50 After 50: No. 50 Wolves gave state champs toughest postseason test

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. 50 — 1990-91 Pleasant Hill

PLEASANT HILL, Ill. — Once the two-class system was created in Illinois, the biggest hurdle for small-school teams in Pike County to clear during the postseason typically was against Pittsfield. The Saukees won 22 regional titles in the first 30 years of Class A basketball in Illinois.

Harry Wagy thought he finally had the team to beat Pittsfield in 1991.

His son, Richie Wagy, averaged 22 points and 11.4 rebounds during his senior year, and he broke the career scoring record. However, the Wolves were far from a one-man show. Derek Scranton was a talented ballhandler, Steve Helms was a 6-foot-5 post player, and Matt Mooney and Matt Helms were a solid contributor. Sophomore Tom Hart provided a spark off the bench. 

The Wolves only lost twice during the regular season, and both setbacks came in a 15-hour span. Richie Wagy injured his ankle on a Friday night loss at home to Camp Point Central, and the Wolves lost a 9 a.m. game on Saturday at the Winchester Tournament to Carrollton. They rebounded by winning 16 consecutive games, and they entered postseason play with a 23-2 record. Victories over Perry 79-36 and Winchester 80-71 gave Pleasant Hill a spot in the regional title game against top-seeded Pittsfield at Meredosia. 

Pleasant Hill had a chance to win its first regional since 1965.

“I truly feel we had as good a team as (Pittsfield) did that year,” Harry Wagy said.

Pleasant Hill started slowly, missing 15 of its first 20 shots and trailing 33-24 after three quarters. However, the Wolves used a 12-point run to take a 36-33 lead with a little less than six minutes to play. The Saukees bounced back, with Brian Feezel and Jamie Sweeting contributing three-point plays to take the lead back for good.

The Wolves got within 48-47 late in the game. Mooney’s 3-point shot from the right corner didn’t drop with two seconds left.

It was the closest score for Pittsfield on its way to a state championship. The Saukees won by double digits in the super-sectional and in their three games in Champaign. Pleasant Hill finished 25-3.

Wagy coached at Pleasant Hill for 18 years and taught for 29 years. He also taught for five years at the prisons in Jacksonville and Pittsfield before retiring. He now is retired and living in Quincy with his wife, Dixie.

The Wolves finally won the regional the following season. It was the only regional title won by one of Wagy’s teams. Pleasant Hill didn’t win another regional until 2017 when it was in Class 1A.

“I do dream about if we had the four-class system that they do now,” Harry Wagy said. “When I was (at Pleasant Hill), I think we would have made it to the sectional at least six times.”

He hasn’t forgotten what might have been in 1991.

“That was my most disappointing loss of my life,” he said. “I really thought we were going to get them. We just didn’t do the little things at the end of the game, and (Saukees coach Dave Bennett’s) teams always were hard to beat.”