MOLINE QUENCHES ITS 1ST
Adding 6-10 Freeman puts Maroons over hump in title quest
CHAMPAIGN — Every summer, all over the state, major transfers change the high school basketball hopes and expectations of schools and towns.
It happened in Joliet, when Jeremy Fears Jr. transferred back home to Joliet West. In Chicago, Kenwood and Simeon added future college basketball players.
In Moline, the arrival of 6-10 Iowa recruit Owen Freeman changed everything.
Freeman left Bradley-Bourbonnais and joined fellow Iowa recruit Brock Harding, his club basketball teammate, in Moline.
From then on, the state title was the goal.
The Maroons have a tortured history in the state tournament. Moline is a proud basketball town, but it has never won a title and had not appeared in a state championship game since 1951.
Until Saturday.
The Maroons shook off the disappointment of fourth-place finishes in 1934, 1935, 1945, a third-place finish in 1940 and that runner-up in 1951.
Harding started hot and stayed aggressive, and Moline led most of the way in a 59-42 victory against Benet in the Class 4A state championship at State Farm Center.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” Harding said. “People told me teams not from Chicago or the ’burbs don’t win it. We came here and shut them all up.”
Harding led the Maroons (35-3) with 28 points. Freeman had six points and nine rebounds, and Jasper Ogburn added eight points.
“It’s so special to bring the championship back to a town like Moline,” Freeman said. “The community has been great. I can’t wait to celebrate.”
Benet basically played without leading scorer and rebounder Brady Kunka, who injured his ankle early in Friday’s semifinal win against New Trier. He checked in briefly late in the game with the Redwings trailing by 20.
“[Harding] is an unbelievable player, and he has the ability to control the game,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “They controlled it more than it got away from us. My hat is off to them, it was a wellexecuted game plan.”
Brayden Fagbemi and Andy Nash each scored 12 points for Benet (35-2) and Nik Abusara added 10 points and five rebounds. The Redwings shot 3-for-12 from threepoint range and 16-for-42 overall.
Benet has never won a state title. This is its third loss in the 4A championship in the last decade, coming after second-place finishes in 2014 and 2016.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these guys,” Heidkamp said. “They gave us an unbelievable season. I couldn’t be prouder of my team and what they did for the school and the community.”