Part I
If moving through life, you find yourself lost, go back to the last place you knew who your were, and start from there. Bernice Johnson Reagon.
The leaves are piled up on the curb of Main Street and the snow is on its way. The day is unseasonable warm, but the wind is from the north and the calendar on the bathroom wall at the downtown cafe is on its last page and the Christmas decorations at the Dollar General are flying off the shelf. The conversation topic at the Harmony Café and Coffee Shop on U.S. Highway 24 (Main Street) and at the Knights of Columbus Hall and around the corner at the Dugout Pub has turned to high school basketball - the pride of this small Northeast Missouri town of Monroe City, located 100 miles northeast of the metropolitan St. Louis area. Once a Panther, always a Panther.
Go ahead and roll your eyes, but you must admire a scenario that allows a Mayberryesque town like this--a town so small that there's no room for a speed trap--to fancy itself a basketball hotbed. Drive down Main Street last March, when state tournament fever raged unabated, and you would have seen lampposts wrapped in school colors (Black and Gold) and shop windows covered with solicited graffiti. In this community everybody from the smallest child to the snuff chewing Grandmother in the John Deere hat loves the Panthers.
It is a Norman Rockwell burg cut from endless fields of corn and soybeans, a wholesome place to raise a family. Nothing here changes much and longtimers will tell you that is ok, that it gives the town a content equilibrium.
This was at one time a company town, dominated by two die casting factories, both non-union. Both are still here but shells of what they were in “better times.” The people of Monroe City have seen the whole wide spectrum of the manufacturing economy—boom times when a man could work double eight hour shifts seven days a week until his strength wained and his body wore out, and times when the economy downturned and it was a struggle to find the most menial of honest work. The latest downturn has hung on for a while and shows no sign of retreating. Times are hard here. Those fortunate enough to have family farmland in their legacy are doing ok. The downtown is dominated by the well-kept and tidy grain silo of the Farmers Elevator & Exchange Company. Towering over tiny wood-frame houses, it dominates this hardscrabble winter landscape of bare trees and vacant lots.
If you grew up in a small town crazy about high school basketball, like Monroe City, count yourself fortunate. How many yards did you mow to buy your first pair of Chuck Talylors? The gymnasium is a sanctuary. When within, for a child, everything is good and right and perfectly to scale. The clanky wobbly pullout wooden bleachers packed to the rafters for Friday night frenzied rivalries. Imagine years of just such games played on frigid January nights, necessitating the opening of the windows, just to cool the place down. Everyone is here, from the banker to the town drunk, to witness the drama and the heroics of the local school boy gods, a respite for one night to the dark winter drudgery of life in a lonely prairie town.
The hometown boys have won five straight district championships, made a state Final Four appearances at the conclusion of both the 2019 and 2020 season. So, life in Monroe City has been for a while now spinning in greased grooves. This is duck hunting country and come March local fans hope to flock for a third straight year, like migratory fowl, to Springfield, MO, and the Class 3 state tournament. The Panthers have never won a state title. Last year's team finished second. Four starters, including the conference player of the year, return. What do you think this year's goal is? One shining moment finally within reach? Maybe.
Monroe City’s basketball fortunes have been on the uptick since Coach Brock Edris took over 11 years ago. It is almost impossible today to comprehend a winless campaign for the Panthers. But that is exactly what happened in 2011. 0-26. It was Edris’ first year and his assignment was to coach the junior high team. After the varsity debacle of 2011, that spring, Edris was promoted to the high school head coaching chair.
As a 23-year-old head coach, Edris says he was humbled immediately. “My first year,” he recalls, “we were 4-21. The second year, we improved all the way to 6-20,” he says with a chuckle. The next three years saw marked improvement on the tote board as the Panthers amassed 46 wins against 34 losses. Since 2017, MC has compiled a ghoulishly successful record of 100 wins against 17 losses. It would be hard today, even with over a decade of hardwood battles on his resume, to describe Edris as a grizzled veteran. He is reaching an age when to be told you don’t look your age (and he doesn’t) is a good thing.
The coach is a man not fond of change. The 33-year-old Edris is married to his high school sweetheart and is now into double digit years of tenure with his first and only teaching/coaching job. “My dad was a high school coach in Illinois,” says the Coach who grew up in the West Central Illinois town of Carthage. “My hometown was a lot like Monroe City. I always knew I wanted to coach. When I was in college, in the summer, I would work camps with the elementary kids. I cannot say I researched and said, ‘Monroe City is the place to be.’ I needed a job and they offered one.”
Patience became a mainstay in the vocabulary of the young coach. He spoke the word often those early learning curve years, and even more so, the word bounced around in his head. “The losing at the start was a real slap of reality,” he says today. “I had always played on winning teams, in both high school and college, so it was quite an adjustment. I didn’t want to accept losing but I also knew it would take a real plan and some real patience to turn it around. It was down, and I had to several times remind myself (to stay the course.) I don’t think I ever seriously doubted myself, but I also didn’t realize at first how long it would take and how much emotional energy it would take.”
A little over 100 males are enrolled at Monroe City High School. Twenty-nine are dressed out for an early season after school practice.
“When I first arrived,” said Coach Edris, “the program was so down we had a hard time filling two rosters and having a full JV schedule. We had a very supportive Superintendent, and we had a good talk about where the program needed to go. It had to be focused on the individual student. We decided then that we were not going to cut kids. For the past 11 years we never have. If they want to play, we will find a spot for them. But they must meet our expectations. We make the expectations very clear, especially where it relates to playing time. Some do not play much at all. But if they want to be a good teammate, we have a place for them.”
Assistant Coach Ed Talton in his seventh year working with Edris. He has not always agreed with his boss’ inclusive philosophy. “I have questioned him over the years with having so many players at practice who are never going to play. Last year, we had a situation involving discipline with a player I felt should be removed (temporarily) from the team, but Brock said, ‘no, if he is not here, where is he going to be? Nowhere good, that is for sure and we are going to lose him.’ He just really cares for the kids, well beyond just what they can do on the basketball court,” says Talton. “His enthusiasm and his caring come across as very sincere and the kids really work hard for him. He is high energy.”
Watch the team practice and the ability level between the top eight who intend to compete for a state championship come March, and the bottom eight, is a stark abyss – after grabbing a rebound in a recent practice drill one JV player forgot to dribble. What is even more startling is that the roster contains 10 seniors. Several know they have no legitimate chance of playing meaningful minutes. Yet they endure. In the microwave 2021 era of instant gratification, this is almost unheard of. It’s a complement to the program.
