Prep rivalry takes a back seat to the adults' drama

Mention Bell City High School boys basketball and, chances are, you'll hear about a reason to dislike David Heeb.

Better yet, ask him yourself. He's heard the reasons enough to have the list memorized.

He recruits athletes. He lacks sportsmanship. He's too young. He's too arrogant. He's lost control of his program. He's lost control of himself.

"It all gets back to me," Heeb said. "I've heard it all."

At 24 and the coach of the defending Class 1 state championship team, Heeb is rural America's version of Bobby Knight: emotional, passionate about the game, destined to win.

Love him or hate him, he and his teams do win -- and they win a lot. The Cubs are 17-3 and No. 2 in the state Class 1 poll.

But the methods Heeb has used to get to that point is a hot topic.

"There are a lot of things going on there that are unsound for students and athletes. I've never seen anything like it," Advance coach Jim Hall said. "The people and athletes at Bell City are good people. We've never had a problem with their athletes. This just comes down to one coach and his actions."

The athletic programs at both schools already were local rivals separated by 10 miles, but the games have taken a back seat to finger-pointing, accusations and bitterness in the past few months.

Much of it has stemmed from a claim that a Southeast Missouri State University student serving as an assistant coach, Ryan Michael Blaha, took a swing at an Advance player after a game Dec. 10. Advance school officials, who say a videotape proves their case, pressed charges, and Blaha's preliminary hearing for third-degree assault is set for Feb. 26.

But it's not the first complaint Heeb's heard since he arrived at Bell City in time for the 2000 season.

He came under attack from opposing coaches last season for allegedly recruiting athletes, but since no formal complaint was filed by the schools, the Missouri State High School Activities Association did not investigate the issue. Heeb denies that athletes have been recruited.

As coach of the school's junior high team this season, Heeb was criticized in a letter by Zalma school officials after a particularly lopsided game. Heeb counters that there weren't enough players to substitute. Since then, the schools agreed to drop each other from their schedules.

On the varsity level, Heeb and his team were booed in the conference tournament last week at Bloomfield, Mo., after Heeb sent his team off the court within seconds after defeating Advance. Advance coaches and players were left standing at midcourt awaiting post-game handshakes. Heeb and Bell City principal Rhonda Nienczwyk say they told Advance principal C.A. Counts of their intentions and hoped it would prevent a confrontation between the coaches and teams.

Hall said it was yet another sign of poor sportsmanship. Heeb said Advance knew of the agreement and stood at midcourt only to "show up" Bell City.

And so it goes.

In high school, Heeb played basketball at Scott County Central for coach Ronnie Cookson. Like Cookson himself, Heeb is accustomed to his actions being under scrutiny.

He doesn't argue that he's been whistled for six technical fouls -- that includes during varsity, junior varsity and junior high games -- and ejected from a game this season. He admits he takes passion and emotion into each game. He says he's made mistakes, but is unapologetic when it comes to coaching.

"If anybody was around me for a day, they'd see I'm not hard to get along with," he said. "I'm not an arrogant person. Our kids aren't either. In fact, our kids and the kids from Advance get along fine. The adults are the ones doing stupid things -- myself included -- to keep the problem going."

In a time when the glamorized bling-bling of LeBron James rules high school basketball, the game could use a dose of tradition. Instead, athletes are pushed aside in favor of adults' personal interests. And even though everybody involved says they're ready for the finger-pointing to end, nobody appears ready to make the first move to make it stop.

"Anytime you have a conflict, you've got to communicate effectively with the people on the other side of it," said Chris Janet, the Notre Dame athletic director who hired Heeb to coach the school's freshman basketball team for one season before Heeb left for Bell City. "I'd just like to see everybody involved in this try to promote the communication that puts the problem to rest."

Sadly, nobody has. And that, more than the accusations themselves, is the most unfortunate part.

Jamie Hall is the sports editor of the Southeast Missourian.