Sunday Slam: Prospect Grad Thomas Worked Overtime as Coach in Epic Maine Battle
Looking at Some Local Products in Spring Training; Hersey's Roberts and Mundelein's Enright Earn Freshman Basketball Honors
Playing time is one of the biggest challenges coaches face.
Dan Thomas had to deal with the issue in a unique situation he could have never envisioned in his second year as a head basketball coach. He was in the midst of a game on Jan. 31 where players didn’t want to come out.
But Thomas, an all-Mid-Suburban League and Daily Herald All-Area selection in 2014 at Prospect, understood this wasn’t the time or place to debate the issue or his typical substitution patterns. Not with his team from Fryeburg Academy in Maine locked up in an epic eight-overtime battle with Greely High School in Cumberland, Maine.
“I had players say, ‘Coach, if you take me out, it’s over for us. I’ll never talk to you again,’” Thomas said with a laugh.
Thomas’ team lost the 64-minute marathon, or the equivalent of two full high school games, in heartbreaking fashion 117-115 when Greely’s Kade Ippolito scored on a layup with 0.6 seconds left in the final overtime. And yes, Thomas did believe to an extent all his team needed was some more time since Greely had some key players foul out of the game.
“I said to the guys as a joke that if we can get to one more overtime I like our chances,” Thomas said. “I really liked our chances but they drew up a nice last play and got the layup to go.”
While Thomas played some of his basketball after Prospect in the crazy, high-scoring 3-point style at Grinnell College in Iowa, he never experienced a game quite like what is believed to be the longest game in Maine history. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) record book lists the longest game nationally as 13 overtimes in 1964 in North Carolina when Boone Trail beat Angier 56-54.
The longest game according to IHSA records is 9 overtimes with Dwight beating Reddick 76-72 in 1964. Maine West lost to North Chicago in one of five to go 8 overtimes, also 76-72, in the 1981 Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic championship game.
Thomas said he couldn’t remember being involved a game that went past 3 overtimes. He joked there might have been one in middle school but no one could score.
“It was the complete opposite in this game,” Thomas said.
Maine does not have a shot clock but Thomas said it was never more than a one-possession game throughout all the overtimes so neither team could try to stall. Two of his best players, first-team all-conference point guard Gunnar Saunders (40 points) and Lorenzo Catana Vallemani (29 points, 21 rebounds), played more than 60 minutes and others played 40-50 minutes. Tyler Pettingill had 39 points for Greely and twice hit 3s to force additional overtimes, including a shot Thomas called “really ridiculous” from in front of his team’s bench to tie it at 100 after the fifth extra session.
And one of the crazier parts was Fryeburg trailed most of the game. Thomas used a 1-2-2 press to force turnovers and make up a 10-point deficit in the final two minutes and force overtime on a steal and layup with 15 seconds left in regulation.
“Guys kept fighting and fighting to get us to overtime,” Thomas said. “Around the fourth or fifth overtime we started to realize something interesting is happening.”
So how did Thomas end up going from Prospect to Fryeburg, a small town of less than 4,000 in southern Maine on the New Hampshire border, to become part of such a happening?
During his first year at Grinnell he received an email from Camp Skylemar in Naples, Maine, about 30 miles east of Fryeburg, to be a camp counselor and coach basketball. Thomas said it’s a seven-week summer camp in the woods for boys ages 7-15 and camp directors describe it as not a sports camp but a camp with sports.
“I had never been to Maine so thought I’d head up there and I absolutely fell in love with the people there and the place itself,” said Thomas, who has worked at the camp for eight summers. “We do sports during the day but it’s all with an emphasis on learning how to become a good person and put others first. There were a lot of messages I wish I had gotten as a young kid and I’m glad I can pass those on.”
Thomas continued to work at Camp Skylemar as he transferred from Grinnell to North Central College in Naperville, where he graduated, and then as he got his Masters’ and worked as a graduate assistant coach at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Florida. He also spent one year living full-time at the campsite and did maintenance work to prepare for the summer camp session.