“One of the biggest lessons we need to teach if we are going to justify high school sports,” says Edris, “is how to be a leader. You become a leader by supporting people who are less talented, perhaps less advantaged, than you are. If there’s one thing that our players take away from our program after four years, I hope it’s that. If they do, they will as adults be good leaders.”
“It’s all about relationships,” continues Edris. ”We owe it to the kids to give them the best effort we can. As coaches we are always striving to learn.” The effort does not go unnoticed by the team’s players. Josh Talton, a four-year starter and the team’s unproclaim star, says, “our coaches are always working hard to learn something new. We see that. We know the effort is there. We never feel like we’re going to be out coached. We always know that we will be prepared. Coach spends a lot of time breaking down video and sharing it with us. I feel like he has made us into a very smart basketball team. We might get outscored, but we will not get outsmarted.”
From 1984 to 1989 I was the varsity boys’ basketball coach at Monroe City. From 1980 to 1984 I had interned as an assistant coach at another school. Like a thirsty sponge, as an assistant to the varsity coach, I soaked up every coaching morsel within sight and vision. I learned a lot from those around me, both friend and foe. But I had not played basketball in college and my high school playing experience had been under a successful and seasoned coach who gave the same half time speech for my entire varsity career: “get the tip and remember we shoot at the other basket this half.” He would then step outside to smoke a cigarette as we killed time waiting to retake the court. We won a lot. So how hard could this coaching be, I reasoned while pumping up an insecure ego, preparing for my first interview for the position occupied by the guy who always sat in the front seat of the bus?
The word in the summer of 1984 was the coaching gig at Monroe City was fool’s gold. Tons of talent I was told, but no discipline and a coach’s graveyard. The previous year’s team had finished 9-16 and had graduated their leading scorer. But they had before been successful and those I interviewed with mentioned (too many times) how good the incoming freshman were. Having all spring and summer butted my head against the proverbial catch 22 faced by every young coach looking for that first head coaching hire: head coaching experience required, I could not afford to be picky, and evidently, neither could Monroe City. They hired me.
On June 11, 1984, the date of my 27th birthday, I signed a contract for $12,300 to become the head coach of the Panthers. I hit the ground running. With the zeal of an evangelistic salesman on steroids, I preached confidence and hard work. It was false bravado on my part, but somehow the ruse worked; “all in” was our motto and the players bought my round ball epistle like a frenzied Black Friday mob at a cut rate discount store sale. We won nine of our first ten games, several considered upsets. The town looked past my youthful cocksure swagger, failing to see the reality that was hidden behind my pretentious guise: one scared rookie coach.
From 1985 to 1989, we had some great basketball teams at Monroe City, MO High School; winning 117 games and losing 36. The stars in the cosmos must have somehow been aligned correctly, for I never imagined that kind of success in the summer of 1984, when I took a job that several others had turned down. The first year, 1985, we were picked to finish last in the conference. We clawed our way to second place in the powerful Clarence Cannon Conference, while winning 20 games. Just a quirk, most thought, since the next year, 1986, we were picked 4th in the same pre-season conference poll of coaches. We proceeded to win 28 games, the conference title and finished 3rd in the state.
If today I had the hindsight of a do over, my methods would be much different. With maturity, I have become much more concerned with the journey and less focused on the destination. The change has been for the better of myself and those around me. Back in the 80’s, for me, it was simple: just win, baby. For my players, I took a lot of the fun out of their high school basketball experience, and I regret it every day. Still, the players who made up those teams were special and wove, for me, memories of a special time and a special place. I count 36 players who suited up for a varsity basketball game over this five year stretch and there is not a one I would not give the shirt off my back to if they asked for it.
None of them went on to become great college basketball players, but they were the best in a small town that cared deeply about its basketball team. Those years are an indelible part of who I today am.
It is not possible to get halfway into a discussion with the locals on the legacy of Panther hoops without the immersion into the conversation of the name Talton. It is 3:30 and the Thursday afternoon after school practice is in full swing. Senior twins Joshua and Josiah Talton are locked into full out battle in a ball handling drill. Bring it, brotha.
The twins father, 52 year old Ed, is the aforementioned Panthers’ assistant coach. The pace of Ed’s speech is, as a rule, caffeinated, especially when he talks hoops. “I never forced the twins, or any of my kids to play,” says the one-time high-flying Panther, himself a 1987 grad. “You teach them the feel for the game by lettin' 'em play. It’s always fun but we have two rules, we work hard and we finish what we start. When the time for teaching is right, I pounce on it. You teach toughness with hard work, never backing down. Then when the moment is right, you drive home your point. It is not mechanics, it’s passion. We can teach foot work, like the drop steps, but it’s got to be instinctively done as a reaction. You got to have that fire. The twins got it. Really, this whole team does.”
The twins are not identical, physically or in personality. They wear their differences openly as a badge of honor. Both say they get along as well as any brothers can, but if the college dice are cast in such a way that they attend separate schools, so be it. “We have different interests,” says Josiah.
Josh is the bigger of the two, standing 6’1”. He was named at the conclusion of last season both All-State and the Clarence Cannon Conference Player of the Year. He developed as a basketball player earlier than his twin and has started on the varsity team for four years. Josiah is 2 inches shorter, and he did not play varsity basketball his freshman season. But he made up for what his Dad saw as his physical deficiencies that held him back his freshman year with a Spartan style workout summer between his freshman and sophomore seasons. “He bought in,” says Coach Dad. “He locked down and went to work.” As a sophomore, Josiah was the starting point guard for a team that went to the State Final Four, a first for the Panthers since 1995.
Both brothers readily acknowledge they had an outstanding role model in their older brother, C.E., a 2019 MC graduate. Standing 6’3 he was a dominant player on the floor for four seasons. “Everybody respected and liked him,” says Josh with not a twinge of brotherly jealously.
The Talton family is steeped in and committed to their Christian faith. “We were raised in church,” says Josiah. “Our parents have always led by example. ‘Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with your talent is your gift back to God.’ C.E. showed us to be humble, to thank and credit God for any success or personal accomplishment.”
Always under the glare of expectations, C.E was consistently grounded. His charisma attracted admirers in droves. A Pied Piper with game.
