34
years. "There's
a lot that happened that season that were
the kind of things you'll never
forget," said Rick Moss, who was in his
fifth season as coach at Centralia.
"It was a great group of kids. I
remember watching them play when I first
came to Centralia and thinking they had a
chance to be pretty good." Included
in that bunch was a part of an extremely
strong nine-man senior group which featured
Luke Sharp, Ty Moss (the coach's son), Drew
Murray, Greg Storm, Jamie Pokojski, Wylie
Blair, Maurice Favors. Ray Smith and Gavin
Smith. Centralia
had finished 22-7 the year before and was
edged out in the sectional finals by Mt.
Vernon, but with two fulltime starters
returning in Sharp and Ty Moss, plus several
others including Murray and Storm who saw
considerable action, the Orphans drew the
No. 18 ranking in the Associated Press
pre-season poll. Taking
advantage of a newly-instituted rule that
allowed teams to play in three tournaments
in a season, the Orphans began with four
victories at West in getting past the host
Maroons, Mater Dei, O'Fallon and Mascoutah
for the title. They followed that up
with a victory over Cahokia and in the
firsts of three special event appearances
that season, turned back state-ranked Graves
County (Ky) 51-41 at the Massac County
Shootout in Metropolis. That
was followed by participation in one of the
nation's foremost affairs, the Coca Cola/KMOX
Shootout in St. Louis, where the Orphans,
despite a 30-point night from Sharp fell
89-75 to Cape Coral Mariner of Florida and
standout guard Teddy Dupay who logged 46
points. Victories
over Carbondale and Belleville Althoff gave
the Orphans an 8-1 mark entering the Holiday
Tournament and Centralia didn't disappoint,
in turning back Chicago Mount Carmel in the
first round, (McEachern (Ga) in the
quarterfinals and Alton in the semifinals to
face arch-rival Mt. Vernon in the first of
five meetings of the season for the
championship. In
the title game, the Orphans shot ahead to a
33-20 lead early in the third quarter before
the Rams charged back and were within a
point on the three occasions in the final 90
seconds. But five free throws and a
basket by Moss down the stretch helped
Centralia stave off Mt. Vernon 61-56. Moss
had 28 points, Sharp 10 points and 14
rebounds, and Murray a double-double with
points and 10 caroms while freshman Chris
Carter hit three key free throws and grabbed
five rebounds. Beginning
the New Year, the Orphans beat Cairo and
fell 69-64 to Belleville East at the
Highland Optimist Shootout and then bagged
wins over O'Fallon and Evansville (Ind.)
Reitz heading into the Salem Invitational
Tournament. Once
there, Centralia rolled past Charleston and
then knocked off previously unbeaten
Edwardsville 70-53 in the semifinals to
again meet the Rams who came away with a
60-47 win behind 28 points from Kent
Williams. That
left the Orphans with a 17-3 record and they
picked up two more with decisions over
Cahokia and Marion before taking a 75-51
loss from Mt. Vernon which ended a 43-game
regular season win streak in Trout Gym for
Centralia. A week later the Orphans
were stunned 86-74 at Carbondale, despite a
38-point night by Moss. But
a 75-53 road victory versus O'Fallon
launched Centralia into an eight-game
winning streak that continued with a 78-72
decision at Mt. Vernon to square the season
series at two games each. The Orphans
then had one-sided wins over Marion to
finish the regular season and Mattoon in the
regional opener before bouncing Marion 53-43
in the finals. In
the sectional opener Centralia won a rubber
game over Carbondale before meeting the Rams
in a game considered to be one of the best,
not just between the two rivals but in the
all-time annals of CHS history. Trailing
54-44 early in the fourth, the Orphans were
still trailing 61-56 with 33 seconds left in
regulation. But a 3-pointer by Storm
and a big defensive rebound by Favors on the
other end, and then a short jumper by Storm
with 0:02 remaining, tied the game at 61 and
sent it into overtime. It
was still tied at 67 with just 9.8 seconds
to play when Sharp scored off a pass from
Pokojski, was fouled and hit the free throw
for the winning margin as Mt. Vernon missed
a pair of 3-pointers in the final seconds. That
sent the Orphans to the SIU Arena where they
faced East St. Louis Lincoln and future NBA
player Darius Miles. An 8-0 run late
in the second quarter put Centralia ahead
for good and free throws closed out a 51-41
victory for the program's first trip to the
Elite Eight since 1964. "I
promised the fans of Centralia five years
ago when I came here we would get to
state," said Rick Moss after his team
made good on the vow. At
Carver Arena in Peoria, the Orphans faced
the No. 3 team Galesburg, which was led by
Joey Range and Roderick Thompson, both of
whom had committed to Iowa. Centralia
led early in the second period and it was
still tight in the third quarter before
guard Steve Glasgow netted 14 of his 17
points in the second half to help the Silver
Streaks pull away in a 71-56 win. Moss
finished with 15 points, Sharp 12 and Ray
Smith 11 for Centralia which closed out the
season 27-6 and was part of an Elite Eight
field that had a 216-25 composite record. "I
was talking to someone about that and they
said it was one of the best final eights at
state," Rick Moss said of the field
which included champion Whitney Young of
Chicago and standout Quentin
Richardson. The Dolphins held off
Galesburg 61-56 in the title test. Receiving
pins and letters for the season were seniors
Ty Moss, Maurice Favors, Drew Murray, Luke
Sharp, Gavin Smith, Wylie Blair, Greg Storm,
Ray Smith and Jamie Pokojski; junior Jerry
Pollard; sophomores Derrick Patrick and
Dominique Cunningham; and freshman Chris
Carter, as did managers Matt Copple, Tron
Young and Crystal Warren. Special
honors went to Sharp (Co-MVP, Rebounding
Award), Moss (Co-MVP, Free-Throw Award),
Murray (Defensive Award), Storm (Golden
Orphan), and Blair (Andy Davenport Memorial
Award). "Every
senior contributed a lot to our
success," said Rick Moss at the awards
presentation. "If there was ever
a team that had nine most-valuable players,
then this would be it." list@mornignsentinel.com COACH:
Rick
Moss
ASSISTANT
COACHES:
TEAM
MEMBERS:
MANAGERS: Matt
Copple, Tron Young, Crystal Warren
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