50 After 50: Deep, quick, bruising No. 8 Cardinals excel in close games on way to third-place finish

The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock counties since 1972.

No. 8 — 1992-93 Hamilton

HAMILTON, Ill. — The Hamilton boys basketball team didn’t hide what their expectations were during the 1992-93 season.

The cover of the team’s game program featured an outline of the state of Illinois. Stars designated postseason tournament sites, with arrows directing the way from here to Champaign. “Shooting for the Stars” was the team’s slogan.

“I’m not saying we’re going to be state champions, or that we’re even going to make the state tournament,” Cardinals coach Brian Stilwell told The Herald-Whig during an interview after a game in December 1992. “But I know what our potential is. Between now and the end of February, we’re going to develop into a pretty tough team.”

Stilwell welcomed back four starters — guards Ryan Lemon and John Holcomb, along with forwards Todd Brownlee and Shawn Stevenson — from a 20-6 team that lost 66-55 to undefeated and No. 1-ranked Southeastern in the finals of the Class A sectional at Bushnell.

Also back was Jason Havens, a bruising tight end on the football team, who came off the bench. Added to that group was 6-foot-8 Kurt Meister, who was the centerpiece of an undefeated sophomore team the season before.

“We didn’t lose a lot. Holcomb and myself started as guards, and we were really fast,” Lemon said. “Then our backups were (John) Dougherty and (Darren) Monroe, and they were super quick. We had eight guys who were solid, and we were all really good close friends. Our chemistry was good. We all got along really well, and we understood what the goal was. We didn’t really talk or brag about it, but we just knew what we had to do.”

The Cardinals won their first seven games, but a couple of them were close shaves. Stevenson’s steal and layup against Brown County in the season opener broke a 40-40 tie, and the Cardinals held on to win 44-42. 

Hamilton, ranked No. 6 in the first Class A state poll, then rallied from a 52-43 lead with 1:36 to play to defeat No. 11-ranked QND 55-54 on Dec. 22. Dougherty’s 3-pointer with eight seconds remaining finished the comeback. 

“We kind of realized, hey, beating QND at The Pit is a pretty big deal, right?” Meister said. “I think that’s when we first knew we could be pretty good.” 

The top-seeded Cardinals struggled to win their first three games at the Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament, beating Macomb 52-46, Payson Seymour 64-61 and Abingdon 57-48 before losing 84-73 to Metamora in the title game. The tournament was a coming-out party for Meister, who averaged 18.3 points and 7.5 rebounds in Macomb.

“We had good size, good speed and a lot of depth, and we were in really good shape,” Lemon said. “Coach always talked about never losing a game because you’re tired. You always want to be in shape, so we spent a lot of time running in practice instead of just working on the fundamentals. He would always see us at lunch and say, ‘Bring your track shoes to practice instead of your basketball jerseys.’”

Hamilton lost its first game of the new year in a 57-54 setback against Warsaw on Jan. 5. The Cardinals then reeled off seven consecutive victories heading into a Jan. 30 home game against Pittsfield. Hamilton didn’t take its first lead until the first overtime, and Havens’ go-ahead basket with 11 second left in the third overtime led to a 65-62 victory.

“The kids know what it takes to win,” Cardinals coach Brian Stilwell told The Herald-Whig afterward. “I keep telling the kids to keep it close until it gets to the end, and I’ll help them win it. I think they’re starting to expect to win games like this now.”

Hamilton didn’t lose again during the regular season and took a 23-2 record and a No. 7-ranking in the Class A state poll into the postseason.

However, Warsaw nearly shocked the Cardinals in the opening round of the regional at LaHarpe. Brad Crow made a baseline jumper with four seconds remaining to force overtime. The Wildcats then led 56-55 with 13 seconds remaining in the first overtime when Warsaw’s Lee Woods slapped the ball away from Lemon, and Lemon fouled in desperation with nine seconds left. Woods split two free throws.

With seven seconds left, Holcomb found Lemon on an inbounds pass. Lemon dribbled down the left sideline, spun to the middle of the floor, pulled up at the free-throw line and swished the tying basket.

Lemon’s fifth 3-pointer of the game with 1:58 to play in the second overtime put the Cardinals ahead to stay in a 71-64 victory. He finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds.

“We knew we had to play really good,” Lemon said. “They had beaten us at home early in the year and they ended up being West Central Conference champs. I remember when we lost to them and we weren’t going to be conference champs, and it just really made me mad. I got my car and cried. 

“We were always rivals with them. They’re right next to us, and we played a lot of basketball against those guys growing up all through the years. We knew them really well. We weren’t overlooking them at all.”

Hamilton won the regional by defeating Dallas City 66-51, with Lemon leading the way with 19 points. 

The Cardinals avenged their other regular-season defeat in the sectional semifinals at Bushnell, overcoming a 13-point first-hall deficit to beat Brown County 62-52. A 56-52 victory over Havana in the sectional title game was memorable because of an early fourth-quarter collision between Meister and Brownlee that resulted in a gash above Meister’s left eye.

“(Meister) is our go-to guy inside, and he leaves and we don’t know what’s going on,” Lemon said. “No one says anything. We’re just playing the game, and then people start cheering and he comes out of the locker room. The crowd just went crazy. I was like, ‘What is going on? Was Meister running out like Willis Reed (during the 1971 NBA Playoffs)?’” 

In a rematch with Pittsfield in the super-sectional at Macomb, the Saukees trailed by two points with 70 seconds remaining but couldn’t catch the Cardinals in a 44-39 victory. Hamilton, which was 13-1 in games decided by 10 points or less, earned the first trip to the state tournament in school history.

“Getting over to Macomb and planning that super-sectional was probably the equivalent of being at the state tournament,” Meister said. “And then we played Pittsfield and beat them, and it was almost like a dream. It was like, ‘Oh my God, we’re going to Champaign.’ That was the dream for every kid growing up in Illinois. Even to this day, I can’t believe we got there.”

A sloppy start and foul troubles plagued Hamilton in the first half of the quarterfinal game against Mendota. The Cardinals trailed by five in the third quarter but forced 12 second-half turnovers in posting a 75-59 victory. 

Eventual champion Staunton dashed Hamilton’s state championship dreams in the semifinals. Hamilton scored its season low in points in a 52-42 loss. The Cardinals went 6 1/2 minutes without a point in the second quarter and missed 13 of 15 shots in the fourth quarter. Meister had 18 points and nine rebounds but took just two shots in the fourth quarter.

Hamilton trailed by 26 points in the third quarter of the third-place game and lost 80-68 to Cairo.

“Never watched (the Staunton game). I don’t know anyone (on the team) who has,” Meister said. “I can’t pinpoint what went wrong for us to lose. People will say that Stillwell took his foot off the gas, but it’s March Madness. I didn’t score in the fourth quarter, but I wouldn’t say it’s because they weren’t getting me the ball. I was as much to blame anybody. It’s crazy that we played that game and got beat.”

“We should have won the state championship,” Lemon said. “Staunton won it all, and I just didn’t think we played a very good game against them. They had a couple of guys who were decent, but I thought we had a better team, top to bottom. For whatever reason, we just came up short. I don’t know what I don’t know what happened. I can tell you that I’ve watched all the other games I’ve got on tape. Every once in a while I’ll pop them in and watch … except I haven’t watched (the Staunton game) yet. Maybe some day. 

“I’m still proud of what we did. But yeah, if we could have got Staunton, I know we would have won the championship.”

Lemon now lives in Liberty, Mo., and works at FedEx Freight. He also invests in real estate.