When a school has played basketball for 100 years, there certainly are going to be enough milestones, highlights and noteworthy events to create a fairly lengthy history lesson.
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| Sean Harrington, now playing at the University of Illinois, set the all-time career scoring record at Elgin last season. |
Such is the case for Elgin High School, which played the first recognized interscholastic high school boys basketball game in Illinois March 2, 1900, a 16-12 loss to Chicago's Englewood High School.
In the next 100 years, the Maroons have played 2,156 games (heading into Tuesday's sectional opener).
What follows is a compilation of some of those noteworthy events in the history of the Elgin boys basketball program, starting at the very beginning.
March 2, 1900: Elgin hosts Englewood in the first interscholastic basketball game and falls 16-12 in front of 75 fans at Sauer's Hall.
Jan. 25, 1901: In just its third interscholastic game, Elgin picks up its first win in program history with a 26-11 score over Chicago's Armour Academy. It's also Elgin's first home win. The team's first road win comes the very next game, on Feb. 16, when Elgin defeats Hinsdale Central, 29-17.
Feb. 13, 1902: Elgin plays its first interscholastic "intra-city" game, taking on Elgin Academy at the Elgin Armory. It ends as Elgin's first and only tie in program history. The two teams battle to a 29-29 stalemate.
March 14, 1902: Elgin Academy, again at the Elgin Armory, plays the first overtime game in Elgin's history. The Academy wins this meeting, 35-31. The two teams don't meet until Feb. 1, 1907, when Elgin claims a 45-12 victory over the Academy.
Feb. 28, 1913: Elgin defeats Naperville, 32-16, to ensure its first winning season in the program's 12 years (there was no team in 1905 or 1911). The win puts Elgin at 5-1 en route to a 7-2 record.
March 5-6, 1915: Elgin competes in its first invitational tournament in Beloit, Wis., and finishes 3-0 to capture the title. Elgin defeats Delavan (Wis.), Beloit (Wis.) and Burlington (Wis.).
March 14, 1919: Elgin makes its first state tournament finals appearance in what is referred to as the "Final Eight." Elgin beats New Trier, 26-25, but loses its next game to Centralia.
March 14, 1920: Elgin beats Hebron, 67-2. The 65-point win still stands as the largest margin of victory for an Elgin basketball team.
Feb. 11, 1921: Elgin knocks off Rockford, 32-28, to clinch at least a share of its first conference title in program history. Elgin and Rockford both finish 5-1 and top the Big 7 Conference standings.
March 24, 1924: Elgin captures its first state title by beating Athens, 28-17, at the University of Illinois Men's Gym Annex. Louis "Soup" Semeny leads Elgin with 10 points in the title clincher. Elgin finishes the year 25-3. Mark Wilson and Otto Vogel split the year as head coach. Wilson finishes at 13-2 and Vogel at 12-1.
March 25, 1925: Elgin captures its second state title with a 25-17 victory over Champaign at the University of Illinois Men's Gym Annex. Chapman Wells scores 8 points, Jerry Slavik 7 and Doug Mills 6. Elgin finishes the year 24-2.
Dec. 18, 1931: Cliff Adams becomes the first Elgin coach to win 100 games when the Maroons defeat Freeport, 35-28. The win gives Adams, now in his 7th season, a 100-38 record. He finishes his 12-year career at Elgin with a 153-75 record. He coached Elgin to the state championship in 1924-25.
March 18, 1944: Elgin overcomes a 31-19 half-time deficit to knock off South Shore 48-47 and advance to the state championship game at Huff Gym on the campus of the University of Illinois. Jack Burmaster scores 12 points and Howard Kugath 10. Taylorville, however, wins the state title with a 56-33 victory over Elgin. Taylorville outscores Elgin 19-4 in the fourth quarter, while Sam Sauceda scores 14 points to lead Elgin.
March 9, 1949: Elgin beats DeKalb, 54-46, to give coach John Krafft his 154th win, surpassing the school record held by Adams. Krafft finishes with a 178-48 record in 10 years at Elgin. He directs Elgin to 6 regional titles, 5 sectional titles and 3 state trophies: a 4th-place trophy in 1942-43, a 2nd-place trophy in 1943-44 and a 3rd-place trophy in 1949-50.
Dec. 1, 1950: Elgin falls to Morton, 56-51, in its first game under legendary head coach Bill Chesbrough, who goes on to coach 919 games over the next 35 seasons. Chesbrough wins his first game the very next night when Elgin defeats Des Plaines (Maine), 58-48.
March 19, 1955: Voted the most memorable moment in Illinois boys basketball history - let alone Elgin history - by a statewide panel of basketball enthusiasts in 1999, Rockford West scores 6 points in 1 second en route to beating Elgin 61-59 for the state championship at U of I's Huff Gym. The play was a result of a basket and back-to-back fouls that resulted in 4 free throws and tied the game 57-57 with 10 seconds to play. Gary L. "Whitey" Smith leads Elgin with 18 points, Paul Hudgens adds 16 and Tom Aley 13 in the heart-breaking loss.
Dec. 13, 1957: In its 1,000th interscholastic game, Elgin defeats Aurora West, 71-65.
Nov. 27, 1959: Chesbrough picks up his 179th coaching victory to surpass Krafft on the all-time coaching win list as Elgin beats Arlington High School, 73-56.
March 23, 1973: Elgin, well on its way to another state tournament finals appearance, runs into West Aurora in the first round of the state tournament at U of I's Assembly Hall. West Aurora eliminates Elgin with a 54-49 double overtime victory. Elgin finishes the year 27-2, with both losses coming to West Aurora. Tom Koch scores 14 points, Tim Jones 12 and Jeff Wilkins 10 in the defeat.
Dec. 27, 1980: Elgin defeats Dundee High School 64-49 to give Chesbrough his 500th coaching victory at Elgin High School. He finishes his 35-year stint at Elgin with a 573-346 record.
Jan. 21, 1995: In the 2,000th game in school history, Elgin falls to Waubonsie Valley, 49-48.
Dec. 4, 1998: Elgin senior Sean Harrington becomes the school's all-time leading scorer with a 22-point effort in a 55-50 win at Waubonsie Valley. He surpasses Mark Baugh's mark of 1,536 points and goes on to finish with 2,119 points in his career. The game also marks a milestone for Sean's father, coach Jim Harrington, who gets his 250th coaching victory at Elgin.
Feb. 22, 2000: Jim Harrington picks up his 400th career coaching victory in a 55-45 win over Loyola. It marks the 288th win at Elgin High School for Harrington, who also coached at Weber High School.
