KANKAKEE, Ill. — Perfection.
The Stewarson-Strasburg Comets eighth-grade boys basketball team completed a 29-0 season on Feb. 12 when it defeated the Morton Grove MCC Crescents, 56-44, in the state championship of the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) 8th Grade Class 2A State Final Tournament at Bishop McNamara Catholic High School in Kankakee.
“Words can’t describe how proud I am of these boys,” head coach Nikki Worman said. “I felt like we were a little more mentally-prepared this year than in years past.”
Worman made history with the win, becoming the first woman in IESA history to coach an eighth-grade boys basketball team to a state championship. She is just the third woman, seventh- and eighth-grade, to accomplish the feat, joining Calumet City Schrum’s Bryesha Blair and Springfield Grant’s Jasmin Woolfolk, who both coached seventh-grade teams to state titles.
“The boys have bought in since Day 1 and the parents have, too,” Worman said.
This past season was Worman’s third year coaching at Stewardson-Strasburg.
Her son, Garrett, is an eighth-grader and a starting guard on the team. She also has a son in the seventh grade.
“I feel like I’ve been around these boys since they were five years old,” Nikki said. “I knew that they were athletic and knew they could do this; it was just getting them to believe in themselves that they could beat anybody.”
The Comets opened the state tournament with a 51-28 win over East St. Louis Younge in the first round. They defeated Carthage, 34-30, in the semifinals.
Against Morton Grove MCC, Stewardson-Strasburg jumped out to a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Comets trailed by one point, 22-21, at halftime.
“In the second quarter, I felt like we stopped attacking,” Nikki said. “We wanted to pass more and that’s what they wanted us to do — make that long pass. So, at halftime, we made some adjustments and I told them, ‘You have to believe in yourself.'”
They did just that.
Stewardson-Strasburg led 35-33 at the end of the third after a 14-point quarter. They stretched their lead out to double-digits in the fourth, outscoring the Crescents 21-11.
Nikki knew Morton Grove MCC would pose a challenge because of their athleticism.
“After watching film, I knew they would press,” Nikki said. “They live and die by their press and they’re going to press the entire game. If we’re up by 20 or down by 20, they’re still going to press. I told the boys, ‘If we can break the press and take care of the ball, we will win the game.'”
Johnny Richter led the team with 21 points. He scored 41 points in the tournament.
Adam Pruemer had 16 points and totaled 39 in the tournament. Noah Friese had nine points and 22 in the tournament. Jacob Duncan had six points and 21 in the tournament. Garrett had four points and 10 in the tournament and Max McCormick didn’t score but had eight points in the tournament.
“I told the boys, ‘Everybody is so proud of you. This is something you’re going to talk about for years to come,'” Nikki said. “The younger boys are looking up to them and now everyone wants to play basketball.
“We even have kids making little basketball jerseys during recess.”
The Comets’ win was a much-needed boost for the community, which has suffered nothing but heartbreak over the last couple of years.
Nikki understands that.
“The last couple of years, Stew-Stras has been hit hard,” she said. “This was something positive for the community.”