Saukees’ second-half rally secures 300th victory of Tomhave’s coaching career

PITTSFIELD, Ill. — The manner in which the Pittsfield boys basketball team secured the 300th victory of Brad Tomhave’s coaching career might not be so memorable.

The milestone certainly is.

The Saukees overcame making just one of their first 18 field goals and a 15-point third-quarter deficit to take the lead for the first time Tuesday night against Unity with less than a minute to play. But it wasn’t until Konner Allen drove to the basket on the right side of the lane with 19.5 seconds left in regulation that Pittsfield took the lead for good.

Brennan Tomhave’s free throw in the waning seconds put the cap on a 44-42 victory at Voshall Gym.

“Each win to me is special,” said Tomhave, now in his 19th season coaching his alma mater. “So whether it’s 300 or 73, that means the work the assistant coaches and the players have done to prepare is recognized. I’m the head coach, but those assistant coaches have just as much responsibility in practice to get kids ready.

“So it’s cool to see the work and the preparation those assistant coaches and the players have put in prior to that game pay off. So whether it’s No. 1, No. 73 or No. 300, it’s cool to see that success after so much time has been put into that preparation.”

Tomhave is just the fifth coach in West-Central Illinois to win 300 or more games at one school, joining Pittsfield’s Dave Bennett (527-146 in 23 seasons), Quincy Notre Dame’s Scott Douglas (360-138 in 17 seasons), and Quincy High School’s Sherrill Hanks (354-89 in 15 seasons) and Jerry Leggett (331-77 in 14 seasons).

Reno Pinkston won 620 games in his Hall of Fame career with 275 coming at Nauvoo-Colusa, 53 at Warsaw and 246 at West Hancock.

Winning No. 300 wasn’t on Tomhave’s mind leading up to the tip, and his team’s offensive woes made certain milestone victories were the furthest thing from his mind.

The Saukees’ only field goal of the first quarter was a jumper by sophomore guard Hayden Gratton, and they didn’t reach double digits until late in the second quarter. The Mustangs led 24-11 at halftime as junior forward Melvin McMillen scored nine points.

“We talked at halftime about showing some toughness,” Tomhave said.

Unity’s lead reached 15 points in the third quarter before Pittsfield started chipping away.

The Saukees went 8 of 9 from the free-throw line in the third quarter, held McMillen to one third-quarter field goal and pulled within 37-31 heading to the fourth quarter.

“I can’t remember any wins where we’ve played like that against a pretty good basketball team and came back and won,” Tomhave said. “There aren’t many times we’ve had that deficit and the kids show that resiliency and work to get back into the game, let alone win it.”

Unity scored just two points over the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter and Pittsfield took the lead when Javan Petty scored from the right block with 56 seconds to go. Ethan Voss gave the Mustangs a 42-41 lead with 32 seconds to go with a 3-pointer from the left wing.

Following a Pittsfield timeout with 24.2 seconds remaining, Allen scored for a 43-42 edge. A turnover by the Mustangs forced them to foul, but the Saukees missed five consecutive free throws in the final 4.3 seconds until Brennan Tomhave made one with 1.3 seconds left.

Eli Mendenhall and Gratton led the Saukees with 10 points apiece, while Mendenhall grabbed 10 rebounds. McMillen and Sawyer Allen finished with 13 points apiece for the Mustangs, who committed 28 turnovers.

“We kept fighting,” Tomhave said.