Brand new gym at Central Park and Main. This may have even been Crown's first game there. I couldn't tell for sure. It was senior night and the introductions were long. There were playing a team from Gresham called Ellison. Man, there are so many new schools, charters, magnets, etc. I remember a time when I knew every school in the city. I never heard of Ellison before.
The Ellison varsity was undermanned, only eight guys. The starting point guard looked like he was seven years old. He was quick as hell though. I don't think either of these teams is very strong. The shooting on both sides was pretty awful. At one point I thought the final score would end up in the 30s. Then Ellison brought in this guy that looked like a linebacker, number 35. We couldn't figure out why he didn't start or play much in the first half. But he started going to basket and nobody was very keen on getting in his way.
At one point an old Evanston guy I know, Stacey Moragne, walked in and sat down with some older Jewish guys. They were having a bunch of good hoops conversations. Of course, Everette Stephens came up. Moragne knew his kid plays for Purdue but none of them knew the kid's first name. I think it's Kendall, but I wasn't sure so I kept my mouth shut. They talked about the '84 championship. Of course, everyone talks about Ben Wilson, but nobody ever remembers it was the other guy who went wild. Bankston?
My friend's kid who I was with is a 6'7" power forward from an East Coast prep school. I don't think he's very good, but he's big, strong, and he understands the game. He pointed out that his team runs a much more complicated offense than either of these two. He thought his team would whip both of them, but I can't be sure he knows what he's talking about. During the introductions the Crown coach talked about one of his players who "always gives 110 percent". I asked my guy if he always gives 110 percent. He laughed and shook his head. Hey, I guess it's good to know who you are. But I can see why he drives his mom crazy.
Ellison built a six point lead with two minutes left, but they were still rushing the ball up court for some reason. There didn't seem to be much effort to kill the clock. Then they made some bad fouls and the next thing you know the game was tied. There were a couple mad scrambles for loose balls and Ellison came up with it with 6 seconds left. A kid dribbled in and hit a tough shot with an Ida Crown defender all over him and no time on the clock. 44-42 Ellison. A damn entertaining game.
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