I'd like to say I've been around the basketball block a few times, that I remember when shorts were shorts and Converse stampeded across gym floors and playgrounds everywhere.

One thing I do know, though? Even if I had been, I'd be hard-pressed to have seen a better coaching job than the one Tim Marshall has done for Sauk Prairie this season.

In a season that started with considerable promise - seniors Sam Koenig and Drew Carden were poised to replace graduated team-leading scorer Garrett Schwarz, and junior Matt Rudig was poised to step into a more prominent role than the one he held as a sophomore - but was sidetracked by a 4-5 start and the loss of Koenig to a then season-ending back injury, Marshall managed to keep everyone on the same page.

When the Eagles finished the first half of the Badger North Conference season 2-4 and in second-to-last place, Marshall re-energized the team by getting them to work toward an unbeaten second half and second place in the conference.

Even Koenig's return - in the third-from-final conference game - didn't sidetrack that from happening. In fact, Marshall eased Koenig back into the starting line-up seamlessly.

That meant senior Jordan Peters and juniors Derek Sullivan, Jay Kuenster and Brendan Coy would all see less minutes. But no one put "me" before "team."

It's an overused cliche - that's there's no "I" in "team" - but it's more relevant in basketball now than it's ever been.

Remember when Jeronne Maymon - a star senior forward for Madison Memorial last season - struggled mightily against the 1-3-1 zone Marshall employed to perfection in a hard-fought regional-final win for Memorial, the eventual Division 1 state champion?

He seemed to care more about what Marquette could do for him to get to the NBA than what he could do for it to win this season, and he abruptly left the team in December.

There was none of that when Koenig returned. In fact, the Eagles only improved.

"I think it made us a better team," Marshall said March 13, after the sectional final win over Madison Edgewood. "I think it was kind of a hidden blessing, when Sam did go down, that other guys were able to step up. Then he comes back in, we don't miss a beat, and it's just been a great ride."

Yes, it has. And it's one Marshall knows all too well doesn't come around too often. His dad coached at Stoughton for 30 years of a 34-year coaching career, tallied more than 500 wins and is a member of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

But he never made it to Madison.

"And here I am in my third year, and we're going to the state basketball tournament," Marshall said. "This is beyond my wildest dreams."

Dreams. Everyone on the team dreamed of this moment.

It's why Koenig worked so hard to prove his doctor wrong and get back on the floor - even though he has a future as a baseball player with a scholarship to UW-Milwaukee next season.

It's why it was painfully obvious to Edgewood coach Chris Zwettler that the Eagles "really play well with each other."

It's also why the Eagles' first state title - after runner-up finishes in 1996 and 1997 - might be still to come.

Marshall can't take all the credit, though.

"I got lucky, I got hired at the right time," he said. "This is a great group of kids."

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