It was a good week to be a Dixon Duke, Polo basketball coach Matt Messer and bowler Trevor Anifer of Lemont.
Not only did the Dixon boys basketball team beat Rockford Lutheran 56-51 to end the Crusaders’ 43-game conference winning streak, but also the boys bowling team advanced downstate for the first time in school history.
The Dixon bowlers were way down in the standings and came alive in the final game to sneak in as the fifth-place qualifier.
Though they did not advance out of the regional, the Oregon bowling team had an excellent season. Their regional was as a tough as it gets, as evidenced by the results from the sectional.
Six teams move on to the state tournament and all four (Harlem, Dakota, Dixon, Hononegah) from that regional made it.
With Rockford Christian and Byron also fast at the heels of Lutheran, it was very likely the four-year BNC basketball winning streak would be coming to end this season.
For the Byron boys, this past week and into next week will be the real tale of the regular season with games against Freeport, Pecatonica, Lutheran, Dixon and Rockford Christian. Would like to give you an update, but press deadlines prevent that.
Compared to instant social media, that’s one hang up for old-school newspaper printing. Oh well, the world is too fast-paced anyway.
I did a chance to see Byron play Oregon at the Blackhawk Center and it was evident they were a bit rusty after missing three previous games for weather. Once the Tigers got it going in the third quarter, it was all over for the Hawks.
In talking with Oregon coach Jarrett Reynolds afterwards, his philosophy is progression over perfection. With a youthful roster, that’s all you can do, or as he says, “paving the way” into the future.
Congratulations to Polo coach Matt Messer for his 300th career win. The milestone came against rival Forreston and a couple days later the Marcos nearly upset state-ranked Scales Mound. Of any coach around, Messer gets the most of out the talent he has.
Another thing that stands out over the years is the large turnout he gets, as it must be desirable to be on the Marco team. With declining numbers in so many boys and girls programs, that isn’t always the case.
In terms of actual measurable data, did you know that he has coached more consecutive 20-win seasons that any other coach around? From 2012-2019, Polo had 20 or more wins, a feat that no school from the NUIC, NIC-10 or BNC has accomplished.
And who is Trevor Anifor?
I don’t know him personally, but in reviewing IHSA sectional bowling results, Anifor capped off the weekend’s best six-game series of 1,527 with a 300 on his final game.
It was sweet redemption after finishing 10th in the state two years ago and then entering last year’s sectional with the top regional score (1,458) in the state, only to bomb out at the sectional and miss a trip to state where he would have contended for a title.
Bowling is probably a bit like golf in that if you get out of the groove, it can be hard to regain one’s mental and physical wherewithal.
While at the Byron-Oregon basketball game, I was in my 1970s groove listening to some of the songs pumped out by the Hawk pep band. Credit to song selector Andy Eckardt for taking me back to my high-school days.
The only thing missing from the play list was the “Budweiser” theme song, but that’s probably politically incorrect nowadays. I doubt if anyone from my age group became smokers from listening to pep bands play it back then.
A little-known fact: Back then, some schools even had smoking lounges for their students. Eventually, they were all phased out in favor of a healthier environment.
Conjuring up memories of the 1970s, it just dawned on – Dixon boys had been downstate before in team bowling. However, it was probably the most controversial appearance in the history of IHSA championships.
Boys bowling was not a sanctioned IHSA sport then, but girls had bowling. Four boys from Dixon wanted to bowl competitively at the high school level and joined the girls team, with the team winning the state title in 1975.
As a result of that, the IHSA soon instituted a rule that boys were to compete only with each other, and likewise for the girls.
Andy Colbert is a longtime Ogle County resident with years of experience covering sports and more for multiple area publications.