It was obvious instantly, even to the most novice fan in attendance of any MC game between 2017 to 2019, that C.E. was the best player on the floor. With a basketball in his hands and a game on the line, C.E. was a marvel to watch; not only for the way he night after night lit up scoreboards, but more so for the harmonious style of his game. C.E. brought grit and a savoir faire attitude to the basketball court that few, if any, from Monroe City have ever displayed or replicated. He mesmerized the sport’s local true believers with the simple and pure way he conquered the game; the euphonic sound of the swishing net of another successful jump shot; the soft tap, tap of leather on wood before an explosion to the hoop to complete his signature ankle breaking cross over move. “Unstoppable,” head shaking, and smitten fans would say. That was three years ago, but his presence is still felt today by his younger brothers. “C.E. set the bar high,” says Josiah. “But that is where it needs to be. It is an honor to try and live up to what he did here.”
Monroe City starts the season facing a self-imposed crucible. The Panthers football team advanced all the way to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs before falling to Hayti in a 26-22 heartbreaker. The final football game was played on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Only two of the MC basketball regulars did not also contribute on the grid iron. Even Edris is heavily involved with the football program, serving as the team’s defensive coordinator.
Give Edris, the scheduler, credit - or question his sanity. He either has more guts than a fish market or he has more guts than brains, or maybe both. For he has put together one humdinger of a schedule.
Their schedule is as challenging as any recently attempted by a Class 3 team. Compounding the hard road ahead is most of the heavyweight competition is front loaded to the first month of the season.
“We intentionally put the schedule together this year with an eye on being the toughest schedule in Class 3,” Edris started the week of the opener. “We open with Quincy Notre Dame. That is always a huge task. We go to Kirksville for our second game. They are a Class 5 school and have lot of kids back. Once again, on the road. Then we have our tournament. The championship game is on Saturday night and the next Monday we go to play Blair Oaks. It will be the first game in their new gym. They are ranked second in the state in Class 4. We will give the team the scouting report on the bus ride down and that is about all the time we will have for preparation. Then Wednesday, we have Ft. Talton coming here. They beat us last year, have everybody back and have added a freshman who some have listed in the top 25 in his class in the nation. Then on Saturday we’re going to go down to St. Louis and play Webster Groves. They are always one of the better Class 6 teams in the state. I really believe the schedule is going to prepare us to earn a state championship.”
Side note: Father Tolton in Columbia, MO is a Catholic high school named for the first African American Priest to serve the American Catholic Church. Augustus Tolton was born in Quincy, IL in 1854 and was ordained in 1886. He was a graduate of what is today Quincy, IL University. He died at the age of 43 in 1897. He is currently immersed in the beatification process to establish Sainthood. The Monroe City Taltons are direct descendants of the Priest. At some point over the years, the name’s spelling was changed.
The family line can be traced to a slave plantation near Honeywell, a small town between Monroe City and Hannibal. “I had a lady approach me downtown not long ago,” remembers Ed Talton. “She said, ‘your family all came from my Great Great Grand Dad’s farm. They all worked for him. It was after the Civil War and after slavery and they were sharecroppers. They each got a section of land and they paid for it by labor.' We Taltons are definitely invested in this town.’”
Here is the hard reality of high school baksetball: unless you win a state championship your senior season, your last game is going to end in defeat, disapointment, and what ifs. The questions will last a lifetime.
Current players live in the present, not realizing that they are in reality creating their past. Colored by both time and perspective, the hurt will lessen in years to come, but for the true believer, whose heart and soul was committed to this noble cause – a one-time chance for the ultimate every player dreams of, a state championship, the “what if” will always be there, as will the painful memory of disappointment. I recently heard from a former player from my 1985 team, a now pushing 50-year-old man who has had a very successful adult life. “It still stings to this day,” without prompting from me, he shared, “I would have liked one more shot at Mr. Church and Palmyra,” an opportunity denied by falling one game short on a fateful winter night over 30 years ago. Don’t tell me it doesn’t matter.
I am lucky. I get to see them when they were “Joe Cool.” When that one special girl who will never come again drops them faster than a Mob informer into the East River. When were so close but not quite there. Then, when we were.
Is this team good enough to win a state title? We will know in a few short months. Basketball memories are made in the highs, the lows, the postgame bus rides. But years from now, after the final dribble of a high school career, what will last will be their relationships forged from the hours of commitment. All done in a community where everything has changed, and nothing has changed.
But winning basketball games is not what I am currently reflecting back on. My intent for returning to Monroe City for this book is a look at the present, find hope for the future and a respect for the past.
Part II
The Panthers opened at home with the opposition provided by the Quincy, IL Notre Dame Raiders.
The gym is packed. Monroe City basketball home games are the biggest winter social event in town, Worldwide Pandemic be damned. You had better arrive early if you want a seat, it's always a full house in the tiny school gymnasium, a 55-year-old multi-use bandbox structure that also serves as a cafeteria, a celebratory venue and, on occasion, a funeral parlor.
Quincy Notre Dame (QND), a Catholic school just across the Mississippi River from Monroe City is a long-time, small school power in the basketball rich state of Illinois. The Panthers impressively win going away, 62-48. The triumph, especially by such a comfortable margin, raised a few eyebrows amongst the area’s hoops enthusiasts. “We knew they would be good,” one local fan posted on social media. “But 14 points and only four days of practice? And against QND? Watch out.”
Monroe City enters the season as the number one ranked team in Missouri Class 3. Number two is Strafford out of Southwest Missouri. The two-time defending state champion Hartville Eagles were decimated by last May’s graduation but are still listed in the “Others” section of the top 10. “I really haven’t looked a whole lot yet (at other teams around the state)” said Edris. “There are always going to be a lot of good teams out there. It’s way too early to try to narrow the field down. We just need to take care of ourselves.”
Edris will not allow the football season running overtime to be a built-in excuse if his team gets off to a slow start. “We are fortunate that these guys have been in the system for three or four years,” Edris said in a pre-season media interview with the Quincy Herald-Whig. “So, it’s kind of like riding a bike to an extent. Just kind of getting the ball back in their hands, doing some shooting and ball handling. As far as the system goes, they pick up on it pretty quick.”
