The Moline High School boys’ basketball team made history this past weekend, and Owen Freeman and Brock Harding were at the heart of it all.
The center/guard duo set the tone all winter for the Maroons (35-3) as they not only reached the Final Four of the IHSA state tournament for the first time in 72 years, they brought home the program’s first state title.
The efforts of both Freeman (18.1 points, 8.7 rebounds per game) and Harding (18 points, 5.7 assists) resulted in them both garnering first-team Illinois Basketball Coaches Association All-State honors.
Harding had 21 points and six rebounds and Freeman added nine points and eight boards in a 50-36 Class 4A semifinal win over Downers Grove North to begin the Maroons’ state run in Champaign.
Harding then exploded for 28 points in Moline’s historic 59-42 championship-game win over Lisle Benet Academy. Freeman added nine boards and six points as he controlled the paint in what was just the third state title game appearance for the Maroons, who were runners-up in 1943 and ‘51.
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The duo had also been recently tabbed for the Illinois Associated Press All-State roster in 4A. Freeman was a first-team AP pick, with Harding earning second-team honors.
The University of Iowa-bound pair also helped the Maroons finish the season with 16 straight wins and set a single-season team record for victories as well as run the table to win the Western Big 6 Conference title with a 14-0 mark.
Other accomplishments for Moline this past season were winning a second straight regional championship as well as its first sectional crown since 2004, the last year prior to this that the Maroons had advanced to state.
Freeman and Harding were not the only Big 6 standouts to be recognized by the IBCA as worthy of all-state kudos.
United Township senior guard Bristol Lewis was a special mention 4A pick. In his lone season as a Panther after transferring from Geneseo, Lewis helped lead UT to a 25-7 finish as well as a third-place showing in the Western Big 6.
Other Big 6 players earning IBCA honors were Bradley Longcor of league runner-up Quincy (4A special mention) and Sterling’s Andre Klaver and Lucas Austin (3A second and third team, respectively).
Fulton’s Damhoff first team in 1A: Moline’s dynamic duo were not the only area standouts to earn first-team All-State honors from the IBCA.
Fulton junior center Baylen Damhoff got the first-team nod after helping lead the Steamers (26-10) to their second straight Northwest Upstate Illini South Division title and their second 1A regional title in the last three postseasons.
In addition to his IBCA honors, Damhoff was also an AP All-State second-team honoree.
Averaging 20.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots per game, the 6-foot-6 standout almost led Fulton to its own historic postseason breakthrough.
The Steamers advanced to the title game of the Eastland Sectional and Lanark and were shooting for their first sectional crown since 1973, but came up just short in a 50-46 loss to eventual 1A state runner-up Scales Mound.
Rockridge’s Whiteman a 2A second-team pick: Rockridge senior guard Jase Whiteman capped his prep career by helping lead the Rockets (28-6) to a second consecutive Class 2A Final Four and a second-straight fourth-place state finish.
Averaging a team-best 16.1 points and 2.9 assists along with 3.9 rebounds per game, Whiteman was named to the IBCA’s All-State second team for 2A, mirroring his AP All-State placement.
His efforts helped the Rockets to repeat as champions in the Three Rivers Conference’s West Division, then win a third straight regional title and back-to-back sectional and super-sectional plaques.
Joining Whiteman on the IBCA second team was Grady Thompson from Three Rivers East champion Princeton. The Tigers and Rockridge met in the Orion Sectional title game, with the Rockets dominating in a 64-46 victory.
Other IBCA honorees: In Class 1A, Fulton senior forward Ethan Price was a third-team honoree.
Four other standouts from area conferences — United senior Abel Wilson, ROWVA-Williamsfield senior Graham Wight, Sterling Newman junior Lucas Simpson and Wethersfield junior Landon Sauer — were special mention selections.
In 2A, Rockridge sophomore forward Landon Bull earned special mention status alongside Princeton senior guard Teegan Davis, a University of Iowa football signee.
