I didn't see much...

...of Northern Illinois University last night beyond the Convocation Center, above. I arrived later than expected (it was a wild goose chase, even by my standards), but still in time for the second half of the 3A Supersectional game in which Peoria Central dominated Rockford East, 77-59.

The 4A game, however, was the one I had traveled so far to see, and it was a doozy. No. 5 Rockford Auburn upset No. 3 Warren, 49-43, in the evening's thrilling finale.

I had seen Warren twice before, in a losing effort to Proviso East and in last Friday night's victory over Mundelein. The Blue Devils were my secret dark horse for the 4A championship. No more.

When the two squads took the court to begin the game I turned to the guy next to me and said, "Is this program right? Are they (Auburn) that short?"

And they were. Not one of the starters for Auburn was over six feet tall. How on earth, I thought, could they expect to compete with the likes of 6'8" Darius Paul and 6'9" Nathan Boothe?

But they did. The Knights may have even, through better positioning, out-rebounded the Blue Devils. In fact, Paul and JoVaughn Gaines, the other star for Warren, barely showed up for the game. Boothe and Mitch Munda carried the Blue Devils until the former fouled out with two minutes remaining. (I remember thinking, they may need that guy.) Auburn then went on a 9-0 streak to win the game.

But the star of the night was clearly Auburn guard Fred Van Vleet, who scored 27 points, over half his team's total, and contributed eight rebounds, five steals and five assists. Wow!

The Knights now have to face No. 2 Proviso East in Peoria on Friday night. I can't see how they can defeat the Pirates. But, then again, I didn't think they could beat Warren.

I'll be watching on TV this time.