Kyle Hayes will return as the team’s floor General. The diminutive senior is also the team’s best three-point shooter. His leadership role comes naturally as he spent the fall football season taking the snap from center as the Panther’s starting quarterback. “Kyle is very experienced,” says Edris, “He understands how we want to play. His brother Blake was the QB on the 2017 state football championship team. He also played basketball for us. Kyle is a lot like him. He is very savy, not overly athletic, but he is very good at change of pace and that allows him to compete against players who might be bigger and faster. Really, in our system, everybody handles the ball (to some extent.) I don’t know that I would say one player (alone) is our point guard. So, it is not like he has the ball in his hands a lot, but he is good at setting up the others and is one of those players who makes the others around him better.”
The Talton twins will also be primary perimeter players. “Their experience brings a lot of good things,” says Edris. “Josh is a big part of our scoring, but he can do so many other things and is very unselfish with the ball. Josiah does not always get the credit he deserves. He is just solid, doesn’t make many mistakes. We would like to see him shoot more, or at least look to shoot more.”
The team will need to replace one major cog lost to last spring’s graduation, All-Conference forward Logan Buhlig. The season opens with the departed Senior’s younger brother Reece, a junior, sliding into his siblings starting slot. This tidy move allows last year’s 6th and 7th man, the first two off the bench, Cade Chapman and Jaedyn Robertson, to retain their roles as Super Subs.
Robertson was so respected by conference coaches, he was voted last spring to the all-conference team, an unusual honor for a non-starter. “Jaedyn has come a long ways," says Edris. “I brought both he and Chapman up at the end of their sophomore year to experience the run to the state tournament. Last year, they were both keys to us getting back (to the Final Four.) Jaedyn is fearless as a player. He will go against anyone. Corralling his intensity and (channeling) it in a positive way is a real key with him. He has come a long ways in this area. He and I have learned together what works for him and what does not. It has been a learning curve, for sure.”
Chapman also saw key minutes last year as a junior. “To have a player coming off the bench with his experience is a real key, you don’t see that much at our level,” Edris stated. “Cade, like many of our kids, can do a little bit of everything for us. I think he understands his minutes are not dictated by coming in and doing something big immediately. He knows he is going to play about the same minutes as the starters and he needs to just be steady for us. He made some big plays in our post season run last year.”
“They (Robertson and Chapman) need to accept their roles of not starting,” said Edris. Even better, they need to embrace their roles. “Chemistry is so important to this team. They know this.”
Deion White, a two-year starter, is the team’s utility man. “He can fill a lot of roles for us, says Edris. “I have a lot of confidence in him. He is a quiet type of player, but he does so much of us. He is a quality teammate. He is just a very levelheaded kid. People just like being around him. He is very popular both with his teammates and around school. That is so important. You don’t want to spend as much time together as we do with someone you don’t like.”
Buhlig is like many of his teammates, following in the footsteps of an older brother. “His brother was a good player. They moved in here from Payson, IL and have fit in well. Reece played a lot for us last year as a Sophomore,” comments Edris. “More so as the year moved on.” Often times a team needs players whose job is not to win the game but instead, not too lose it. “Reece has a good understanding of what we need from him. This is his year to be supportive of the seniors. Being a move in he is one of the few who have not been playing together since 3rd grade. We only have three juniors on the roster and Reece plays the most. He fits in well with the seniors and he knows his role next year will change.”
The starting five stands 5’10, 6’0’, 6’0, 6’0 and 6’1”. Coach Edris sees that as a positive. He might as well as there is nothing, he can do about it. “We have won in the past with this kind of size. In some ways it can be a plus. Our guys can all run and jump well and the fact that we can interchange so much let’s us play so many different styles.”
A player Edris hopes to work into the regular rotation as the season progresses is sophomore Waylon DeGrave. He stands 6’2 and could give MC some needed length. “He has good wingspan and a good sense on how to play the game. He had a great year in football and that really helps his confidence stepping into the basketball season. He just needs time to improve his skills and he just needs some time to adjust to varsity competition, but he could be a real plus as we get later in the season.”
“We are blessed with a lot of depth,” Edris understated.
The Coach is asked if playing time will be a concern and will the players accept their roles within his system of play? “What’s really interesting,” Edris states with an amused smile, “is during our whole week of summer camp, I would simply say, ‘give me five gold,’ and the right five kids would jump out there every time. The kids know.”
“We’ve been in the spot with the sense of urgency the last couple of years,” Josh Talton said speaking for a pre-season media interview. “So it’s nothing really new. I’m excited to be back out on the basketball court and back out there with my guys. We’ve got a lot of good guys back.”
Every championship basketball team must possess what is known in the hoops coaching world as a “Glue Guy.” The one player who provides the X factor, that “umpf,” that little extra that gets his team over the top. You might not be able to describe the guy, but you will know him when you see him. He senses what his team needs now and then finds a way to provide.
A Glue Guy is not necessarily the team’s best player, although he may have the skill set to be. He isn’t always what you would call a fundamental player, although he might be the team’s hardest worker. Rather, he has that keen ability to make a key non-stat sheet play, often at a game changing moment. And he will often do it with little fan recognition. A key offensive rebound with little muss or a key defensive deflection with little fuss. Most often he is NOT the point guard, the quarterbacking ball handling leader on the floor. He needs to be away from the ball to perform his unglorified heroics, setting knee buckling picks, for example. Or locking down the opposition's best offensive player. Or blocking a shot.
It is difficult to identify a team’s Glue Guy on first impression. You can not watch a team just once and pick him out. Any player can have fortune on his side once - in the right spot at the right time. No, you must watch at least six consecutive games to witness in mass the subtleties of the game for the polyvalence of the one who has mastered this role to emerge. Why six? Six is the number of post season games the Panthers would need to win in a row in March to earn the claim of state champs. Just being subtle, here.
The flamboyent Dennis Rodman was the Glue Guy for the great Michel Jordon led Chicago Bulls teams of the 1990s. Workmanlike Michael Cooper was the one who provided the adhesiveness for the Magic led Laker's Show Time of the 1980s. Blue collar like Jrue Holiday is the obvious choice as Glue Guy for last year’s Milwaukee Bucks championship squad.
Who will fill such a role for this edition of the MC Panthers? The answer may well dictate the March travel plans of the MC faithful.
The Panther offensive style of play is NOT frenetic, not a 32-minute, five-man, pedal to the medal full out sprint, as one might expect from the adrenaline fired first game jitters a less seasoned team would experience. MC secures the jump against QND and then methodically makes an incredible 22 passes over 90 seconds before taking the first shot of the season. Twenty-two consecutive passes? Really? Even the hard-nosed Coach Norman Dale only required five passes before turning the Hickory boys loose to run the Picket Fence. This team is disciplined. The Chemistry is palatable.
