50 After 50: Depth, press wore out opponents, but half-court shot crushed No. 49 Bulldogs’ postseason dreams

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. 49 — 1987-88 Dallas City

DALLAS CITY, Ill. — It’s been nearly 40 years since the shot crushed Dallas City’s dreams.

Kevin Fleck banked in a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to give Hamilton a shocking 38-37 overtime victory over the Bulldogs, ranked No. 9 in the Class A state poll, in the championship game of the Class A Hamilton Regional on Feb. 26, 1988.

John Rowley, a senior guard for Dallas City that season, says he’s finally getting better at coping with that loss after all these years.

“I’ve gotten to where I only think about it three or four times a week,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t have nightmares about death. I don’t have dreams about being rich. But I still have dreams about replaying that game.”

“When I go back (to Dallas City) for funerals or weddings, that shot comes up every time,” Bulldogs coach Mark Branscum said.

Dallas City had a run of talented teams throughout the 1980s. The 1987 won 20 games without a senior on the roster, so the 1988 team had the look of a potential state tournament qualifier. 

“When we went to team camps in the summer, we would divide our team in half,” Branscum said. “Sometimes, our teams would finish first and second at a camp. We were just destroying people in the summer. One of the hardest things was simply getting the playing time ironed out.”

The Bulldogs won 16 games that season by 20 points or more, and they topped 75 points in a game 14 times. The average margin of victory was 25 points. 

They overwhelmed opponents with depth rarely seen in schools the size of Dallas City. Eight players averaged more than 10 minutes per game, and Branscum routinely used 11 players in the first quarter. Rowley led the team at 15.1 points per game despite often playing little more than half the game. Ted Logan, a 6-foot-7 sophomore center, was second at 10.7 ppg. Five more players averaged between 5.2 and 8.6 points.

“We would just have these waves of people who would come in,” Rowley said. “It was a little bit like those old Arkansas teams, 40 minutes of hell on the press.”

The only regular season loss came in the season’s third game, a 63-60 double-overtime setback against Dunlap in the Monmouth Tournament.

Dallas City opened postseason play with a 47-41 victory over Warsaw, then pummeled Colchester 90-65 in the regional semifinals. 

The team that averaged 73.5 points per game during the season couldn’t find the mark in the regional title game. The Bulldogs made only 16 of 48 shots from the field.

Nonetheless, Dallas City forced overtime when Rick Grelk made a game-tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter. In overtime, the Bulldogs’ Kurt Hickenbottom drove down the lane and tossed up an underhand scoop shot with five seconds left that rolled off the rim. Karl Thompson eventually grabbed the loose ball and scored what appeared to be the game-winning basket.

“(The officials) put two seconds back on the clock,” Branscum said. “They didn’t put one. They put two. We thought it should be no time (left on the clock), but that (extra time) gave them a chance.”

Hamilton coach Joe Granecki wanted Scott Pfeiferling to inbound the ball from under the Dallas City basket to Fleck at half court and call another timeout. As the Cardinals broke the huddle, they learned they had no timeouts remaining. Pfeiferling passed the ball near the top of the key to Fleck, who turned to his right, took two dribbles and let his shot fly.

“I get within inches of Fleck, but I didn’t want to foul him,” Rowley said. “He shoots it right over me and banks the damn thing in. I was right there. As soon as he let it go, I’m like, ‘That’s got a chance.’”

The loss ruined what had been a dominant and remarkable season.

“It was devastating,” Branscum said. “Those kids had put in so much work, so many hours. It just really hurt.”

Branscum left Dallas City after that season and took a teaching job in Neosho, Mo. He coached for six years at nearby East Newton High School, then coached his sons when they were in junior high school in Neosko. He retired 11 years ago and spent 10 years teaching at a private driving school in Bentonville, Ark. 

Rowley has gone on to enjoy quite a career at Nashville, Tenn.-based CounterPoint Messaging, which runs comprehensive media and digital campaigns for candidates, issues and progressive groups around the country.

CounterPoint’s website says Rowley has worked on more than 500 political campaigns for Democrats in 47 states, winning 81 percent of his campaigns. He has worked with presidential and gubernatorial candidates, as well as 20 members of Congress. He has provided political analysis on MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, FOX Business, Fox News and National Public Radio.

“I’ve probably been on like 200 or 300 professional teams, and being on that team (at Dallas City) is still one of the most influential experiences of my life,” Rowley said. “There’s nothing quite like being on a great team. That time was hugely influential to me. I don’t know that I’ve ever achieved the kind of high like when we put our press on somebody and beat them by 10 points or 40 points.”