The 'MVD' of the team
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| Team trainer Rich Everett attends to PHS senior Ryne Vrana after he busted open his chin during the first half of Wednesday’s sectional semifinal. (BCR photo/Mike Vaughn) |
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There are plenty of MVPs of the Princeton Tiger basketball team. But there’s only one MVD - Most Valuable Doctor.
Longtime team trainer Rich Everett got the assist of the night Wednesday with his quick repair job of Tiger center Ryne Vrana’s chin. Then he was back in duty Friday when PHS junior David Sailer took a hard fall to the floor and sustained a concussion.
Unable to keep a bandage on over the gash on Vrana’s chin, Everett improvised Wednesday by wrapping Vrana completely around his neck.He admitted it was rather unique.
“You do what you have to do at the time to make it happen. Sometimes you’ve got to use your imagination,” Everett said. “Usually you get things to hold. I was afraid in a game situation like that, if you’ve got to stop it in case a kid shows blood again, you could stop momentum or something like that.”
Everett said he first put “Tough Skin” over the gash on Vrana’s chin and tried bandaging it a couple times without the mummy job. Because of sweat and face stubble, Everett knew simple bandaging wasn’t going to work and turned to more extreme measures.
“I told him, ‘This is not going to hold. The only way to do this is go back behind the head,’” he said. “It looked a little awkward. I asked if he could move around and he said yes.
“It seemed to work well. I knew he got a few laughs from his buds. All was well at the end of the day.”
The 6-7 senior center returned to the lineup for the second half, scoring two free throws in the third quarter and 13 more points in the fourth quarter to lead the Tigers to a 66-55 win.
“His focus was still on the game. I knew that little bad luck wasn’t going to bother him,” Everett said.
Vrana returned to Princeton Wednesday where he received four stitches at Perry Memorial Hospital. He sported the return of the mummy look for the first half Friday night, but decided to ditch the long wrap at halftime.
“I asked him at halftime and he said, ‘take it off,” Everett said.
Everett, who has been team trainer for PHS since the 80s, said he put another dose of “Tough Skin” and went for a smaller wrap on his chin and cheek. Vrana returned to the floor just in time for the start of the second half.
• Sailer update: Sailer took a hard fall with 2:40 left in the game and remained on the floor. He was attended to quickly by Everett and Brandt, and his mother, Colleen, who is a RN.
Everett said Sailer was able to squeeze his hand and had no numbness. He said he would have a “bad headache tomorrow.”
Sailer was taken to Swedish American Hospital in Rockford, where PHS principal Barb Schmidt reported he was treated and released. All cat scans came out negative, she said.
• Joining the Yellowjackets: Princeton senior cager Scott Roseberg will turn in his sneakers for cleats when he attends Cedarville University to play soccer this fall. He just recently signed a letter of intent to play for Yellowjackets. The Tiger standout on the hardwood was the 2009 BCR Soccer Player of the Year.
• Hot tickets: Princeton High School sold out its allotment of 800 tickets by mid-morning Friday. Winnebago also had its own sales. There were limited seats available at the door Friday, with a spill-over crowd of near 2,000 filling the gym.
• Super matchups: Hales Fransiscan (27-2) will meet Elmhurst Timothy Christian (24-6), Providence St. Mel at Joliet Township High School, Robinson (24-5)will face Decatur St. Teresa (29-1)at the University of Illinois-Springfield and Murphysboro (29-2) vs. Breese Central (29-3) will do battle at West Frankfort High School.
• Tiger fan in Winnebago: Charles Rupich, a 1996 Princeton High School graduate, found himself right on the battle lines for Friday’s sectional championship. He lives in Winnebago, but still roots for the Tigers even though he says he’s surrounded by orange and black. His fiancee’s father is the head custodian at Winnebago High School.
Rupcich was pleased to hear how his hometown came through for last year’s supersectionals when the PHS bus went out to pick up Winnebago’s team when its bus broke down on Interstate 39. He said he was not surprised by Princeton’s show of good sportsmanship.
PHS grad Rob Washo wore Winnebago colors Friday. He said he holds a soft spot for PHS, but his kids will be going to Winnebago one day.
• Basketball in the blood: Winnebago senior Brad Reinke, a second-year starter for the Indians, has followed in the footsteps of his brother, Wes, who was a member of the Indians’ state teams in 2004 and 2005. Their oldest brother, Mitch, played for the Indians in the early 2000s and their younger brother, Matt, is a freshman and leading scorer of this year’s sophomore squad.
Their father, Jeff, is the former sports editor of the Dixon Telegraph. He attributes his family’s connection to basketball in large part to his coverage of and affection for the Ohio Bulldogs teams in the mid-’80s.
“I had a ton of respect for the way that team handled itself on and off the court,” Jeff Reinke said. “Lloyd Johnson was a tremendous coach and the way the community supported them was so impressive to me that I hoped one day that my boys could experience that type of thing.”
Reinke has coached all of his boys teams in youth and AAU ball.
• Tiger trivia: PHS junior reserve Jalen Dressler has a Tiger bloodline. His brother, Brandon, played for last year’s Elite Eight team and his father, Derek, played for the 1986 sectional finalist.
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