By Gargoyle sports staff


Posted Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007, The OG, boys basketball & sports

During a stop in play Friday night, Mike

Renner receives the ball he used to score

his 1,000th career point. (Gargoyle photo)

(click to enlarge)

NORMAL — Junior Mike Renner on Friday became only the third player in Uni boys basketball history to break the 1,000-point barrier in career scoring.

Renner, a 6-foot forward who also plays guard, entered Friday night's conference game against host Normal Calvary Baptist with 988 points to his credit. Late in the second quarter, he was up to 998.

With 2:24 left before halftime, Renner hit a 3-pointer to join brother Al Renner, a 2006 graduate who scored a career boys record 1,372 points, and 1963 alum Doug Brown (1,113) as Uni's only male 1,000-point scorers.

Shortly afterward, when action stopped, the Normal Calvary public-address announcer told the crowd of Renner's achievement. To the applause of the mainly Crusader faithful, Renner received the ball as a memento while teammates and opponents alike congratulated him.

“It's kind of like putting me in a club,” Renner said after the game. “There are only two others there.”

The shot that gave him the keys to the club would be Renner's final basket of the game as he finished with a team-high 13 points, all in the first half. In fact, Renner wound up fouling out in the second half, but Uni went on to defeat Normal Calvary 58-55.

Renner is on pace to eclipse his brother's career record. Al scored his 1,000th point during the first game of his senior year, on a layup in the second half against Anna-Jonesboro, while Mike achieved his milestone with three regular-season games to spare in his junior season.

Four Uni girls have reached 1,000 points: Sophia Neely, 1982-86 (her career total of 1,967 points is the overall school record, male or female); Amanda Smeltzer, 1993-97; Lis Pollock, 1995-99; and Molly Smith, 2001-05.

Renner's hot hand — he made three treys in all — put Uni on top 32-25 at halftime. Although the Crusaders drew within 2 points twice in the final minute of the game, they failed to force overtime when they missed on a last-second 3-point attempt.

The win returns Uni to the .500 mark for the first time since Dec. 12, when the team was 4-4. The Illineks are now 12-12 overall and 8-1 atop the East Central Illinois Conference. Normal Calvary is 10-14, 4-5. Uni is three games away from winning its third straight ECIC title.

The victory also provides a measure of revenge against the Crusaders, who were the first ECIC opponent to defeat the Uni varsity since February 2004. (Uni lost a conference game last year, but that was when the JV substituted for the varsity against Decatur Lutheran's top squad.) Normal Calvary beat Uni 51-36 at Kenney Gym on Jan. 9.

What was the difference between the two games?

“We actually caught and passed the ball this time,” head coach Joel Beesley said. “In the first game we were not ready to play. Offensively and defensively they took it to us. Tonight we had the will to come out and win. They're a good team.”

Renner, the Illineks' leading scorer and 17th in the area, entered the contest averaging 17.2 points per game. Each year Renner's average has climbed: 6.4 as a freshman, then 15.3 as a sophomore.

“He's done very well this year,” Beesley said. “It's a great accomplishment for him to do it [reach 1,000] so early. It's a testament to his teammates as well.”

Besides Renner, two other Uni players reached double digits in scoring against Normal Calvary: juniors Austin Rundus (12) and Isaac Radnitzer (11). The Crusaders' Grant Touma led all scorers with 19 points.

Radnitzer, a 6-1 forward who is the team's leading rebounder (now averaging 5.78 per game), paced the Illineks with 9 boards, followed by Renner with 4. Three other Illineks grabbed 3 rebounds apiece: senior Nick Pratt and juniors Chumar Williams and Frankie McFarland. Renner also led the team in assists with 6, followed by Williams with 4. Williams recorded 3 steals, and Renner and Radnitzer added 2 each.

Also on Friday, the lllineks found out where they are seeded in their IHSA Class A postseason sectional. Uni is one of 25 teams assigned to the Tolono Unity sectional, which in turn has been divided into two subsectionals.

The Illineks are seeded No. 8 in the 12-team subsectional A. The seeding is a bit surprising because Judah Christian, a team Uni defeated decisively almost two weeks ago, is seeded No. 5 in the same subsectional. Cissna Park is the No . 1 seed in A, while St. Joseph-Ogden is the top seed in B.

Pairings for first-round regional matches have yet to be announced. Regionals — the first week of postseason action — will take place from Feb. 19 to 23. This year 391 schools will compete for the Class A title.

The Illineks will travel to conference opponent DeLand-Weldon Tuesday for their next game.

