New look for Springfield basketball tournament, some by choice, some by circumstance

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Girls City Tournament played a pair of games at the then-named Prairie Capital Convention Center in 2002. That information was incorrect in previous versions of the story. On Friday, Jan. 18, 2002, Springfield High beat Sacred Heart-Griffin 48-40 at the center. The next night, Southeast beat Lanphier. The rest of the Girls City Tournament in 2002 was played at Springfield High's Willard Duey Gymnasium.

Two girls contests will serve as warm-ups for the Boys City Tournament, starting with today's 5 p.m. game between SHG and Springfield.The 2022 City Tournament was guaranteed to have a different feel. And that was before COVID-19 shut down one of the perennial favorites to win the annual high school basketball tournament at the Bank of Springfield Center.

Now, upheaval might be the most apt word to describe an event to be played without the Lanphier boys basketball team. But some things will remain in place, including well-choreographed dance routines, the Southeast drumline and — probably most importantly for a basketball tournament — basketball.

Southeast girls coach Mike Collins said his players are eager to play on the big court in front of what should be a larger crowd than found at most high school games.

“I'm excited for the girls,” Collins said. “It's a great opportunity. It's been some years since I've had some girls that had the opportunity to play out there.

“I have some young ladies and they're excited about it. The experience (Tuesday), just getting out there on the floor and running around. That was very exciting to them. The opportunity to play, they really won't get the idea of it until they run up and down a few times, look in the stands and things of that nature.”

When does the event begin?

The three-day event begins Thursday when Springfield High and Southeast play a Girls City Tournament game at the convention center for the first time since 2002. That will be followed by the Springfield High and Sacred Heart-Griffin boys teams meeting at 8.

The SHG boys (18-2 overall, 10-0 CS8) are the favorites to win their first outright City Tournament championship since 1973. Though until the tournament games which involve Lanphier are made up, no one will know the official outcome.

District 186 officials announced last week the Lanphier boys team was in quarantine throughout the three-day event while the Lions’ girls team had to miss out on the first two nights.

More: COVID-19 sidetracks City Tournament plans for both boys and girls basketball

The tournament resumes on Friday with the SHG and Southeast girls meeting at 6 p.m. before the Springfield High and Southeast boys square off at 8.

The final night of the festivities begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday when Lanphier and Southeast tip off in a girls game, followed by SHS and SHG girls at 6. That culminates in the 8 p.m. boys game between SHG and Southeast.

Who is favored to win?

Southeast (14-7, 6-3 CS8), Springfield High (11-10, 4-6) and Lanphier (9-8, 3-5) will all look to knock off SHG.

On the girls side, Springfield High (16-6, 10-0), drew the top seed, followed by SHG (12-8, 8-2), Southeast (8-6, 8-2) and Lanphier (4-8, 2-6).

Springfield High girls coach Brad Scheffler will get a chance to step on the BOS Center’s floor as a coach for the first time since he was an assistant on the Senators’ boys team in 2001 and 2002. Scheffler, a 1992 Springfield High graduate, also played on the floor. In the 2002-03 season, Scheffler became an assistant on the girls team under Dave Urish. The next season, he took over as the head coach.

Even past SHS alumni is excited, Scheffler said.

“I've been contacted by many players this week, former players about the fact that we get to play down there this year,” Scheffler said. “They’re obviously wishing good luck and all that stuff. (They) wish it was them.”

What changes are there?

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has created many changes — oftentimes at the last minute — for nearly two years in most aspects of life. Long-term plans are viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism, especially indoor events. Scheffler said his team didn’t get overly excited until Tuesday’s practice at the center, when it finally felt real.

“I'll be honest, everything's been changing so much, it seemed like daily, what we hear what's going to happen and what's not going to happen and all that stuff,” Scheffler said. “Yesterday, finally, for the first time when they got to play on the floor, I think that's kind of when (it hit them).”

Not even a three-week COVID-19 layoff stopped Southeast’s win streak. Collins’ team beat Chatham Glenwood 44-24 on Dec. 17 but had to cancel its holiday tournament plans when players throughout the varsity and junior varsity levels had to sit. The team has won its three games since the hiatus, including a 53-49 win over Rochester in its return to action on Jan. 7. The Spartans have won five straight and seven of nine.

Southeast has done it with leading scorer Diavian Mehundrew in and out of the lineup due to injuries, COVID-19 and then again when contact tracing forced her to miss an additional game. Collins said his team has responded well despite a lineup that’s been fluid at times.

“She's still our big dog though,” Collins said of Mehundrew. “I don't want to make any mistakes like that.

“But Marisa (Gant), our sophomore, stepped up and started carrying it; all my girls have stepped up and really, we learned how to play without her. And so that's been real big during this period of time.”

More: Springfield School District 186 board members confident in schools' COVID precautions

Will fans be allowed?

At Tuesday’s District 186 school board meeting, superintendent Jennifer Gill said spectators will be limited to 750 per team but all games will be streamed live on the district's YouTube page. It can be found by going to youtube.com and searching for spschannel22.

Gill also said a mask mandate will be enforced for everyone inside the Bank of Springfield Center.

Contact Ryan Mahan: 857-246-9756, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield City Tournament starts with fresh look, notable absence