Dribbling throughout the opener is held to a minimum. The Panthers run a very old school John Wooden type of four-man high post passing game.
The first quarter saw the MC defense pick up full court man to man, but they gamble little and show very few aggressive double teams. They understand assignments and defensive positioning. After four minutes of play, Monroe City leads 8-0. The first quarter ends with MC holding a 15-9 advantage. All the out of state visiting team’s nine points have been notched by three trays. Monroe City has owned the rebounding backboards on both ends of the floor.
After the first four minutes, Monroe City substitutes on almost every dead ball. Their rotation runs eight deep. As the second quarter begins, the home team loses their sharp edge. Rebounds are not secured, passes errantly bounce off hands attached to outstretched arms and several dribbles are forced and result in turnovers. The Raiders hit another three and the lead is cut to 17-15. Edris calls for a full time out. The two points will be as close for the game’s duration on the scoreboard as QND will get.
The time out instruction is simple and pointed; pick up the pace. They listen and respond. When the opposition misses a shot and the rebound is secured, the Panthers now do hit the gas. Defensive rebounds are slinged instantly into attacking outlet passes, with precision and effortless motion, like lasers that almost always land in the soft hands of a layup bound teammate. The home team is back in obvious control of the game.
With help of a couple of three points shots in rhythm off of steals, the Panthers stretch an eight-point half time lead to 15 midway through the third quarter, forcing a QND timeout. The pace of play is noticeable faster in the second half than in the first. “We talked about that at halftime,” Coach Edris stated after the game.
The Panthers cruse to the opening day victory. Deep breath, 1-0.
It was a solid opening night performance. The effort was steady. MC outscored the visitors in every quarter but the last when the subs played the last four minutes of the game and both teams notched 15 points. As a team, the Panthers shot 53% from the floor. The difference in the 14-point win was MC out-scoring the Raiders 19 to 8 in points off turnovers and 14 to 0 on second chance points. Jayden Robertson led the scoring parade with 20 points, hitting seven of 12 field goals and six of nine free throws. Joshua Talton also scored in double figures, tallying 13. The five starters played between 18 and 32 minutes each. With the top three reserves on the floor for a total of 34 solid minutes, depth, as most already knew, will be a strength of this team.
A post first game evaluation of this edition of the Panthers: their strength as a team is that they appear to have no exploitable weaknesses. The players trust their coaches and their teammates. The coaches trust the players and more importantly, like their players. The team chemistry is obvious to even an outsider. This is a team that is not going to beat itself. Conversely, the individual talent of the players is not overpowering or awe inspiring. They are not going to strike terror in the heart of any foe during warmups. The team is small, no player over 6’2 in the top eight, but they are athletic and play bigger than their height. To reach their lofty goals, they must continue to perform as a unit. Individual talent will not take this group to the Final Four. Unity will.
But not so fast on this Final Four talk says the coach.
“As the season progresses, we have got to get better. We have a longways to go,” Edris says.
The Panthers will play this season under the relentless yoke of high expectations. They know it but they embrace the pressure. There are several reasons why they enter the season maturely confident they are ready to meet the challenge.
One is sheer talent. That is obvious. This team returns all but one from a team that took second in last March’s state tournament; and they to a man felt they should have won that final game.
Another is preparedness. These players are in full obedience of coaching instruction. “Our kids know they will be ready whenever they step on the court,” says Assistant Coach Ed Talton, “They have a scouting report and they know what weaknesses of the other team to attack. We should never lose to a team becuase we are not ready to play.”
The final reason is subtler but perhaps most important - They know that they have one shot at forever. “This is it,” says senior team leader Josh Talton. “We have been together (a long time). We have talked when we were little of having great teams. This summer, it was more focused. We want to leave here as the school’s first state championship team.”
Edris gets the pre-season banters last word. “We have to keep in mind we have only had four pre-season practices.” He then repeats the message he should have printed on business cards and handed out in order to save his voice strength for the march to March run, “it is going to take some time.”
Part III
"You can't run away forever, but there's nothing wrong with getting a good head start."
I was for ten years a city guy. For the last five years I have been a suburban guy. I am now back in Monroe City for my fourth visit in two weeks. Prior, over more than a thiry year span, I had returned only thrice. Once for a funeral, once for a birthday party and once for a basketball game. Even though the trip is only 80 miles, everything is different from where I now call home. The population demographic is different. The landscape is different. The pace is different. The life is different. If you come up here looking for a banquet you will quickly learn to settle for the bar-b-que. And it is pretty good.
Some towns are known for their emphasis of school-boy athletics. The collective community chest will swell to busting button proud when the local boys apply another Friday Night “ass whipping” on those less skilled from a nearby town. Bragging Rights are never subtly applied here. Monroe City is such a town and no apologies are made. Some will even take to social media calling their home town, “Title Town.” Maybe a stretch but they do here like to brag about their boys.
The Panthers dropped their second game of the year to Kirksville. The outcome was not totally unexpected as the game was played in Kirksville, a school with more than three times Monroe City’s enrollment, and the Tigers are a solid veteran team, entering the day's contest with a record of 4-0. Coach Edris sees no reason to panic. “We never expected to go undefeated,” he deadpanned.
The Panthers never got into a rhythm. Many times, the second game of the season can prove to be a difficult one. So much energy and focus is put into the season opener that a letdown for the next game can be a natural reaction. This was not the Panthers best or most focused effort and they know it.
Monroe City jumped to a 13 to 10 first quarter lead, fell behind 16 to 15 halfway through the second quarter and trailed at half time by five, 37-32. Kirksville's 27-point second quarter explosion was the key game stat. Monroe City cut the lead to one entering the 4th stanza. The final quarter was slow paced and strategic, with Kirksville scoring seven points and the Panthers six. The final score: 57 to 55. MC shot only 34% from the field compared to 48% for the home team. The Panthers stayed in the game on the strength of 22 of 29 free-throw shooting. Joshua Talton totaled 25 points but was the only Panther to score in double figures. A glaring deficiency on the stat sheet, especially in a game lost by two points - the Panthers hit only three of 21 shots from three-point range.
“We are not about excuses, and we have none. We will learn from this,” states Coach Edris, referring to the loss at Kirksville. “Obviously, we need to shoot the ball better and we will. Some of that is conditioning. Our legs did not look strong. They have size and we didn’t do a real good job of attacking their zone. They extended it and with their size (two 6’5” wing players) when they stepped out it really affected our shots. Their big men did a good job of guarding the rim and when we did penetrate and kicked back out, we couldn’t get the shots to fall. Still, we saw some positives. It is a learning process, always.”
