After eighth grade, when Orlin Nesbitt moved from Downers Grove to Beecher, he had no idea what he was getting into. He confirmed that he knew absolutely nothing about the small town.
Nesbitt decided to do some research online, but he looked up the wrong Beecher.
“I called up the one in Flint, Michigan, and not the one here,” Nesbitt said. “Their team is crazy.
“But when I came to this Beecher, they made me feel welcome right away.”
Nesbitt is still known as the “new kid” on the team considering that most of the seniors have played together since kindergarten. But the junior forward has been fitting in just fine.
His 11 points were huge Friday night for the top-seeded Bobcats in a tough 64-55 victory over fifth-seeded Joliet Catholic in the Class 2A Westmont Regional championship game.
Adyn McGinley scored a game-high 26 points as Beecher (32-0) won its second regional title in program history, the first coming in Class A in 2007. Ethan Rydberg added 10 points.
The Bobcats, the only undefeated team remaining in Illinois, will play at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Bismark-Henning (30-3) in the Clifton Central Sectional semifinals.
Drew Willis led Joliet Catholic (11-20) with 18 points and JJ Sterrett had 15.
Nesbitt, meanwhile, scored five points in the first quarter to keep Beecher close with a 12-12 tie. He added six points in the fourth to help the Bobcats maintain their lead.
“He can score, and he can go in there and grab any board he wants,” McGinley said of Nesbitt. “He’s so athletic. He’s helped us win a lot of games. We love him for that.
“We still call him the new kid around here.”
Beecher coach Tyler Shireman said he got the call in July 2021 about Nesbitt.
“The guidance counselor called me and said, ‘Hey, there’s a kid here who wants to play basketball and you need to see him,’” Shireman recalled. “I said, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ The guidance counselor does this all the time.
“So, I went to meet him and his mom. I saw him and let him shoot around, and I said, ‘Open gym is 8 a.m. I’ll see you there.’”
If Nesbitt stayed in Downers Grove, he would have gone to Downers Grove North, which ended up 32-5 last season and finished fourth in Class 4A. But he has no regrets.
“Obviously, North has all the hype and a great facility,” Nesbitt said. “Going to a 2A school, I never put my head down or said, ‘Forget this town.’ Nothing like that.
“I want to continue my basketball career, and Beecher has been great.”
Joliet Catholic led by nine points in the second quarter and 28-23 at halftime.
According to the regular-season records, this should have been a lopsided matchup. But the Hilltoppers face a bunch of Class 3A and 4A schools, including both Marist and Benet twice.
While that meant a limited amount of wins for Joliet Catholic, the Hilltoppers did produce a quality 68-67 victory over SouthWest Suburban Red co-champion Lincoln-Way West on Feb. 10.
They also gave the Bobcats a tough time.
“What a great game — that’s exactly what playoff basketball should be,” Joliet Catholic coach Adam DeGroot said. “It was two great teams battling back and forth.
“McGinley made some great plays down the stretch, and that’s why he’s an all-state player.”
McGinley’s buzzer-beating layup to close the halftime deficit to five points loomed large as the Bobcats were pumped up as they ran toward the locker room.
“It was a big deal,” Shireman said. “It was nice to run into the locker with a little momentum. I sprinted too. It helped us stay close. We knew we were going to go on a run in the second half.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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