New beginning at Morris

Updated: March 23, 2011 3:46PM

At a first glance at the Class 3A Peoria Sectional, Morris seems like an odd team in a classic bunch. But the Redskins certainly earned their way there with a pair of close victories in the Yorkville Regional.

Now they are not only in the sectional, they are there for a second straight season. The last time that happened was 80 years ago.

"We are, unfortunately, a program without a rich postseason basketball history," Morris coach Joe Blumberg said. "But we're not going to hide from that or ignore it. We are working awfully hard to change the basketball culture in Morris. We are still trying to learn how to win games and championships, and I think Friday night was a great example of how far our players have come the last few years."

The Redskins rallied to topple Streator 45-41 for the Yorkville Regional title. Junior Jake Olson led the way with 16 points and 12 rebounds and sophomore Danny Friend added 11 points and 9 boards as Morris rallied from a 31-21 deficit after three quarters to capture its seventh regional title since 1931.

Now Morris (21-8) will face Rock Island (25-3) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the new Renaissance Coliseum on the Bradley University campus. It is the second straight season the two teams will meet in the semifinals. The Rocks won 61-49 last year at Ottawa.

Last Friday, the Rocks defeated Sterling 67-49 for their third straight regional title and 21st in the past 30 years. Senior guard Chasson Randle, who had 23 in the regional title game and is the school's all-time scoring leader, is Rock Island's main man.

"We know we are the team that doesn't belong in Peoria, so to speak," Blumberg said. "We lack the size, athleticism and big-game experience that the other three (including Peoria Central and Peoria Notre Dame) have. But, our guys compete, play hard, and they have pride.

"We were able to hang with Rocky for three quarters last year. But we also know they are more experienced and arguably better than last year's squad. There's no pressure on us. We are the underdog, and we are comfortable in that role. But we also know that Rocky is too well coached to be looking past us and (Rock Island) Coach (Thom) Sigel will have his guys ready to play."

Kjeld Torkelson, a senior swingman, has been the leader for Morris much of the season. The three-sport standout surpassed the 1,0000 point mark in a 53-41 victory at Sycamore on Jan. 7. He is averaging 18.9 points and has 149 rebounds on the season.

Senior Josh DeGraaf averages 10.8 points and leads the team in rebounds with 207. Olson follows with 10.3 points per game and has 170 boards and Friend averages 8.3 points.

Morris started the season 3-5. But the Redskins have won 18-of-21 games, including defeating Yorkville for the first time after three previous losses this season, 51-47 in the regional semifinal. Most of the victories came on the road, as Morris only had four home games in the calender year of 2011.

"Winning games is fun and winning championships is special," Blumberg said. "Hopefully these guys are creating expectations for younger Morris basketball players. We expect to make deep playoff football runs in Morris. We want to get to a point where we expect to make deep playoff runs in the winter, too.

"But we're not too arrogant or blind to realize that the switch in conferences and the introduction of four IHSA classes has helped us. I don't know that we'd have back-to-back plaques on a two-class system, and frankly, I don't care. I'm awfully proud of our players and they deserve the ink and recognition they are getting."

With the school's second 20-win season in the past 48 years and back-to-back regional titles, Morris certainly is making a mark in basketball. That's something Blumberg, who is in his fourth season as head coach, plans to keep going.

"We make sure our guys understand that they graduate, but tradition doesn't," he said. "We want each group of players to leave the program in better shape than when they entered. I think this group has succeeded in accomplishing that program-wide goal."

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