"Playing on Saturnday afternoon is different for us," said Edris. "It seemed we were sluggish and not adjusting to the time may have been part of it, but they also had to play on Saturday afternoon. We also never had the energy to get control of the game and hold it. It seemed like we spent all day just trying to catch up. That takes a lot of energy and when we had chances to get control in the second half, we just didn't have it."
The sign on the north wall of the gymnasium welcomes spectators to the 97th Monroe City Invitational Tournament, proclaiming the event to be, “Missouri's Oldest Tournament.” Arcadia Valley High School in the southeast part of the state disputes that claim, and maybe a few others, but 97 years of the same tournament is a lot of dribbles, bad officiating and uniform styles. In Monroe City, the second week of December means tournament week. It is a wall-to-wall week of nonstop basketball with both boys' and girls' divisions. It is a full community effort. The support for the Monroe City tournaments is based upon its deep-rooted traditions. It is an accepted social function in this town. First comes Thanksgiving, then the tournament, then Christmas. That’s the way it has always been, at least since December 1938, when the tournament was shifted from February to December.
The first Monroe City Invitational was held on February 27 and 28th, 1925. Girls’ teams entered were Holy Rosary, Monroe City, Paris, Shelbina, Leonard, and Menden. Boys’ teams participating were Holy Rosary, Monroe City, Paris, Shelbina, Leonard, New Holland and Holiday. The winner of the girls’ division was Holy Rosary, who defeated Leonard by a score of 20-16. The boys’ “loving cup,” as trophies in those days were called, went to Paris, who bested New London by the score of 22-19.
With the exception of the host school, none from the inaugural year are entered in the 2021 tournaments. Incredibly, most of the schools who participated in the 1925 tournament do not even exist today. This tournament has outlasted most of its original guests.
Over the years, the tournaments changed in many ways. By 1930, it had grown so large with 15 girls teams and 16 boys teams, some games were played at the Holy Rosary Gymnasium. Games began at 8 AM, ran throughout the day, then late into the night. As the tournaments popularity grew so did its reputation. Teams from all over the state were attracted and in 1928, Crystal City High School, made the almost 300 mile round-trip by train in order to return home with the third-place trophy in the boys' division. Other such far off communities such as Elvins, Lancaster, Herculaneum, Leadwood, Rossville, Brashear, Bearing, St. Joseph’s of Edina, Hurdland and McCooy, to name a few, sent their young people to Monroe City to compete in this tournament.
Throughout the years, the tournament has suffered only one interruption, 1942 and 1943, when due to restrictions placed upon public transportation because of World War II, the tournament was canceled. Not even the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor could interfere. On December 9, 1941, two days after the bombing and one day after President Roosevelt declared us to be in a state of war, the 18th annual tournament began right on schedule.
There have been outstanding individual and team performances: from the undefeated state champion Madison boys team of 1939 to the Shelbina boys of 1954, a squad coached by future College Hall of Fame Coach Gene Bartow, the first tournament team to break the 100 point barrier; to the state championship teams of the Palmyra boys and girls and South Shelby girls in the 1970s and 80’s, followed by the MC state championship girls teams of the 90’s and 2000’s. In 1939, the Harrisburg girls team took second with a roster of only six. The one sub never once entered a game.
Missouri basketball legend and former University head coach Norm Stewart played four years in the Monroe City tournament, representing Shelbyville. In the 1953 championship game, legend has it, nobody really knows who won. The game was played on the stage of the old Junior High Gymnasium. Three of the out of bounds lines were the walls and the fourth was the orchestra pit. Under such tight restrictions, and trailing by four points, Stewart and his teammates staged a furious last-minute rally. Utilizing an all-out full court press, Stewart stole the ball and scored a layup and then instantly stole the inbounds pass and scored another layup to tie the score as time expired. Or did he? The Shelbyville faithful claimed that Stewart was so fast that the scorekeeper fell behind and did not record his last two points. With no video backup in 1954, justice was in the eye of the beholder. Monroe City claimed the first-place trophy. Shelbyville claimed highway robbery. After a disagreement that eventually got the local school boards involved, the game was declared a tie and the two schools co-champions. So the story goes.
A great Scavenger Hunt assignment: find the first-place trophy from the 1953 Monroe City Basketball Tournament.
The Panthers opened the week-long affair with a blowout win over Marion County, 88-13. MC had 52 points at the end of the first half. One-eight seeded (first to last) matchups are often the scourge of any tournament, outcomes often ugly and lopsided. This game was no exception. Marion County is a small school located halfway between Monroe City and Palmyra. Periodically, the Mustangs will muster a decent five to put on the floor, but the total enrollment of boys in grades 9-12 is under 30 and dwindling. The families of the two communities know each other well, so no civic pleasure was taken from the unneighborly beat down.
The statistics were as lopsided as one would expect with such a final score. MC shot 50% from the floor while Marion County shot an ice cold 17%. The home team committed only eight turnovers to Marion County's 31. The much more athletic Panthers outrebounded Marion County on the offensive end by the wide margin of 27 to 4. One statistic though drew the continued concern of Coach Edris. The Panthers hit only 5 of 17 three-point shots, once again falling below 30% from beyond the arc. What was going into the season considered a strength was now an area of grave concern. “All we can do,” said Coach Edris, "is keep shooting them up. It is getting to be mental with a couple of our guys.” Only one Monroe City player did not score in the game. Three finished in double figures led by Joshua Talton's 18 points. Caden Chapman finished with 16 points and Jaedyn Robertson 13.
The MC coaching staff said after the game that it was good to have this task complete.
The semi-final assignment for the Black and Gold, the Palmyra Panthers, sits square on a trail lined with potential potholes. The two towns are huge rivals and, although the local leaders will tell you different, the rivalry is edgy. The two towns are 20 miles apart.
A true fan must love rivalry games. Sports should not become routine. It should be about passion, always. However, the relationship between two good high basketball programs, like Monroe City and Palmyra, who are year after year bitter rivals is one of complexity. School administrators are on constant vigil knowing they are one misstep away from bad blood spilling over into the educational process. That cannot happen.