“Camp Skylemar is really where I did fall in love with coaching,” Thomas said. “Watching someone improve, seeing a kid who can’t do something he really wants to do, helping him and then he gets a big smile on his face, that’s one of the best feelings in the world. I definitely didn’t want to lose that feeling.”
Thomas was looking for coaching jobs and getting ready to return to start his search in the Chicago area. Camp Skylemar assistant director George Simeon, who Thomas called one of the nicest guys he knows, would take 10 minutes a day to look for possible job openings for Thomas and found one in Fryeburg.
“I was getting ready to go back to Chicago in a week,” Thomas said, “but I said, ‘I could live in Maine full-time if I can lead young men in this game like I always wanted.’”
And Thomas got the job coaching basketball and teaching math at the private boarding school of around 600 students. It was one of the first schools built in Maine in 1792 and it was rebuilt in its present location in 1853.
Thomas said the basketball program wasn’t in need of a total overhaul but implementing a more up-tempo style was a big change. He drew upon the lessons he learned from coaches like John Camardella and Brad Rathe at Prospect, Dave Arseneault at Grinnell, Todd Raridon at North Central and D.P. Harris at St. Thomas. Camardella, who starred at Hersey and was Prospect’s winningest head coach from 2007-20, was particularly influential.
“He is still one of my mentors to this day,” Thomas said. “With the way he approached the game and his calm demeanor, it was bigger than basketball lessons he taught us throughout a season. That’s the kind of program I’m trying to develop here.”
He has stayed in touch with Rathe, who replaced Camardella as head coach, and followed this season’s Sweet 16 run that ended with Friday’s sectional final loss to Libertyville. Thomas coached the eighth-grade feeder team that included sophomore Ben Schneider, who hit the buzzer-beating 19-footer to give Prospect a 1-point sectional semifinal win over Stevenson.
And the lessons Thomas learned helped him deal with the other side of a dramatic shot like the one that ended the eight-overtime game.
“Immediately afterward, I talked to our guys and they were crushed, but I told them this was more than a basketball game because of how long it was,” Thomas said. “I tried to remind them that in the big picture we lost a basketball game. Going in we had a 6-game winning streak and I loved the way we played that night.”
Thomas’ first Fryeburg team overcame a 1-5 start to win a couple of playoff games, advance further than any team at the school since the mid-1980s and finish 11-10. This year’s team went 9-10 and lost its first postseason game but the 11 players he has returning for next year include marathon stars Saunders and Catana Vallemani.
“I’m not too thrilled about it (.500 record), but a friend said usually when a new coach takes over you usually have some losing seasons immediately,” Thomas said. “Next year is our biggest group coming back so that’s a really good feeling. Expectations are definitely high for next year.”
Hope Springs Eternal for Some Area Baseball Products
Former Fremd and Bradley star Mike Tauchman is off to a strong start in spring training in his effort to make the Cubs as a non-roster invitee. The left-handed hitting outfielder is 6-for-10 with 2 doubles and 2 stolen bases and the five-year big leaguer with Colorado, the New York Yankees and San Francisco is trying to land a spot on the opening day roster with Seiya Suzuki out with an oblique injury.
The only appearance so far by former Barrington star pitcher Ryan Loutos as a Cardinals’ non-roster invitee was perfect. Loutos pitched 1 inning against the Mets on Feb. 27 and retired all three hitters he faced with 1 strikeout on 12 pitches. Two years ago at this time he was pitching at Division III Washington University in St. Louis and in his first full season of pro ball in 2022 made the jump from Class A to AAA.
Elliot Soto, a 2007 Dundee-Crown graduate, is 3-for-10 with a grand slam as a non-roster invitee with the Minnesota Twins. The 33-year-old infielder went 2-for-6 in 3 games with the LA Angels in 2020 and started his pro career with the Cubs as a 15th-round draft pick out of Creighton in 2010. Soto has also been in the Marlins, Rockies and Dodgers organizations and was drafted by the Giants after his senior year at D-C.
