Boys delivered solid results

Injuries hampered what shaped up as a memorable season for the Washington boys basketball team.

But despite having two key guards sidelined for seven games apiece, the Panthers remained among the area’s elite programs.

Washington was 19-8 on the season and 10-4 in the Mid-Illini Conference, which snapped its streak of five consecutive league championships.

The Panthers were 14-3 in late January, with 12 wins in a 13-game span, then injuries began to take their toll.

“After Christmas, I felt like we were rolling and really playing good basketball,” WCHS head coach Kevin Brown said.

With setbacks two nights in a row to junior Ryan Grebner and senior Robert Izaguirre in games at Metamora and vs. Woodruff, Washington was derailed.

A shoulder injury at the end of the regular season to leading scorer Mark Roth, a junior, left the Panthers without a large chunk of their offense for the Class 3A Limestone Regional semifinal.

“I never felt like we got back to that point,” said Brown of the earlier hot streak. “At the same time, I thought the kids really battled a lot of adversity with that. It was a tough situation and we were fighting all the way to the end.”

Washington’s turnaround at the Pekin Insurance Holiday Tournament was something Brown mentioned as a highlight.

After a 20-point loss in the quarterfinals to Chicago Mt. Carmel, the Panthers bounced back Dec. 29 with a 66-40 rout of Freeport before a 64-57 overtime win over No. 1 seed Rockford Boylan the next day.

“Without the injuries, we could look back and say that was a turning point for us,” Brown said.

Roth was a first-team all-conference pick, while Izaguirre, Grebner and junior Connor Underwood landed second-team status.

Izaguirre stepped up for Washington after second-team all-state point guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards left for Bradley University.

“He was doing a really good job,” Brown said of Izaguirre. “His turnovers were down and he got us into the offense.”

Izaguirre had the best assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.33. His 2.4 assists per game topped the team.

Izaguirre also was second with 10.3 points per game and was a .462 shooter from the field, including a .390 mark beyond the three-point arc.

Grebner provided nine points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He shot .389 from three-point land and .463 overall.

“Up until the injury, Ryan was just a joy to coach,” Brown said. “He plays so hard. He came out every night and guarded the other team’s best player.”

With Izaguirre guarding the opponent’s No. 2 player, the Panthers were put in a bind on the defensive end.

Underwood emerged as Washington’s answer to the question of who would try to lock down foes’ top threats.

Underwood and his brother, senior Colton, combined to contribute 11.1 ppg and 11.2 rpg.

Connor Underwood’s .596 field-goal accuracy, 25 steals and 5.9 boards per night were team-high totals.

Brown said when the team got the ball through the Underwoods in the middle, the offense was better.

After an initial learning curve, the Panthers got to where they were very effective with a two-post offense.

Roth topped Washington with 12.5 ppg, 81 treys and a .771 free-throw percentage.

“He shot the ball really well,” Brown said of Roth. “We were balanced across the board, but Mark had some nice games for us.”

Brown noted when Grebner and Izaguirre went down, teams really focused on Roth.

Sophomore Isaac Fisher came back from an early-season injury to provide what Brown called a “great second half of the season.”

With the Panthers desperate for more scoring in the regional contest, Fisher rose to the occasion with a season-high 16 points.

Brown said Fisher has the potential to become a consistent scorer in the future.

Sophomore Ben Ryan, who supplied 7.3 ppg and 3.7 rpg, shot .469 from the floor and .726 from the charity stripe.

He was the difference in some wins for Washington and when he is in a situation in which he is comfortable, Ryan is a considerable asset.

Senior posts Sam Ryan and Andrew Watson also wrapped up their prep careers.

With a freshman class that was undefeated and some sophomores ready to take the next step, combined with the numerous returnees, there is a lot of potential in ’10-11.