50 After 50: No. 46 Hornets flew under radar during super-sectional run, but elbow to eye proved costly

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. 46 — 2002-03 Brown County

MOUNT STERLING, Ill. — The 2004 Brown County basketball team is generally considered one of the best in school history, earning a state ranking and a 27-1 record before losing one of the memorable games in area history at the sectional to Quincy Notre Dame.

The foundation for that team, however, was established one year earlier by the 2003 team that was one victory away from the Class A state tournament. However, the 2003 team often is overlooked because of the 2004 team.

“A lot of people compare my junior year to my senior year. Everybody talks about those two teams, and they’re like, ‘Which team would win?’” said Evan Busen, a starter on both teams. “They’re just totally different teams. We were a little bit more defensively sound during my junior year. We created more offense from our defense and had more size that year. My senior year, we were more dribble, penetrate and kick. A bit more slash and drive.

“If those two teams ever played each other, you had a high-powered offense against a really good defense.”

Senior A.J. Kassing was the Hornets’ top threat, averaging 18.9 points per game and shooting 44 percent from 3-point range. Busen, a 6-foot-5 junior, averaged 13.3 points and 7.6 rebounds. The Hornets won their first 18 games before losing 84-79 to Pittsfield. The team’s only other loss, a 59-58 setback to Carthage, cost them a West Central Conference title.

Busen had 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 67-57 victory in the regional title game over Beardstown. Kassing had 27 points in the sectional semifinal in a 63-51 victory over Carthage to avenge the earlier loss, and the Hornets claimed the sectional title with a 54-41 victory over Macomb. Michael Geisler’s defensive work was critical in the sectional. He helped limit Macomb’s Chad Cox to 10 points on 4 of 20 shooting, and he helped limit Carthage’s Joe Reed to five points on 2 of 16 shooting.

“We didn’t really garner a lot of preseason hype,” Hornets coach Van Wilson said. “Kassing was the unquestioned leader of that team, but those kids really all kind of came together. Most people might say we overachieved. We got better as the year went along. It’s a great team that’s somewhat forgotten.”

Brown County’s bid to win the super-sectional was damaged early when Auburn’s Byron Graven elbowed Busen above the right eye during the game’s first minute. Busen returned near the end of the quarter wearing a headband to keep a bandage in place, but the Hornets already trailed and never caught up.

Foul trouble also limited Busen to just 16 minutes of playing time. He finished with 21 points and eight rebounds, but the Hornets lost 63-54 to finish with a 27-3 record. Kassing finished with only 10 points.

“A.J. had an off shooting night, but we wouldn’t have been there without his contribution,” said Wilson, who spent the last 10 years of his education career as a principal in Brown County before retiring in 2013. “They were all good shots. It’s not like he forced them. He just didn’t have the range that night.”

“I tried to do everything in my power,” Busen said. “They just took away A.J. and took away our outside shooting. That kind of opened up things for me down in the paint, but I got in foul trouble.”

Busen now lives in the Lake of the Ozarks area and drives two days a week to Lee’s Summit, Mo., where he’s a firefighter. He’s also an accomplished basketball official, working multiple games in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and the American Midwest Conference.

“I absolutely love being able to run up and down the court and just be part of the game again,” he said. “I was even telling my parents just the other day that you almost get the exact same feeling — you know, the butterflies and the excitement and the camaraderie with your (officiating) crew that night — just like when you get to put on a uniform and be out on the court. To be so involved with it and be able to give back and serve the game is something I absolutely love.”