A high school basketball program in the state of Illinois took advantage of an inexplicable clock rule to pull a massive upset in the playoffs on Friday night. The unusual strategy, while completely legal, led to an extremely controversial result even though it ultimately proved effective.
This latest incident should force the state to implement a shot clock to avoid this kind of shenanigans in the future. It made a mockery of the sport!
Eastland High School is located in the small town of Lanark, Illinois and enrolls less than 400 students. It finished the 2024-25 regular season ranked No. 5 in the Class 1A division. Pecatonica High School, affectionally known as Pec, is located in Pecatonica, Ill. It also enrolls less than 400 students and finished the regular season as the top-ranked team in Class 1A.
The Cougars traveled 38 miles east to face the Indians in the Class 1A Pecatonica Sectional final on Friday night. They simply refused to play basketball for the majority of the first quarter.
A shot clock does not exist for high school basketball in the state of Illinois. Teams are allowed to hold the ball on offense for as long as they would like. There is no penalty for a failure to shoot, or even dribble, for that matter. There is nothing to stop them from an intentional stoppage of play.
Eastland decided to use the rules to its advantage in an effort to upset a Pecatonica team that won each of their last three matchups in the last year. The Cougars immediately parked the bus after they took possession off of the opening tip. They did not even try to score for the majority of the first quarter.
Eastland won the tip and is just holding the ball now. This is something else. No one has budged. Pec side wanted a travel. They are going to run down the whole clock. pic.twitter.com/gomAPTuKOZ
— Drake Lansman (@Drake_Lansman) March 8, 2025
It was a literal standoff. Nobody moved for more than six minutes.
A complete standstill to open the game?
— Joshua Shuman (@JShumanTV) March 8, 2025
4 minutes off the clock and still going in the first. Not a single shot yet pic.twitter.com/5g0un2tqBV
As a result of Eastland’s frustrating strategy, Pecatonica led only 1-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Eastland holds on to ball for nearly the entire first quarter. Pecatonica leads 1-0 after one. pic.twitter.com/PveHa0u8Th
— Josh Ryczek (@joshryczek) March 8, 2025
The home team trailed 8-5 at the end of the first half and the visitors were met by a loud chorus of boos. Head coach Tyler Zumdahl did not care.
I thought they’d come out and guard us. We just kind of wanted to slow it down and work for really high percentage shots. When they decided to hang back, we were fine with that; shorten the game down a little bit.
— Eastland head coach Tyler Zumdahl
The Indians had one of the best offenses in the state during the regular season but their sectional final opponent kept them from their usual up-tempo pace. They lost by 5.
Eastland won its first-ever sectional final by a final score of 36-31 and will advance to the Super-Sectionals on Monday night. It did what it had to do to win.
A bold strategy pays off as Eastland knocks off the 1A favorites Pecatonica 36-31.
— Joshua Shuman (@JShumanTV) March 8, 2025
Amidst the high atmosphere, the Cougars won the tip and held the ball for the game's first seven minutes. They continued to play cautiously, picking their moments to score. After falling to… pic.twitter.com/7vyoIwyX9x
Credit to the underdogs. Their strategy, while infuriating and perhaps unethical, was well within the rules. And it worked! The state of Illinois presented the Cougars with an advantage that they used to win.
With that being said, the Illinois High School Association should not allow for this kind of game plan to continue. I would hope that this bizarre upset win leads to the implementation of a shot clock for next season and beyond. A one-point first quarter is ridiculous!