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PEORIA – Richard Robinson capped off a late 9-2 run with a dunk off of a missed free throw with three seconds left in regulation, then East St. Louis went on a 13-4 run in the second half of the overtime period as the Flyers won the IHSA Class 3A championship Saturday afternoon, defeating Chicago Bogan 68-63 at Carver Arena in Peoria.
It was the first-ever basketball championship for East Side in the 11th championship game in IHSA history to go into overtime, and the city of East St. Louis’ first title since Lincoln took the last of its three consecutive crowns in 1989.
The Flyers showed much resiliency in coming from behind both in regulation and overtime, something the team has done throughout the season.
“You hate to see anyone lose that game,” said East Side coach Mark Chambers. “They’re a really good team.
“We knew they were going to come out and attack us,” Chambers continued. “We knew they were going to be physical, we knew they were going to be good. All those things happened. But just like all year long, my guys found a way. We’ve been through a lot of adverse situations all year, we’ve been down, but we never wavered. All year, they’ve been finding a way, and today was no different.”
Chambers said that his team always believed in itself all season.
“You listen to them talk, you see them work, that’s where it all comes from,” Chambers said. “Them believing in greatness. Our motto has been ‘Chasing Greatness,’ and at the end of our huddles, we say ‘greatness,’ and that’s what they strive for. In the end, we have to be great.”
The Bengals made some fundamental mistakes late in the game that ended up costing them dearly.
‘We came down here, we gave it all we could give,” said Bogan head coach Arthur Goodwin. “We made a few fundamental mistakes, and it cost us the game.”
It’s always the little things that can decide a game, and the final was no different.
“We always tell them ‘little things win the game, and little things lose games,’” Goodwin said. “Free throws and the box out, and we’re in overtime. We make free throws, and we don’t even get to the box out, the game is over. We didn’t do the little things to finish this game off.”
Bogan started off the final with Rashaun Agee scoring the game’s first five points on a dunk, a layup, and a free throw. A three from Terrence Hargrove, Jr. and a free throw from Robinson cut the lead to 5-4, but baskets from Agee and Jordan Booker upped the Bengal lead to 9-4. Hargrove dunked to make it 9-6 before the Bengals scored the next seven points, off of a pair of Agee free throws, a Kyndal Davis basket and a three from Tyreon Hardin to make it 16-6. The teams traded baskets before a Cornellious LeFlore three made it 18-11 Bogan after one period.
The teams traded baskets again to start the second before a Robinson basket and Hargrove dunk cut the deficit to 20-18. Jayvon Clark scored to make it 22-18, and a pair of free throws from Hargrove made it 22-20. An exchange of baskets made it 24-22 for the Bengals at halftime.
Bogan jumped out to a 30-24 lead at the start of the second half, with Agee and Davis hitting threes in between a Hargrove basket, and baskets from Elijah Rice and Jashawn Anderson cut the lead to 30-28 before the Bengals went on a 7-0 run behind a pair of Agee dunks and a three from Antoine Bloxton to take a 37-28 lead. Both teams traded baskets and free throws as Bogan took a 45-36 lead after three quarters.
The two teams started evenly in the final period before Hargrove and Anderson scored to cut the Bogan lead to 47-42, then the two teams exchanged baskets again before a three-point play from Hargrove made it a 51-47 Bengal lead with 2:59 left in regulation. A pair of baskets from Hargrove and Robinson tied the game 51-51 with 1:22 left before a jumper from Agee gave the Bengals a 53-51 lead with a minute to go. The Bengals missed the front end of a pair of one-and-ones in the final seconds before Robinson dunked home an Anderson free throw miss with three seconds left to tie the game at 53-53 to force overtime.
“We knew we were going to have to put them on the free throw line,” Chambers said. “Fortunately, they missed a few of them, and we were able to convert on the offensive side.”
The teams exchanged free throws to start the overtime before free throws from Bloxton and Tremear Fraley and a basket by Darrion Jones gave the Bengals a 61-57 lead. Free throws from Hargrove and Robinson cut the lead to 61-60, then a pair of Anderson free throws with 1:07 left gave the Flyers the lead at 62-61. A Jones layup gave Bogan the lead back at 63-62 with 55 seconds left, then Hargrove, who will play next season for Saint Louis University, gave East Side the lead for good with a jumper with 34 seconds left in the overtime. A Robinson free throw and a three-point play from Anderson in the final seconds gave the Flyers the championship as East Side went on to the 68-63 win.
Hargrove led the Flyers with 32 points, while Anderson had 13 points and Robinson scored 11. Agee led the Bengals with 24 points, with Bloxton scoring 10.
Bogan ends the season 30-4, and Goodwin knew that the little things ended up hurting his team in the end.
“We came here to win it, we came here knowing we could win the 3A championship,” Goodwin said. “Like I said, when you don’t finish the game off, this is what happens. It’s part of March Madness. You have to make free throws, you have to box out, you can’t turn the ball over at the end.”
The Flyers win their first basketball championship with a record of 30-6, and Chambers saluted the fans who made the trip to Peoria to support his team.
“To hear our fans go crazy, that was amazing,” Chamber said, “and it actually gave us more energy to close this thing out.”
Colin Feeney also contributed to this story.
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