Carrollton High School Basketball Championship

The Carrollton High School boys basketball team went all the way to the final game of the IHSA Class A playoffs.  These are selected images from the last day of the event that cover their final day in the competition.  The complete catalog of images from the semi-final and championship games (includes game play action photos) is available online by clicking on the link below:

http://www.michaelrweaver.com/f641314038

(Peoria, IL) It's about 9:30 AM on the day of the Carrollton High School Hawks championship basketball game for IHSA Class A schools.  The team is loading onto the bus for their ride to a morning practice before the game at 2 PM.

(Peoria, IL) The Carrollton High School players bus takes to the streets of Peoria to deliver the team to a local high school gym for a practice before their 2 PM state championship game.

(Peoria, IL) The Carrollton Hawks arrive at Peoria Christian School to use the school's gym for practice after a win the previous day that places them in a championship game at 2 PM.

(Peoria, IL) Carrollton High School basketball coach Jeff Krumwiede tapes an ankle for one of his players before practice at Peoria Christian School the morning before their IHSA Class A championship game later that afternoon.

(Peoria, IL) Carrollton High School basketball coach Jeff Krumwiede begins talking to his team immediately before practice.  He is apologetic and in the process of explaining that he does not have video of the opposing team for them although he understand that their opposition has requested material from anyone that may have it.  The coach used the opposition's statistics to date to brief the team on how to handle their upcoming opponent.

(Peoria, IL) Members of the Carrollton Hawks basketball team walk down the long entry corridor at the Peoria Civic Center before their Illinois Class A championship game.

(Peoria, IL)  Carrollton basketball team members check in with tournament officials before being allowed into the arena.

(Peoria, IL) The Carrollton Hawks make their last walk to the locker room at the Peoria Civic Center before the Illinois Class A basketball championship game.

(Peoria, IL) The Carrollton Hawks head to their locker room after watching the game to decide who takes third and fourth places at the Illinois Class A basktball state tournament.

(Peoria, IL)  Carrollton High School basketball player Jordan Harr leads the team from the locker room onto the floor of the Peoria Civic Center immediately before the start of their Illinois Class A high school championship game.

(Peoria, IL) The fans and cheerleaders get excited as the Carrollton High School basketball team is introduced before beginning their championship game at the Peoria Civic Center.

(Peoria, IL) The cheerleaders of the Carrollton Hawks performing for the fans during the Illinois Class A basketball championship game at the Peoria Civic Center.

(Peoria, IL) A television cameraman at work during the Illinois Class A high school championship game.

(Peoria, IL) Carrollton High School coach Jeff Krumwiede looks up at the scoreboard as his team plays in the Illinois Class A championship game.

(Peoria, IL) With his Carrollton High School basketball team surrounding him with 2.1 seconds left in the game and with them one point behind, coach Jeff Krumwiede tells his players that if they ever had dreams of making a half court shot... now was the time to do it.

(Peoria, IL) The faces of the Carrollton High School basketball team show their disappointment as they hold their second place trophy.

Game Face of the Week 3

Best game face this week is the Carrollton High School basketball head coach.

This image was taken during the championship game of the Illinois Class A Sectional played in Nokomis, Illinois.  Home team Nokomis lost the game to Carrollton.  Carrollton now goes on to play in the Super-Sectional game to be held in Jacksonville.

(Nokomis, IL) As a fan from the opposing team taunts him from behind, Carrollton High School basketball coach Jeff Krumwiede shows his disapproval of a referee call during the Illinois High School Association Class A sectional game at Nokomis High School.

 See all the photos from the game by clicking on the title.

The Easy Shot I Didn't Take

(Greene County, IL USA) A view of the intersection of US Highway 67 and Kane Road looking north with signs for the Kane American Legion, a church, politicians and realtors.

As I got ready to turn onto Kane Road, I looked around and thought what a pretty day this is for early in February.  We have had a lot of days like that this winter, but where I was headed it wasn't so nice.  It's not so nice for any number of reasons, but I suppose number one on the list of many is that just a few days before a mother and her child had died in a house fire.   The night it happened I had just returned from Cedar Rapids in enough time to shoot a basketball game at a local high school and then went home with hundreds of images to edit.  I didn't know about the fire until the next morning.  It was on the local morning news.  I knew sooner or later I'd probably need to try and get something related to the fire.

The oil and chip road leading east from US Highway 67 to the rural village of Kane, Illinois.  Kane Cemetery is to the left at the center of the image with the village in the treeline.

