50 After 50: Triple-overtime thriller and back-to-back buzzer beaters define No. 17 Saukees’ run to state

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. 17 — 2010-11 Pittsfield

PITTSFIELD, Ill. — The postseason run the Pittsfield boys basketball team orchestrated in 2011 may be remembered most for a triple-overtime thriller, a behind-the-back dribble through a double team and a buzzer-beater that sent the Saukees to the final four.

But Brad Hamilton’s best memory isn’t any of those.

The Saukees’ all-time leading scorer knocked knees with a Macomb defender on an early possession of the sectional semifinal at Rochester and never felt comfortable. Couple that with the Bombers’ defensive game plan to stop him, Hamilton scored just nine points.

It didn’t matter. Cory Roseberry scored 10 points and Taylor Kattelman added eight as they combined to go 7 of 12 from the field in the Saukees’ 49-43 victory.

“Cory had what seemed like three huge defensive blocks and took a couple of charges,” Hamilton said. “Taylor was knocking down shots. It was one of those moments where I wasn’t at my best and the rest of the team stepped up tremendously. To me, that’s one of the coolest memories of the postseason for sure.”

It’s difficult to top so many of the others that led to Pittsfield winning a state trophy for just the second time in program history with a fourth-place finish in Class 2A.

It started in the regional championship at Voshall Gym when Hamilton scored a career-high 40 points in a 67-60 triple-overtime victory over Pleasant Plains. It got better in the sectional when facing Warrensburg-Latham in the championship game.

With time dwindling and two defenders running at him near midcourt, Hamilton used a behind-the-back dribble to split the defenders and dropped in a soft bank shot with 5.6 seconds remaining in regulation for a 43-41 victory.

It’s an unforgettable play for any who witnessed it.

“I’ve heard that from (Pittsfield coach Brad Tomhave’s) sons a few times because they rewatch it,” said Hamilton, who was a first-team all-state selection and enjoyed a solid college career at John Wood Community College and Missouri Valley College. “It’s been a while since I watched the video, and honestly, I probably should have passed it. 

“The behind-the-back dribble probably could have been a turnover. It could have ended up very badly. Multiple times throughout that possession, I think I was just kind of in the moment. I didn’t really think about it. I just shot it and it went in. I’m glad it did.”

Dalton Hoover played the role of hero in the super-sectional.

Trailing Teutopolis by a point with 2.4 seconds remaining in regulation and the ball being inbounded by Hamilton along the baseline, Hoover had the opportunity to give the ball back to Hamilton stepping in after the inbounds pass or attack the rim himself.

He chose to attack. With his defender slipping to double team Hamilton, Hoover stepped into the lane and banked in a shot as time expired for a 43-42 victory and state semifinal berth.

The Saukees were always prepared for those moments.

“I have to give a ton of credit for Coach Tomhave for that,” Hamilton said. “No matter what the situation was, it seemed like he always had a game plan. No one worked harder than him prepping for another team as far as what they do and then him being able to translate that into practice.

“I remember my freshman year when we went and played Madison in the QND Shootout, and he had our defenders playing with badminton brackets in their hands to simulate their length. There were so many things like that he did to get us ready. 

“My senior year, we were kind of short-handed and had multiple underclassmen, so there were practices where he had a couple guys hanging on me and a couple guys hanging on Hoover and they’d be playing defense with six or seven guys and we were having to figure it out on the fly. He prepared us for every situation.”

The Saukees ran out of magic at the state tournament, losing by 14 points to Murphysboro in the semifinals and six points to Rockford Christian in the third-place game when a fourth-quarter rally came up short.

Still, there is the fourth-place trophy sitting in the trophy case at Pittsfield High School and the memories of a magical run with moments that will live in Saukee lore.

“It was almost too good to be true,” Hamilton said. “It just happened where things kind of fell into place and we ran with it.”