‘You still get chills’: Orne keeps enjoyment of state tournament experience at forefront

NORMAL, Ill. — Eric Orne is still not numb to the feeling.

“You still get chills when you walk through the tunnel,” Orne said.

That tunnel leads you into CEFCU Arena, the home of the IHSA state basketball tournament, a destination Orne has reached nine times in 23 seasons as the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball coach.

“It’s a journey you start at your first practice,” Orne said. “You don’t know where it’s going.”

That journey has taken Orne to the final four in 39 percent of his seasons, the latest of which ended in a fourth-place finish when the Raiders lost 60-51 to Washington in the Class 3A third-place game on Friday. 

The Raiders defeated Mt. Vernon, the No. 4 team in the final Associated Press state poll, 55-54 in the Taylorville Super-Sectional to reach the state tournament. Preceding that victory was a 57-17 demolition of Mahomet-Seymour, who was receiving votes in the state poll, in the Chatham Glenwood Sectional championship game.

“These girls played their best basketball late in the year with some great pizzazz,” Orne said.

Lombard Montini dashed QND’s state title hopes with a 50-41 victory in the state semifinals. Even though the results on the court did not translate to a celebratory trophy presentation — it was a rather subdued one — Orne, who still affectionately refers to CEFCU Arena as “Redbird,” said the past week has been nothing short of spectacular.

“We did our usual tradition of sneaking onto Redbird,” Orne said. “We had a lot of fun. We want to make this an experience, and we did.” 

Messages from his former players when Orne sent them a picture of the team gathered at center court in an empty CEFCU Arena on Wednesday confirmed that he has done what he has set out to do the last 23 years — instill the Quincy Notre Dame basketball culture.

“They sent back, ‘Soak it up. Enjoy it. These are some of the best days of their lives,’” Orne said. “That means that I’ve carried on this tradition to them.”

This year’s team did not give Orne his fifth state title, but they gave him what matters most.

“We did all we could,” Orne said. “We played Lady Raider basketball and played our hearts out.”