Civic leaders in the communities of Monroe City and Palmyra claim the competitive climate between the two neither generates nor harbors any bitterness. The two sides support each other, often as economic and social allies. Marriages between a MC grad and a PHS grad are common. Two years ago, when popular Monroe City coach Jamar White died in a traffic accident, the show of support for MC from the Palmyra school and community was overwhelming and heartfelt.
However, don't kid yourself. Bottom line, they really don't like each other.
Often troubled former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson once announced at a post-fight press conference, after losing his crown to Lennox Lewis, that it was time for him to “fade into Bolivian.” Tyson’s most famous quote, though, was when he told the world how he fueled his pre-fight rage, “I’m just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat your children.”
There are no cannibalistic intentions on either side of this local rivalry, at least not one that was ever prosecuted. Still, one can sense neither side would hesitate to grab the last piece of barbeque at the company picnic, leaving the other standing in line with an empty plate.
There would be no 22 pass first possession tonight. One pass after the opening tip, senior Kyle Hayes nailed a deep three-point shot from the right wing. Hayes has struggled mightily in the first thee games of the season with his outside marksmanship and was given strict pre-game instruction by Coach Edris to let it rip. Known for the past two season for his three-point shooting, no one could explain his early season slump. “He is too good of a shooter,” said Edris, before the game. "Those will fall. I am not the least bit worried about Kyle’s shooting.” Hays, like many of his teammates, was a mainstay on the football team, a two-year starter at quarterback. “He just needs a lot of reps, but that is true for all of our players,” said Edris.
Josh Talton knocked down another trey on the second possession and less than a minute later followed with a break away monster, two-handed slam dunk. Then, ahead 8-3, the Panthers went into hibernation. With the score a pedestrian like 15-10 with 6:15 remaining in the half, Coach Edris called a full time-out. It was needed. It didn’t help. The game continued to slog along. The effort of the home team and the gym full of local fans remained frenetic, but the score board did not reflect the effort.
Palmyra did an admirable job of displaying needed patience, both on offense and defense, against a superior athletic foe. Six of their first seven field goals were tallied off of backdoor cut layups, taking advantage of an overly aggressive MC defense.
The lack of a shot clock in high school basketball is a great equalizer for a less talented team. If a defensive team overplays the passing lane, the offensive team can backdoor cut for easy layups. Palmyra executed this perfectly, leading to six easy field goals in the first half. If a team plays a more positioned defense, not gambling, the offensive team can milk the clock and hold down the pace of the game. Palmyra did this to perfection for most of the second half. For Coach Edris and the Panthers the game became a “pick your poison” predicament.
“We backed off for the second half,” Edris said after the game. “But that allowed them to slow the game even more. Give them credit. They did what they needed to do, (to) hold the game into the 40’s.”
Palmyra hit a three at the buzzer to end the second quarter. Halftime score 24-21, Monroe City. The MC Coaches leave the floor with a justified look of concern.
Any adjustments the home team made during the intermission had limited results. The orange clad visitors carried the momentum over into the second half and limited Monroe City to only five points in the third. To the total shock of the packed-to-the-gym-rafters crowd, Palmyra took the lead into the final 8 minutes, 31-29.
“We were in big trouble,” Edris admitted after the game. “Everything was going their way and we have no one to blame for that but ourselves. I am very disappointed with how we came out for the second half. They (Palmyra) should have won the game.”
Led by Joshua Talton’s six points in the fourth quarter, Monroe City rallied and took a 38-36 lead with 3:29 left to play in the game. “I thought we might stretch it out from there to the end,” said Edris, "but it didn’t happen."
Monroe City held a thin 41-39 lead when they inbounded the ball after a Palmyra basket with 29 seconds remaining on the scoreboard clock. Josh Talton hit the first of two free throws to increase Monroe City’s lead to 42-39 with 15 seconds left, but misfired on the second. Monroe City still had to come up with one more defensive stop on Palmyra to clinch the win.
The visitors got a good look but the last second shot bounced off the rim and Monroe City had escaped with perhaps their most frustrating win over Palmyra in the history of the long and bitter rivalry.
Talton scored a team-high 12 points for Monroe City, with senior forward Jaedyn Robertson coming through with 11 points.
After the game, when Edris walked into the post-game locker room, he brought a seriousness with him. The normally mild mannered Edris lit into his team. He challenged their character, and he challenged their courage. He wanted to know what kind of legacy his seniors wanted to leave. He let them know that if the direction they were now headed did not change immediately, they were headed to becoming labeled as perhaps the biggest flop in the proud history of the program.
The stat sheet after the game was telltale. First, the obvious, Monroe City did not shoot the ball well. The winning team shot 33% from the field the while the losing team shot 50%. That one stat alone skewed the rest. Monroe City outrebound the visitors on the offensive boards 14-5. They had 12 turnovers compared to Palmyra’s 22. Monroe City took 48 shots compared to 28 for Palmyra. But, as Edris pointed out after the game, when you don’t hit shots, it doesn’t make any difference how many you take.
Edris was a coach in obvious distress. He tried to take a stoic and analytical stance after the game, but it was not working. Finally, he admitted, almost in total exasperation, “at this point I am not sure how to solve this, put at least I do know what the problem is. But, so does every team we are going to play - right now we cannot shoot the ball.”
By Friday morning, Edris had spent a sleepless night mulling over ideas on how to right his wayward ship. “That was not us out there last night,” he said. “We do not conduct ourselves on the court like we did last night. We don’t pout. We don’t play selfish. We do not ignore our responsibilities. I am very disappointed, and I am not going to hide it from our players. We have today to get this straightened out. Sure, as coaches we are worried about how we are playing, especially our shooting. We talked about it a long time after the game last night. But we can’t just immediately solve how we are shooting the ball. We can correct our behavior and we can do that right now. That was not us out there last night. That I can guarantee will change.
I have a friend who coached high school basketball for two years. His first team went 4-26. His second team improved to 4-25. He told me the most important lesson he can pass on to young coaches is: “you will have a better record if you play fewer games.” He then went into sales.
Coaching is not easy. But many view it as noble passion they just know if ever given the chance they would flourish in. Just a beautiful Zen-like cosmic flow of life: success, failure and rebirth. From out here in the real world, it looks like one beautiful game. But, trust me for I have been there and it is not so.
A small-town high school basketball coach has all the job security of the President of Venezuela. Often ridiculed by fans, reviled in the press, and criticized by even your own friends. I know a former coach who likes to brag that the locals in Sullivan, MO wanted him gone so bad that both his next-door neighbors signed the obligatory circulating petition to have him fired.
