The arc hasn`t been painted yet, but the 3-point stripe is in place at Argo High School.
And the roll of tape that served as a temporary reminder Sunday that the 3-point shot is coming to high school basketball next season was never far from the minds of shooters from two states in the third annual Illinois-Wisconsin All-Star Games, played at the Summit school.
In the two games, Illinois` all-stars avenged 1986 losses to their northern neighbors. The small-school Class A stars, led by Glen Van Duyne`s 18 points, hammered a group of Class B and C Wisconsin stars, 117-88, while Illinois` AA stars led all the way en route to a 112-100 victory over Wisconsin`s Class A all-stars.
The rule change won`t help any of the 22 players, selected for this game after playing in their respective state coaches association-sponsored all-star games Saturday night, with their high school point totals. But the players enjoyed testing their long-range shooting before beginning college careers.
”This is going to be like college; it will open up the middle,” said Jeff Lauritzen, a Martinsville High School graduate. Lauritzen had three 3-pointers and 16 points for the Illinois Class A stars Sunday.
He averaged 30 points a game and had more than 2,000 career points for Martinsville coach Randy Bishop.
”I think this is really going to change the game around,” said Iowa-bound Rodell Davis, a 6-2 Thornton grad, who had two of the Illinois Class AA stars` six 3-point shots. ”When you get behind but stay within single digits, you can come back any time.
”If this had been around for my high school career, I think we would have gone a lot farther. We lost an awful lot of close games.”
All four squads played like they`d been together for maybe 20 minutes, but they earned some money for charity, and they had a good time, especially beyond the 3-point stripe.
Illinois` Class A stars hit 14 3-point shots. Wisconsin had 10. The big school shooters weren`t as deadly. Wisconsin had a 7-6 edge there. ”We tried to get everybody on the team to at least get a chance for a 3-pointer,” said St. Edward grad Ron Russell, who had two in Class A. ”This would have been great for me. My game was pretty much around the perimter. Boy, we had some guys who could shoot the three.”
Russell, a 6-2 perimeter shooter, is headed for Southeast Beatrice Junior College in Nebraska.
In the Class A game, nine players hit 3-point shots. Van Duyne, 6-6, out of Wilmington, and Lauritzen each had three for Illinois, while Tim Decorah
(18 points) hit three for Wisconsin. Van Duyne has signed with Western Illinois; Lauritzen is going to Indiana State.
In the AA game, only Davis and Rock Island`s Purdue-bound Bill Reid (17 points) hit from long range for Illinois. Bradley-bound Jay Schell (18 points) and Jay Peters (17) hit all of Wisconsin`s 3-pointers, but Trevor Powell, who has signed with Marquette, led all scorers with 22 points.
Illinois` Class AA coach, Rick Moss of Argo, gave his shooters the 3-point green light Sunday. He expects to issue the same signal to the Argonauts this winter.
”Boy, you`re going to see this at Argo; we`re going to use the thing,”
said Moss. ”With this, you can run your offense, but spread it out a little more. I told the players today that, if they`ve got the shot, take it.”
