Sports Column | John Homan: Is sportsmanship dead or just hard to find?

I am one who firmly believes sportsmanship in athletics is important.

Without a doubt, Wabash Valley is a vastly superior women's basketball team to Logan. The Lady Warriors led the Volunteers, 76-28, at the half and didn't let up on the accelerator in the second half, ultimately winning 130-63.

That's a 67-point spread. Was that continuous push to score necessary when the spread widened beyond 50 and even 60 points?

Why did Wabash Valley head coach Luke Scheidecker feel the need to pile on? Why did he feel the need to question some officials' calls with the game so far out of reach? Why coach the second half as though the outcome of the game was to be determined the next trip down the floor?

And when fisticuffs nearly broke out with less than two minutes to go in the game, he was screaming bloody murder that the officials get the game under control and eject a Logan player and female fan of the Vols who had stepped out onto the floor.

Was the Logan player who physically attacked the Wabash Valley player at fault? Absolutely. She received two technical fouls and was ejected.

Was the fan - allegedly a family member of the player ejected - who walked onto the court and yelled at the Wabash Valley coach at fault? Absolutely. There is no place for that type of behavior. She was also ejected from the game.

Was the Warriors head coach culpable? In my opinion, absolutely.

You reap what you sow as the saying goes. And what Scheidecker sowed, I believe, was disrespect and contempt for his opponent. Perhaps, he should have expected what happened.

There was no humility - no kindness - no sportsmanship.

If the situation were reversed, I highly doubt that the Wabash Valley head coach would be thrilled with Logan running up the score on his team.

I guess I am living in fairy tale land because I expect leaders of young women and men to be held to a higher standard.

Winning is great, always will be preferred to losing, but integrity and class are still more important, or at least should be. When you are ahead of your opponent by 50 points at halftime, there is no need to add to that advantage in the second half. There is no need to be demonstrative on the sidelines and certainly no need to question officials' calls.

We get it, coach. You have a good team and you like to show people that you know how to coach. But you don't need to rub it in other people's faces in the process. And you may not think that you did so this past Saturday, but from my vantage point, you most certainly did.

And for that reason, I believe, you were at least partly responsible for what transpired late in the game. It is my hope that you keep that in mind the next time you roll out to a gargantuan lead.

All that said, the Logan women's basketball program, once revered as one of the best in all of junior college basketball for more than two decades, is now circling the drain. It's on life support.

The banners that hang inside the gym detailing the accomplishments of the past are blurring.

Players were recruited from Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Missouri, as well as Illinois. The only local product is Mount Vernon grad Kennady Hayes.

If you're going to recruit players from outside the Logan district, you had best field a competitive team. Because as of now, Logan would be better off losing with all local kids or dropping down to Division II JUCO like the Rend Lake College men and drawing a larger crowd to the games.

Amanda Shelby, who took over the program from Marty Hawkins several years ago - who took over the program from Hall of Fame head coach Gary Barton - has simply not been able to restore the program's once-proud reputation as a force on the hardwood.

Through 18 games this season, the Lady Vols are a disappointing 6-12 overall and are 2-6 in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference. The team hasn't been to a national tournament in more than a decade.

More important, this year marks the fifth-straight losing season for the Logan women. My, how times have changed.