When I arrived in Kane, I traveled the streets of the town and finally at the corner of Hinton Street and Hinton Alley, I found the burned out remains of the home.  When I first arrived, it was deserted with no one in sight.  After a few minutes a pickup truck arrived and the occupants got out and started talking to a person who lived close to the burned out house.

There was a younger man there with what I assume was his son.  He saw me with a camera and started toward me, glaring at my media credentials hanging around my neck. He walked away and took his son to the cross with the pile of stuffed animals.  I watch from behind them as he kneels down with his young son, holding him ever so close.  It was from a photographer's view a great moment.  An easy shot that I didn't make.  It was such a personal moment for them that I couldn't do it.  I had them framed in the viewfinder but got up and walked to my car.

(Kane, IL) The burned out remains of the home where Breanne Ferguson and daughter, Tristan Stark lost their lives in a house fire on January 25, 2012.  Friends and family created a makeshift memorial at the foot of the "Dead End" street sign.

Rather than intrude into the lives of two grieving people, I stopped by the Kane Cemetery and found the fresh graves.  The digging equipment tracks are still visible as I walked to the spot.  Side by side, mother and child.  Not so far away, across an open field from the town with the burned out house.

(Kane, IL) The graves of 28-year- old Breanne Ferguson and her daughter, 10-year-old Tristan Stark.  Both died in a house fire in the small rural village of Kane.  The village is visible across the field behind the graves.

Rolling in the New Year

The local hospital didn't know if they would have any new babies anytime soon (According to them it might well be Tuesday for a new baby.), so I headed off to the local bowling alley.  When I arrived, I soon realized that the place was packed as families and friends bowled in the new year.

(Jerseyville, IL USA)  Young bowlers take their turns on the lanes at the Tri County Bowl.  The lights are turned down and disco type colored lighting illuminates the lanes for the New Year Eve "cosmic" bowl.

Best Game Faces of the Week

(Rochester, IL USA) As fans cheer, a member of the Southwestern Middle School 8th grade team shows how she is feeling after receiving her second place team medal. The loss to Normal Kingsley was the first and only for Southwestern of the season.  Kingsley remained undefeated and won the state championship.



Sometimes you get great game faces in your images. These are two of the best this week. While they may not be a favorite of the subject, they are my favorites of this last week and they would both be basketball.

(Piasa, IL USA) A Jersey player shows his game face as the Southwestern player tries to block his shot.

Crown Fountain

(Chicago, IL USA) A face smiles at visitors to Crown Fountain in Millennium Park on a fall day in downtown Chicago.  The changing images on the panel are created by LED lights behind a wall of glass blocks.  During warmer weather the panel sprays water from the ever changing images.  This panel is one of two that face each other and form the fountain.

Millennium Park is a favorite spot for visitors to Chicago.  This image of a Crown Fountain tower panel was shot on a fall day after the water had been shut off for the season.  When the water is flowing you might see a face, which is created by an LED panel behind glass blocks, spurting water from pursed lips.  The fountain is comprised of two panels which face each other, spray water and change the image created by the wall of LED's.

Lara Logan - Ernie & Lucha Vogel Moral Courage Speaker

(Elsah IL USA) CBS foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan stands backstage and reviews material for the audience immediately before lecturing as the Ernie and Lucha Vogel Moral Courage Speaker at Principia College.

(Elsah, IL USA) CBS foreign affairs Correspondent Lara Logan onstage during her lecture as part of the Principia College 2011-2012 speaker series.  Logan is the chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News, and a correspondent for CBS's 60 Minutes.

Lara Logan has put herself in dangerous situations many times in order to report issues and events that shape the politics we see unfold in the middle east.  This has come at a very steep price and in February 2011, she was sexually assaulted and beaten by a mob while reporting on the Egyptian revolution in Tahrir Square.

Logan at one point addressed a question she has been repeatedly asked, "Was it worth it?"  Her answer was that if she had died, no, it wasn't worth it.  But she lived, and yes, she thought that it was probably worth it.  Then again, her husband, he would say that it wasn't worth it.

Personally, the woman I met was extremely pleasant.  She sometimes struggles as all parents do with juggling a career, a home life and children.  I give her credit for standing up and telling exactly what has been happening in places where we many times only see a sanitized view. 

Lara Logan smiling and talking in the "green room" before her lecture at Principia College. 

You can see all of the images by clicking on the link.

http://michaelweaver.zenfolio.com/p427496849