ILLINEK NOTES: In the latest edition of The News-Gazette's prep basketball statistics, Radnitzer ranks 10th in the area in field goal percentage. Going into Friday's game, he had made 71 of his 114 attempts for a 62.3 percent shooting mark. Renner ranks 10th in steals with a 2.6 per game average (58 total). Williams ranks 14th in assists, averaging 4.5 per game (103 total).

VARSITY RECORD: 12-12 overall, 8-1 East Central Illinois Conference
(Games at Kenney Gym are in bold)

Season Preview: A new era begins

Nov. 20: Buckley Christ Lutheran (Uni/Atwood-Hammond Central Illinois Turkey Tourney), W 50-44
— leading scorer: Michael Belmont, 12 pts
— story: Uni wins season opener over Buckley Christ Lutheran

Nov. 21: Mahomet-Seymour JV (vs. Uni varsity) (Uni/Atwood-Hammond Central Illinois Turkey Tourney), W 58-53
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 18 pts
— story: Illineks defeat Mahomet-Seymour JV in Turkey Tourney

Nov. 24: Bement (Uni/Atwood-Hammond Central Illinois Turkey Tourney), L 54-46 (OT)
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 13 pts
— story: Illineks fall in overtime

Nov. 25: Martinsville (Uni/Atwood-Hammond Central Illinois Turkey Tourney, at A-H), L 51-48
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 24 pts
— story: Illineks go down to the wire again

Dec. 1: Shiloh, W 55-46
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 29 pts
— story: Illineks get back on winning track, defeat Shiloh

Dec. 5: at St. Thomas More, L 54-32
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 7 pts
— story: Illineks suffer tough road loss to crosstown rival

Dec. 9: Fisher, L 53-39
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 21 pts
— story: Renner scores 21 but Uni falls to Fisher

Dec. 12: at Buckley Christ Lutheran, W 79-51 *
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 18 pts
— story: Uni wins conference opener against Buckley Christ Lutheran

Dec. 15: Oakwood, L 74-61
— leading scorer: Michael Belmont, 19 pts
— story: Oakwood denies Uni comeback bid

Dec. 27: Shiloh (Hayden's Athletic Classic at Heritage H.S.), L 65-61
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 17 pts
— story: Uni finishes eighth out of 12 teams in holiday tourney

Dec. 27: Salt Fork (Hayden's Athletic Classic at Heritage H.S.), L 53-32
— leading scorer: Dan Lilly, 10 pts
— story: Uni finishes eighth out of 12 teams in holiday tourney

Dec. 28: Heritage (Hayden's Athletic Classic at Heritage H.S.), L 62-48
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 15 pts
— story: Uni finishes eighth out of 12 teams in holiday tourney

Dec. 28: Atwood-Hammond (Hayden's Athletic Classic at Heritage H.S.), W 62-51
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 24 pts
— story: Uni finishes eighth out of 12 teams in holiday tourney

Dec. 29: Oakwood (Hayden's Athletic Classic at Heritage H.S.), L 52-50
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 17 pts
— story: Uni finishes eighth out of 12 teams in holiday tourney

Jan. 5: at Decatur Christian (DC's “JV,” as explained in article linked below), W 66-52 *
— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 15 pts
— story: Illineks remain unbeaten in conference play

Jan. 9: Normal Calvary Baptist, L 51-36 *

— leading scorer: Michael Belmont, 11 pts

— story: Normal Calvary hands Uni first conference loss of season

Jan. 12: DeLand-Weldon, W 79-43 *

— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 16 pts

— story: Uni rebounds from ECIC loss to win by 36

Jan. 16: at Paxton-Buckley-Loda, L 69-60 (OT)

— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 21 pts

— story: Illineks lose a heartbreaker in overtime

Jan. 18: at Decatur Lutheran School Association, W 62-56 *

— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 21 pts

— story: Uni defeats Decatur Lutheran, takes control of second place

Jan. 23: at Judah Christian, W 65-52 *

— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 24 pts

— story: Illineks roll against Judah in showdown for conference lead

Jan. 26: Buckley Christ Lutheran, W 62-55 *

— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 19 pts

— story: Uni defeats BCL, keeps control of conference lead

Jan. 27: at Lexington, L 68-37

— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 10 pts

— story: Illineks stumble in Lexington

Jan. 30: Decatur Christian, W 59-38 *

— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 19 pts

— story: Illineks get their groove back

Feb. 2: at Normal Calvary Baptist, W 58-55 *

— leading scorer: Mike Renner, 13 pts

— story: see above

Remaining games: see schedule

*East Central Illinois Conference game