Some memories fade faster than others. One that hasn’t faded at all is the one of the last time Zion-Benton and Schaumburg met in the Round of 16 in the IHSA boys basketball tournament.
The year was 2001, and iIt turned out to be a night of disappointment as Schaumburg spanked us 78-59 en route to winning the state championship.
That Zee-Bee team featured a young Andre White (he was just a sophomore) and freshman Julian Lott, along with juniors Jason George and Dave Rettig.
We all thought that though the Bees didn’t win on that night, that they surely would be back in the next year or two.
And, in fact they were … two years later, where they lost to Glenbrook North, which featured a young John Scheyer.
That was the last time Zion made it to the super-sectional round in the state playoffs … a statistic that is about to change.
The guys who are seniors at Zion were in 6th grade when the 2001 Supersectional happened. Are they really thinking about avenging a loss of guys who are now 21-25? Also, you made a terrible error in reporting that 2001 was the last time Zion went to the Supersectionals. In fact, 2 years later in 2003 Zion lost to Glenbrook North and Jon Scheyer in the Loyola Supersectional.
And they say that paybacks are a "BEE" ch! Let's hope so!! GO BEES!!! ALL THE WAY FOR COACH DK!!!
As an avid and life long ZB fan and Zion resident, I remember both games vividly. The first one against Schaumburg was actually closer than the final score. Zbs were running and gunning early and it seemed to be working. Then for some insane reason Kloth decided to slow the tempo and play 4 corners basketball. Still dont understand that move to this day.
The game against Scheyer, I have no clue why they didnt put a triangle or box on him. G North just kept running him off of screens and he kept burying 3s. The rest of the team was below average at best. They should have been throwing 2-3 guys on him all night long instead they played 1 on 1 man and he killed them for it.
I hope Kloth has learned from those mistakes, and I hope he has this team shooting 100 free throws a day. Their first loss this year vs Lake Forest and the almost throw away loss to Mundelein a week ago were results of horrendous FT shooting. (even though clinkscales iced the game late with good FTs, the game should have never been that close).