Quinn Priester, the Pirates’ first-round draft pick and 18th overall in 2019 out of Cary-Grove, is in camp as a non-roster invitee. The hard-throwing right-hander has pitched 1 inning in his only appearance.
Lefty pitcher Eric Stout from St. Francis in Wheaton has made 3 appearances as a Cubs non-roster invitee with a 3.00 ERA and 4 strikeouts in 3 innings. Stout got into 2 games with the Cubs and 18 with the Pirates last season and also made 3 appearances for the Royals in 2018.
Brock Stewart is also in Twins camp as a non-roster invitee and is 0-1 with a 12.00 ERA in 3 appearances. The Normal native was 6-3 with a save and 6.05 ERA in 46 games with the Dodgers and Blue Jays from 2016-19 and is the son of former Elk Grove football star and Illinois State baseball coach Jeff Stewart.
Roberts Earns Patriot League Rookie of the Year Honor
Ethan Roberts made a big impression in his first year with Army basketball. The Daily Herald All-Area standout from Hersey was named the 2022-23 Patriot League Rookie of the Year as one of five players on the league’s All-Rookie Team. He is the fourth player in Army history and first since 2013 to win top rookie honors from the Patriot League.
The 6-foot-5 Roberts started 29 of 31 regular-season games and averaged 12.7 points a game on 49 percent shooting from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range (57-for-135). He averaged 4.4 rebounds a game and scored a season-high 32 points (shooting 6-for-8 on 3s) against Bucknell on Feb. 4.
Roberts scored 9 points as Army (17-15) beat Boston University 71-69 in overtime in a Patriot League tournament quarterfinal. The Black Knights travel to top-seeded Colgate for a 1 p.m. Sunday semifinal on CBS Sports Network.
Conor Enright Hustles Way Onto MVC All-Freshman Team
Redshirt freshman Conor Enright’s feisty and fearless play made an impact not only for Drake but in the Missouri Valley Conference. The 6-foot guard who starred at Mundelein made the MVC All-Freshman Team for the spark he gives the Bulldogs off the bench as they play in the Arch Madness title game at 1 p.m. Sunday against Bradley on CBS.
Enright has averaged 4.2 points and 2.2 rebounds, hit 19 3-pointers and has 53 assists to 28 turnovers for the 26-7 Bulldogs. He also was an honorable mention MVC Scholar-Athlete who holds a 3.78 grade point average in marketing.
Enright had to leave Friday’s MVC quarterfinal after becoming dizzy and lightheaded. He was examined and cleared by multiple doctors and played 22 minutes Saturday in Drake’s semifinal win over Southern Illinois.
Shinhoster Driving Toward a Division III Wrestling Repeat
Wisconsin-Whitewater senior Jaritt Shinhoster wasted no time as he tuned up for his defense of his 184-pound NCAA Division III national wrestling title. The Barrington graduate needed just 6:11 to register four falls in the NCAA Upper Midwest Regional. He improved to 29-2 with 15 pins for the season.
Shinhoster opened with a pin in 59 seconds and beat Augsburg’s Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann, ranked fourth in the country, in the championship match in 3:26 to earn Outstanding Wrestler of the regional honors. The NCAA DIvision III championships are March 10-11 in Roanoke, Va.
Triton College Basketball Goes for Region IV Title
The Triton College men’s basketball team earned the top seed for NJCAA Region IV Division I tournament play and won its semifinal 87-80 over Sauk Valley on Saturday. The Trojans (22-6), who finished No. 14 in the final NJCAA Division I national poll, got 23 points from freshman point guard Devon Barnes, 16 points and 5 assists from 6-4 sophomore Brandon Muntu, 13 points and 8 assists from redshirt freshman Kimahri Wilson and 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists from 6-4 Ethan Pickett.
Triton (22-6) plays for the championship at 7:30 p.m. Monday in Freeport against second-seed host Highland (23-9). The winner will host the winner of Region XVI (Missouri) on March 11 for the Midwest District title and the automatic bid to the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.