Why do a few succeed and secure long tenure? Simple. Talent AND knowing how to use it. Perhaps the wise philosopher who for a decade masqueraded as the St. Louis Cardinals Manager, Whitey Herzog, said it best, "The three things you need to be a good manager are players, a sense of humor and, most important, a good bullpen. If I've got those three things, I assure you I'll get along. A manager doesn't necessarily win games, but he can lose a lot of games. If you make all the right moves and your bullpen isn't worth a damn, you're not any good anyway. If the bullpen is good, you're a genius."
Coach Edris is the perfect coach for blue-collar Monroe City. Nose to the grindstone, keep your head down and your ego in check, be honest, don't forget your lunch pail.
He is a consummate motivator who breathes fire into players without raising his voice. "He doesn't have to yell," one of his Senior players told me during my recent visit. "He motivates us. I am not always sure how because he seldom gets mad or upset, but he does."
And do not lose to Palmyra. Former head coach and current assistant Coach Rick Baker said after the Thursday night game, "My first year here we were not very good. We won one conference game. But it was aganist Palmyra. Everyone was happy."
By Friday morning, Edris realized how close to disaster his team had been. “Yes, to have lost the game last night - and we should have lost - and it being to Palmyra would have been really hard to overcome. But we have got to put it behind us, we have got to regroup, and we have got today to get it done. Tonight’s practice will be very important as to where this team goes.”
The coach’s assessment was dead on. But it was pointed out to him, a win is a win. Where do you go from here, is what really matters. It would be a long 36 hours for Edris to find out the answer to that harrowing question. Now, all his tired eyes could see was a discouraging panorama of problems and unfulfilled expectations.
When Saturday's championship game tip off arrived; for the Coach, relief was delivered.
All the great ones are remembered for a snippet in time, the moment when they turn mere excellence into greatness- one defining moment. For Ali it was 15 rounds in the jungle heat of Manila, for Secretariat two minutes and 24 seconds at Belmont Park, for the Miracle on Ice 60 minutes at Lake Placid. Perhaps, just maybe, if the Monroe City Panthers cut down state championship nets come March, the Highland game will be their “just that moment” in time.
Saturday’s championship game was never in doubt. The visiting team was outnumbered, outtalented and outplayed. Monroe City, for the first time all year, looked like a state championship caliber team, a team worthy of pre-season state ranking. The Panthers raced out of the blocks, grabbing a 20-7 first quarter lead and never looked back. Josh Talton led the first quarter sprint with nine points.
Any chance for drama was extinguished by halftime as MC led by an insurmountable score of 43-15, outscoring the Cougars in the second quarter by a margin of 23-8.
Palmyra, two days after nearly pulling off one of the biggest upsets in the 97-year history of this grand tournament, fell by 20 points in the third-place game to a Louisiana team that was considered in the pre-season rankings as a mid-runner, at best, in the Clarence Cannon Conference. Highland, who had received pre-season notice as the one team who might challenge in the conference race with the MC juggernaut, was trounced in the championship tilt by 41 points. Go figure.
Coach Brock Edris was noticeably relieved after the game. “Tonight, I didn’t think we in anyway played over our heads. This is how we should play. We played together and we played hard. We talked yesterday at practice and today before the game to just get focused, take care of ourselves, everybody just do their job and the score will take care of itself.”
The one strategical change the Panthers employed was a full court aggressive press which they ran from the game’s start. “People are going to try and slow us down,” Edris said following the game. “We talked as a coaching staff that we need to stress being more aggressive on our traps and we did that tonight. It really got the game going at a pace we wanted it at.”
What a trapping double teaming defense will do is force all five offensive players to handle the basketball. One or two players can not dominate the ball handling like Palmyra had done in the semifinal near upset.
“I thought our full-court defense did some great things that might have gotten to their legs a little bit,” Edris continued. “I also thought with our offensive transition, being able to push the basketball up the floor and look for opportunities was very good. Our guys did a good job there.”
The up-tempo allowed the home team to exploit its depth advantage over Highland. “They like to play only five,” Edris observed. “We like to play eight. I thought the defensive pressure really got to their legs. Our bench scored 28 points and that was big.”
The aggressive defense led to some easy transition baskets for MC. Easy transition baskets had been a rarity for the Panthers in the Palmyra game. “We need those,” Edris said. “You could see the confidence grow when the ball started going in the basket. Those high percentage shots our defense created also helped our confidence with our outside shooting. As we said before the game, we just need the shots to start dropping and tonight they did.”
Yes, the shots did start to fall and the post-game stat sheet was proof of the old basketball adage that good shooting cures a multitude of ills. The Panthers shot 55% from the field, by far a season’s best. Highland hit on only 30% of its attempts from the field. The best news: MC hit 8 of 17 from behind the three-point arc, another season high. In the decisive second quarter, the victors nailed five of nine trey attempts. They also outscored Highland 17-0 in transition points and 16-5 off turnovers; solidifying the success of the faster pace created using the full court trapping press. The ball movement that Edris had demanded in Friday’s practice was there, as 18 of the 27 Panther field goals were aided by assists. Josh Talton led four in double figure scoring, with 21 points. Kyle Hayes, Josiah Talton and Devlin White all contributed 10 points. Josh Talton had a season high seven rebounds and his twin Josiah dished out 7 assists.
“We did some good things tonight,” said a post-game relieved Coach Edris. “We needed this. We really had to win this tournament. I knew going into the season we could play ok and still have five losses by Christmas. The schedule is that loaded. I know it and the kids know, but still we have only lost six games total the last two years. We are used to winning. Now we have Blair Oaks and Ft. Tolton to get ready for next week.”
The original plan was to have a walk through on Sunday to review the scouting report for Monday's Blair Oaks game. But Edris was informed on Saturday morning by the school administration that the School Board had decided to not allow any organized Sunday activity. By Saturday evening, Edris was determined that the latest curve thrown his way was not going to darken his mood. “I guess we will go over the scouting report on the bus ride down on Monday,” he said about how he would prepare his squad to battle the number two ranked Class 4 team in the state. "Besides," he said, "if we get to the Final Four we would have to play back to back and all you can do for the Championship game is a same day walk through, which is what we will do Monday after school. So this is good preperation for the state experience." If you haven't already figured it out, Edris is a "the glass is half full kind of guy."
