All-Western Illinois Boys Basketball Team

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By Times staff | Friday, March 28, 2008 1:21 PM CDT | () comments

TEAM CAPTAIN

Tyler Storm, Geneseo Parents Brad and Shari; sister Kaci (14) does “every sport.”

Family:

Spare time: “Just hang out at people’s houses.” There they play video games. He’s a fan of the Grand Theft Auto series.

Other sports: He played football through junior high school, and baseball (pitcher and first base) through his sophomore year. “I got too busy with AAU. I miss baseball a little bit but more the football.”

Career highlight: “Winning the regional (this season) and making that run. In the first sectional game, I had a career-high 34 points.” Geneseo won that game and lost the next to Washington, which went on to finish fourth at the state tournament.

Lowlight: “The big games we just didn’t play that well. I don’t know what it was.”

Favorite pro sports team: “I watch baseball, and like the Boston Red Sox. My dad is a big fan, too.”

Earliest basketball memory: “Ball was my first word, so I guess that’s my first memory. As soon as I was born I pretty much had a basketball in my hands.”

Future: Leaving in June for DeKalb, Ill., where he will play basketball for Northern Illinois in the fall. As for a major, “I have no idea.” He likes the Quad-City area and thinks he might want to return after graduation. For now, he’s still trying to accept the fact that his high school career is over. “It went real fast.”

FIRST TEAM	School	Ht.	Yr.	Pos.	Pts./game

CHRIS ANDERSON	West Carroll	6 ft. 4 in.	Sr.	G	17.5
Led team to Elite Eight two years in a row; getting Division II looks; also averaged 6.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.5 blocks
“You’re pretty lucky to get to coach a guy like that. ... What impresses me is his overall willingness to get better in every category. ... Overall game improved so much since last year, a lot because of AAU over the summer.” — Josh Knuth, West Carroll coach

JOSEPH BERTRAND	Sterling	6 ft. 5 in.	Jr.	G	14.3
University of Illinois recruit averaged 4.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds to help his team to a sectional title
“He does a good job with the feel of the game and can make his own decisions. ... If they’re giving it to him, then he can take it ... He’s not worried about padding his stats.” — Peter Goff, Sterling coach

TANNER CARLSON	Annawan	6 ft. 0 in.	Sr.	G	20.6
Repeat first-teamer from ’07; averaged 6.3 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 4.3 steals
“His speed and vision are two things that he’s had all the way through. ... He’s got a lot of great talent. At the small-school level, there weren’t too many kids who could keep up with him.” Ryan Brown, Annawan coach

NATHAN KOHLER	Kewanee Wethersfield	6 ft. 1 in.	Jr.	G	20.7
School’s all-time scoring leader (1,356); averaged 5.8 assists, 5 rebounds
“He’s magical with the basketball. ... To me, there’s no better guard in the area. ... He could have scored 40 a night.” — Jeff Parsons, Wethersfield coach

TYLER STORM	Geneseo	6 ft. 6 in.	Sr.	F	19.5
Northern Illinois recruit averaged 9.1 rebounds and led team to a sectional final appearance.
“I might be biased, but I don’t think there is a more complete and overall better player in our area. ... He is a tough matchup because he can score well inside, shoot from the perimeter and take it to the basket off the drive.” — Brad Storm, Geneseo coach (and father)


SECOND TEAM

COLIE BOLHOUS	Orion	6 ft. 2 in.	Sr.	F	10.7
Unanimous all-conference player on balanced squad

KEVIN GILLESPIE	Geneseo	5 ft. 10 in.	Sr.	G	12.2
All-NCIC first team; also handed out 3.8 assists a game; hit 66 3-pointers

JASON SMITH	Morrison	6 ft. 3 in.	Jr.	G	17.2
Three Rivers Conference MVP; averaged 4 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.9 assists; shot 63 percent from the field

PETE TANZILLO	Kewanee	6 ft. 5 in.	Sr.	C	15
Unanimous first-team all-conference; also averaged about 9 rebounds

RYAN ROBINSON	Rockridge	6 ft. 6 in.	Sr.	C	18
All-conference and team MVP; led squad in rebounding (10 rebounds) and free-throw shooting


HONORABLE MENTION

Anthony Adkins, Sr. (Orion); Brett Anderson, So. (Aledo); Nolan Anderson, Sr. (Sterling); Brian Ashpole, Sr. (Geneseo); Brandon Ballard, Sr. (Rockridge); Dennis Barr, Sr. (Fulton); Cody Behrens, Jr. (Sterling Newman); Luke Brandt, Jr. (AlWood); Spencer Brown, Sr. (Sherrard); Dennis Clark, Sr. (Aledo); Alex Coppejans, Jr. (Annawan); Nick Curier, Sr. (Kewanee); Keith England, Sr. (ROWVA); Drew Gallentine, Sr. (West Carroll); Tim Gaumer, Sr. (Sterling); Jordan Henry, Sr. (Erie); Patrick Hollis, Sr. (Alexis United); Tyler Horberg, Sr. (Cambridge); Josh Hutton, Jr. (Orion); Jacob Junis, Fr. (Rock Falls); Seth Kelly, Sr. (Galva); Drew Lambert, Sr. (Riverdale); Nick Lucas, Sr. (West Carroll); Nate McBride, Sr. (Morrison); Alex Miller, Sr. (Sherrard); Rian Nailor, Sr. (Rock Falls); Richard Nelson, Sr. (Morrison); Ryan Nelson, Sr. (Morrison); Ben Olson, Sr. (ROWVA); Matt Pyse, Jr. (Erie); Niko Rivera, Jr. (Sterling); Tevin Rumley, So. (Rock Falls); Zak Swanson, Sr. (Cambridge); Ty Tiesman, Sr. (Fulton); Erik Tye, Sr. (Kewanee Wethersfield); Cody Williams, Jr. (Orion); Jake Wright, Sr. (Galva).