Cornerstone Christian and Central Catholic boys basketball season success
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Before a ball was dribbled or a shot was taken in the 2022-23 boys basketball season, John Schippert and Jason Welch had similar visions for their teams.
Schippert saw great possibilities in a young team at the freshman level a few years ago, while Welch had similar grand ideas for his team at the close of last season. Both coaches saw their seasons play out with remarkable and unforgettable trips to the boys’ state tournament in Champaign in March.
After beginning their athletic program outside of IHSA competition, the Cyclones wrote their names in the halls of the small private school (enrollment 115) on Bloomington’s east side with a fourth-place showing in Class A and a 32-7 final record.
Meanwhile, the Saints brought home their third state trophy under Welch, with a runner-up finish in Class 2A, to finish the season 26-12.
Milestone season years in the making.
At 15 years old, the boys’ basketball program at Cornerstone is younger than the varsity players themselves. So, when Schippert hosted the team at his home last fall and started talking about a goal of advancing to the state tournament, it probably raised an eyebrow or two.
“I’m sure they thought I was crazy,” Schippert said.
Schippert is no stranger to the Intercity basketball scene. Having served at Bloomington and Normal Community high schools in an assistant’s capacity, Schippert took the reins of the varsity program at Cornerstone two seasons ago. He was junior varsity coach for three years before that.
“I’ve had this group for four years,” Schippert said. “You knew they were special four years ago, because they all loved basketball, they could all dribble and shoot, they’ve been playing together since fifth grade and went 27-1 as freshmen.”
Cornerstone stormed into the state semifinals with a 58-28 victory over St. Francis de Sales out of Chicago in the Normal Super-Sectional at Illinois State. The Cyclones were revved up by a raucous fan base that followed them throughout the postseason.
“Our fans were phenomenal,” Schippert said. “We were essentially playing a home game at CEFCU Arena. We had at least 1,500 fans, and you could feel their roar. It was awesome for Cyclone nation.”
During the regular season, Cornerstone twice strung together winning streaks of 11 games. The first run began with a 57-53 win on the road over Lexington in early January.
“That was the beginning of us believing we could do it,” Schippert said.
Cornerstone rolled into the state tournament with an average margin of victory of 30 points in regional, sectional and super-sectional play. At state, Cornerstone fell, 70-46, to Waterloo Gibault Catholic in the semifinal before losing to Tuscola, 69-46, in the third-place game.
Schippert finds no shame in the outcome at state and rightfully so.
“There are schools that have been around for 50 years or more and haven’t gotten to experience what we did in our 15th season,” Schippert said. “There was sorrow in that it didn’t continue even longer than it did, but also such pride in what we did accomplish. From their freshman to senior year, these guys put up a record of 92-13. They’ve done a tremendous job of putting Cornerstone on the map.”
The team was paced by 6-foot-2 senior forward Jakson Baber, who led the Cyclones with a 17.6 scoring average and had a team-high 208 rebounds to earn all-state honors. He exploded for 50 points against Urbana Uni High. He is bound for Culver-Stockton College in Missouri where he plans to play soccer.
Senior guards Connor Scott and Austin Henard averaged just north of 11 points per game. Scott also dished out a team-high 201 assists.
Other team members include Kobi White, Jack Clark, Caleb Lade, Caden Smith, Jakson Baber, Austin Henard, Tate Witt, Josh Kalmes, Caleb Enescu, Noah Bricker, Cade Wolfe, Will Thoma and Elias Clinton.
Schippert’s assistant coaches were Chad Witt and Colton Cassady.
The ‘reading’ on a state season
The star power that junior guard Cole Certa provided the Saints’ boys basketball team can’t be understated as a driving force in a runner-up finish in Class 2A. Certa, who has scholarship offers from multiple Power 5 programs, led the Saints with 26.5 points per game and had college coaches at seemingly every game and even a few practices.
But for head coach Jason Welch, he saw his team start to come together away from the basketball court when the team began attending Mass together each Friday. Players eventually started to lead the daily readings in front of the congregation.
“Kids that age are often reluctant to get up and speak in front of people,” Welch said. “If you went up to read, you got to pick the person who would read next week. To see guys get up and read Scripture in front of their peers was something I’ll never forget. I can’t measure what it did for us as a basketball team, but I know it made us better.”
The Saints faced a challenging schedule in November and December and won nine of their first 13 games. But they lost five of eight heading into the postseason.
“We had a difficult schedule that we looked at like we were preparing for a test,” Welch said. “Everything was a learning opportunity for this team and when it came time to take the test, we were ready.”
After rolling through the Clinton Regional, Central Catholic squeaked by Pleasant Plains, 33-31, and rival University High, 72-69, to reach the Springfield Super-Sectional. Once there, the Saints handled Pontiac, 67-53, to advance to state for the third time under Welch.
“We just never got rattled,” Welch said. “When we were down in the postseason, we didn’t lose our composure, and almost seemed relaxed and calm. Maybe we didn’t have the best record, but we did have some of the best experience in terms of facing adversity.
“We played our best basketball at the end of the season.”
The Saints reached the championship game with a 57-44 triumph over Rockridge in the semifinals. The championship game was a 65-41 setback to DePaul College Prep to finish 26-12.
While Certa led the Saints in scoring all season and at state, Welch says it was a full team effort all season.
“Colin Hayes played his best basketball at the end of the season and was a solid double-double guy by the end of the year,” Welch said. “Rye Pirtz isn’t a guy who jumped off the stat sheet, but he made a lot of right plays toward the end of the year. Chase Fisher hit some huge shots at the end of the year and big free throws late in games. Trey Eller guarded the other team’s best player and was guarding all-staters by the end of the year.”
Other members of the squad include Grayson Schnierle, Malachi Barnes, TJ Larson, Rem Lee, Chase Fisher, Will Vogel, Ryan Russell, Bennett Summers, Finan Krenz and Charlie Graham. Welch’s assistants were Aaron Ellison, Tom Eller, Pat O’Brien and Georges LeFaivre II.
Meanwhile, Certa, who was named first-team all-state by the Associated Press, hits the summer AAU circuit with his stock continuing to rise. Since last summer, Certa has tweeted about scholarship offers he has received from multiple Big Ten programs, including Illinois. He also has offers from several Missouri Valley programs, including Illinois State.
“You don’t accidentally get offers from Power 5 schools,” Welch said of Certa’s talent. “He’s a special player. Some people call him a shooter, but he’s a scorer because he can get points from anywhere on the floor.”
Welch said Certa has handled the spotlight in a mature way.
“I’m proud of him as a player and as a young man,” he said. “He has a tremendous amount of pressure on him night in and night out. Sometimes you forget he’s a 17-year-old kid. I know he will come back for his senior year even hungrier.”
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