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Well-traveled Ironmen got coveted final trip

scott richey, the news-gazette, champaign-urbana, ill.
·4 min read

Mar. 7—NORMAL — The halls at Normal Community High School were buzzing Tuesday morning.

Excitement from Monday night's super-sectional win against Downers Grove North spilled over into the next day. There was also a sense of anticipation about what a 2 p.m. Friday tip between the Ironmen (31-5) and Palatine (28-8) in the Class 4A state semifinals at State Farm Center might mean in terms of fan attendance.

A Monday night super-sectional at CEFCU Arena — a mere 14-minute drive from Normal Community to the Illinois State campus — made for a raucous, de-facto home-court environment for the Ironmen. The hope is the half day early dismissal administrators decided on for Friday will generate the same in Champaign.

"If we can get to the super-sectional game, it is such a big advantage for us to play at ISU," Normal Community coach Dave Witzig said. "It was an unbelievable home crowd. It was so fun, and the community came out and supported us. You show up at school (Tuesday), and everybody was talking about it and getting excited for Friday. I hope that everyone is able to travel Friday for that 2 o'clock game. It's not that far. It's the next town over. We travel there all the time for (Big 12) conference games."

Normal Community spent a lot of time on the road this season with a schedule befitting a team with lofty preseason expectations led by a veteran point guard in Braylon Roman and a Division I talent in Wright State-bound center Jaheem Webber.

The Ironmen played Class 3A powerhouse Thornton in the Southern Illinois Classic in Springfield in mid-December, losing 44-37 to the Morez Johnson Jr.-led Wildcats. Playing in the Highland Shootout in early January delivered a 57-43 victory against Kenwood.

Normal Community also went 2-2 in the Wheaton Warrenville South MLK Tournament in mid-January with wins against Rockford East and Glenbard North and losses to Waubonsie Valley and Downers Grove North. A 59-58 double-overtime victory against reigning Class 2A state champ and current Class 3A state qualifier DePaul College Prep was a late January highlight at the annual When Sides Collide Shootout in Lisle.

"Where Normal is at on the map geographically is an awesome place for Illinois high school basketball," Witzig said. "We go North. We go South. We always go West to the Quad Cities.

"The weekend that we played Waubonsie Valley and Downers Grove North was a good lesson weekend. We played these teams that were really prepared. They guarded us differently than other teams had guarded us to that point. We really had to rethink a few things."

Normal Community enters Friday's state semifinal having won eight straight games and 14 of its last 16. The Ironmen's last loss came Feb. 3 to Metamora in the Midwest Crossroads Shootout across town at Normal West.

"They kind of took it to us," Witzig said about last year's 3A state champion Redbirds. "They out-executed us. They were more disciplined, and they really showed some flaws that we needed to work on. The losses really did help us. It kept us humble. We came in the preseason ranked No. 1 on some polls and we got knocked down, which is fine."

Witzig has leaned on a seven-man rotation through the postseason, with Noah Cleveland, Dexter Niekamp and Bloomington transfer Niko Newsome joining Webber and Roman in the starting lineup. Rantoul transfer Conner Smith and Kobe Walker bring shooting and size, respectively, off the bench.

Size is something Normal Community has in abundance. Niekamp and Roman are the shortest starters at 6-foot-4. Newsome checks in at 6-6 in the backcourt, Cleveland is a 6-8 wing and Webber mans the middle at 6-10 with a 6-10 backup in Walker.

"I've been blessed with good big men my whole career here," said Witzig, who is in his 25th season as Normal Community's coach. "But this is obviously unusual to have three guys this tall. They can really change the game in the paint. It's really hard to score in there with those guys."

Despite all that size, which the rest of the 4A state tournament field can't match, the Ironmen aren't plodders. Roman and Newsome have the speed to push teams in transition. Cleveland has the guard skills to play on the wing and affect the game that way.

"The length and the speed and the quickness and the height, we're able to win different ways if we have to," Witzig said. "That's a big advantage. Some teams can only win one way, but I feel like we have some different ways we can win a ball game."