Hononegah's season ends at the hands of DeKalb

Machesney Park, IL - Harlem High School (Arthur W Anderson Athletic Facility)

Hononegah knew their challenge on Friday night in the regional boys basketball final against DeKalb on February 28, 2025. The Indians got off to a slow start and played from behind all game long. 

The first quarter started with DeKalb jumping out to a 13-2 lead behind 7-points and 5-rebounds from junior forward Davon Grant. Grant is a 3-star wide receiver who has already committed to the University of Illinois. When the buzzer went off at the end of the first quarter, Hononegah was behind by a 15-6 deficit. Hononegah head coach Tom Schmidt and his assistants did some quick work on changes, knowing they would struggle against the uber-electric athlete in Grant. They put in their junior athlete, Dante’ Bell, who was able to help keep Grant off the boards and draw a couple of fouls on Grant. This caused Grant to sit the entire 2nd quarter. Like on any good team, someone else needed to step up. Well, junior Marquise Bolden stepped up big time. He seemed to hit a Curry fire session, going 3-4 from deep and getting 9 points in the 2nd quarter in a 3-minute stretch. He ended the first half with 12 total points. 

In the 2nd quarter, the Indians offense got going as they matched the 13 points put up by Dekalb. A late-quarter burst of 6 out of 8 points in the game gave a slight momentum shift to Hononegah. The halftime score was 28-19. 

The Indians came out of the locker room with energy and effort; you could tell they understood the task: play hard, move on, and make plays. DeKalb could withstand the effort onslaught of the Hononegah Indians by getting 5-points in the quarter from 2nd quarter star Marquise Bolden. At the end of the 3rd, it was 40-29 DeKalb. 

Sitting behind the bench during the game, I wondered what the players would say. I can tell you to a man they were positive and talked about the fact they have 8 minutes to do this—no finger-pointing and no yelling at each other.

The 4th and final quarter went by fast and almost, at times, seemed to slow down. The first 4-minutes went by like a Landon Samuelson 4:30 mile. The final 4-minutes were littered with free throws and timeouts. Every time Hononegah got a stop, DeKalb came up with a play. No matter if it was Bolden, Grant, or DeKalb’s all-time leading scorer Sean Reynolds, who finished with just 6-points (his main job Friday night was chasing around Hononegah senior Braydeon Olson). Final from Harlem in the 4A IHSA March Madness regional final 57-45 DeKalb. Hononegah finishes 21-11 on the season with a 4th place finish in the NIC 10 and a regional victory over Rockford Auburn.

I was able to catch up with Hononegah head coach Tom Schmidt after the game, and I asked what he told the team in the locker room. He said, “I just told them that I appreciated everything that they've done all year. You know, this team came to practice every day with a smile, ready to work hard and get better. They have been a lot of fun to be around every day. You know, I think that this is especially true for seniors, not just seniors. I mean, this whole team, but the seniors set the tone for what's expected of them as a team. Their leadership, their positive attitude, and just how much they care for each other and care about the team itself was huge for us, and hopefully, that's something that the younger players in the program saw the way that this team approached basketball and the type of success that they can have if they do that and if it's something that they aspire to do."

As always, when a game season ends, emotions are raw and honest. Just watch the end of the last Super Bowl. Losing and things ending hurts, but as the great sportswriter Grantland Rice wrote in one of his many poems,

Beyond the winning and the goal,
Beyond the glory and the fame,
He feels the flame within his soul,
Born of the spirit of the game,
And where the barriers may wait,
Built up by the opposing Gods,
He finds a thrill in bucking fate
And riding down the endless odds.

Where others wither in the fire
Or fall below some raw mishap,
Where others lag behind or tire
And break beneath the handicap,
He finds a new and deeper thrill
To take him on the uphill spin,
Because the test is greater still,
And something he can revel in.

Thank you to the Hononegah boys basketball program for all the help you provided to me.