It’s officially March, which means the high school basketball postseason is in full swing.
One of our local teams, the West Central Heat, were on the road at Peoria Heights last Monday for their regional quarterfinal matchup.
The Heat had a tall task in front of them, as the Patriots entered the matchup at 16-12. But West Central came out on a mission in this one, Trailing by just two points at halftime.
But things fell apart for the Heat in the second half, as their season ends with a 66-43 loss to the Patriots.
West Central finishes year three under Head Coach Doug Dennison at 10-19, marking the programs first ten-win season since 2019-2020.
Coach Dennison says reaching the tenth win was a special moment for him.
“I told my father before the season that we were going to get at least 10 wins. Dad challenged me and said, you know, that’s kind of a big thing. As the season went on, I would talk to dad and well, how many is that now? How many games you got left, and we were kind of adding things up.
As a coach, I’m just playing the next game, but Dad was keeping track of things. Unfortunately, him and mom have the best seat in the house watching from heaven. He didn’t get to see or I didn’t get to talk to him in person, but we got to that 10.
The kids kind of embraced that 10 number. We actually got to it the last LTC conference game on Saturday, and guys had left some trash out on the bench, which really kind of bummed me out. So, I’m still out in the gym picking up the trash.
I got in the locker room and couldn’t see nobody, and it was really quiet. I said, You guys are just a little too quiet for me. About then they all kind of jumped out from behind the lockers, and they had the water bottles, so Coach D got a little bit of a shower, and we had some fun, but they really took and stuck to that number and some good things happened.”
The excitement for next year is already building as the Heat will return almost their entire roster, losing just one senior in Jordan Kane. They will also add a strong group of current eighth graders who made a run to the state finals as seventh graders.
Things are looking up for West Central as they aim to make noise in the LTC next season.
For the full interview with Coach Dennison, listen below.
