The Metamora High School boys basketball team will make school history this weekend with its first appearance in the Illinois High School Association state finals.
With a win over Wheaton St. Francis in Monday’s Ottawa Super-Sectional, the Redbirds earned a spot in Friday’s 11:30 a.m. IHSA Class 3A semifinal at State Farm Center in Champaign.
“It's great for our team and our coaches and program, and especially for our community,” Metamora coach Danny Grieves said Tuesday during an IHSA conference call. “I've had a tremendous amount of students come up and say, ‘Coach, you know, it's been a rough year and a half, and it's so nice to have something just so positive where we can just let our hair down and have fun.’”
The Redbirds will bring a 29-6 overall record and a 17-game winning streak into their matchup with top-ranked perennial powerhouse Chicago Simeon (28-5). Grieves said his team has endured adversity from injuries and illness and is hitting its stride at the right time.
“The kids have really done a great job of bringing themselves together with some team chemistry, playing unselfish, moving the ball, and they're playing really good team basketball,” he said. “I tell them, ‘offense sells tickets and defense wins championships,’ and our defense has really stepped up here in the last seven games, for sure.”
Metamora is led by team captain Zack Schroeder and top scorer Tyson Swanson, who are joined in the starting lineup by juniors Ethan Kizer and Drew Tucker. Grieves listed Jake Nelan, Matthew Zobrist and Tyler Mason as other key contributors.
“It's kind of nice to have five, six, seven guys who can all shoot the three and make passes and be able to handle the ball. So, I like to think we go pretty deep at times,” said Grieves.
A Peoria native, Grieves served as head coach at Notre Dame High School in the 1990s before moving on to Louisiana and Mississippi, where he won a state championship. Now he’s building a winning tradition at Metamora.
“We kind of changed the culture a little bit. They tell me it used to be a football school, but our basketball program’s had 20 wins a year in the 11 years that I've been here,” said Grieves. “So it's been really nice to see the program move up to where it's at right now.”
This year's state finals mark the first tournament in Champaign following Peoria's 25-year run hosting the event at Carver Arena. The IHSA canceled the last two state tournaments amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It's always been a dream come true to go downstate and to Champaign, and playing in that big house,” Grieves said of the University of Illinois’ home stadium. “So, it's kind of cool in one aspect that we're going down there. I'm a Peoria guy and I hated to see it leave, but when you go to Champaign, you know you've made it to the big time. Our kids are ready to go down there and show people what they can do.”
Simeon is seeking its eighth state championship, and its seventh under head coach Robert Smith, with the most recent coming in 2013.
“Simeon is great, with their tradition and where they've been, what they've done, and once again here they are,” said Grieves. “But I always said, ‘if you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.’”
The winner of the Metamora-Simeon semifinal will play either Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (33-3) or Chicago St. Ignatius (25-12) in Saturday's 5:30 p.m. championship game.
“We plan ahead, but never look ahead. As matter of fact, we're not even looking to Friday; we're looking to this afternoon’s practice,” said Grieves. “I've always tried to have our kids stay in the moment, but once you get down there, those moments are big and genuine and memories they'll have forever.”
But that doesn’t mean the Redbirds will be satisfied merely by reaching the state finals.
“We're not just OK to be here,” said Grieves. “We're in it to win it.”
