Beecher guard Adyn McGinley and fellow senior starters Ethan Rydberg, Jack Hayhurst and Zack Johnson have been playing basketball for nearly as long as they can remember.
“We’ve been together since kindergarten,” McGinley said. “Actually, Ethan Rydberg came in I think third or fourth grade, so we call him the new guy. It’s pretty fun. Those are my best friends, too.
“We have classes together — we go to each other’s houses for holidays.”
It’s a common theme in many small towns, although what that quartet accomplished this season was definitely uncommon.
“There’s nothing like small school basketball,” McGinley said. “There’s nobody in the world I’d rather do this with.”
And this was something special. Beecher was the last remaining unbeaten team in the state until Phillips beat the Bobcats 73-58 in Monday night’s Class 2A Joliet Central Supersectional.
The Bobcats won their first 34 games this season and made program history in the process by earning their first sectional championship.
With the 6-foot McGinley leading the way as a four-year starter, Beecher made a triumphant run, taking a program that had won just one regional title to unprecedented heights.
Despite the loss, there were no long faces among Beecher’s players or their devout fans.
“I grew up with small town basketball, and the way that a community can rally around a bunch of high school kids who are laying it on the line every night for their teammates and their best friends and their classmates and their town,” Beecher coach Tyler Shireman said. “These guys were the perfect embodiment of small school basketball and small school sports, and they represented their teammates and their school well.
“I’m just so proud they got to experience the run they had this year. We can live with this loss because we’re a very good team.”
The Bobcats (34-1) proved that by taking a 15-9 lead on a baseline jumper by McGinley with only 58 seconds left in the first quarter.
Phillips (23-9), which plays against highly ranked Class 3A and 4A programs in the Chicago Public League, led by as many as five points in the second quarter before Beecher rallied to go up 31-30 on two free throws by junior guard Orlin Nesbitt.
Phillips pulled ahead 32-31 at halftime, but McGinley was still confident about Beecher’s chances.
“We’re right there,” McGinley said. “Sixteen more minutes. They’re only up one.
“We’ve been there before, just had to keep our heads into it.”
McGinley then did all he could to keep the Bobcats in it. He shot 11 of 15 from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers. He ended up leading all players with 26 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.
Johnson added 14 points and two steals, while Nesbitt had 11 points, eight rebounds and two assists.
Lawrence Horton scored 25 points, however, and Phoenix Childs followed with 24 as Phillips pulled away by shooting 16 of 29 in the second half.
Still, the Bobcats never quit, and that was the key to their success this season.
“We’re playing for each other,” McGinley said. “We don’t want to lose. If there’s a loose ball, we’ll get on it and another guy will help them up.
“It’s all one big family here, so we don’t want to go out not fighting.”
There was no better fighter for Beecher than McGinley, who is mulling offers from several small colleges.
“He’s just all over the place,” Shireman said. “He got some buckets when we needed them. He played his butt off and we’re going to miss him. He’s done a lot of this program.
“We’re going to feel some of his effects for years to come.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
