Illineks continue their home-winning streak — and Al Renner sets Uni's career-scoring record

By Sergei Pourmal
Gargoyle co-editor-in-chief
Published Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2006, Gargoyle, sports

After Monday night's 85-62 victory over Normal Calvary Baptist, the varsity boys basketball team has improved its season record to 14-5 and extended its home-winning streak to 19 games.

But Uni's winning ways haven't been confined to Kenney Gym. On Friday, the boys traveled for more than an hour to face off against host Kankakee Grace Baptist. The game was barely a contest, as the Illineks won 80-43 with sophomore Mike Renner leading the squad with 25 points. Senior Al Renner dropped 15 points and has now upped the school's career points record to 1,246. He broke 1963 alum Doug Brown's record of 1,113 on Dec. 16 against Oakwood.

On Jan. 16, just hours after they arrived back from the senior trip, the varsity guys had to suit up and face Judah Christian on Judah's turf. Despite their obvious fatigue, the Illineks were clearly more than the Tribe could handle.

The game started with a first quarter full of ups and downs as neither team could gain more than a couple of points on the other. Around seven minutes into the game, Judah lost whatever steam it started with, and Uni managed to push ahead by 11 points.

Judah came back fighting in the third quarter, cutting Uni's double-digit lead to just three. Seniors Austin Berger and Ben Sims stepped up their game and pulled Uni out of its scoring drought. The Illineks went on to dominate the court in the last five minutes and finished the game 68-49, improving their East Central Illinois Conference record to 4-1. (Monday's win over Normal Calvary Baptist raised Uni's ECIC mark to 5-1.)

On Jan. 7, Uni defeated Donovan on the road in a heated 49-46 match. The Illineks were in full control for the first half, although several defensive mistakes gave Donovan a short lead in the third quarter. Like clockwork, Al Renner pulled through in the nick of time, dropping 17 of his 20 points in the second half, along with numerous steals and blocks. Even two running three-pointers in the last minutes couldn't tilt the score in Donovan's favor, and Uni clinched the win.

“If there's one thing the Donovan game showed, it was how to play smart basketball,” explained Berger. “Although we were sure to win, a few sloppy or careless mistakes in the end could have given them a slight lead.”

Donovan was also Uni's last major game for a while, as it's relatively easy sailing for the Illineks here on out. Most of their remaining opponents are members of the East Central Illinois Conference, which Uni has dominated since the moment of its inception in 2003.

The varsity even allowed the JV's A team to take its place in the Jan. 9 conference game at Decatur Lutheran, in order to make room in the schedule for more matches against stronger teams.

Although the JV's 60-33 loss broke Uni's record 19-game ECIC winning streak, the guys still look forward to winning the conference title.

In late December, Uni went 1-3 in the Monticello Holiday Tournament over winter break, suffering losses to Casey-Westfield, Monticello, and Ridgeview, and defeating Tri-Point.

“It's kind of unfortunate that first we play those strong teams, and then spend the two months before regionals going unchallenged in all of the ECIC games,” said Al Renner. “It doesn't provide us with the practice we need to play against the competitive teams we will meet in the IHSA tournament.”