EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville's boys kept within 15 points of Southwestern Conference in a 60-45 loss to powerhouse East St. Louis on Friday night, Jan. 16, 2025, at EHS.
It was Hall of Fame night at the gamerid, with the 2026 Class being introduced in pregame ceremonies, and East Side roared out to a quick lead, and were never headed. The Tigers came back in the final quarter, and did plenty of good things throughout the night. The Flyers’ fast start was too much to overcome.
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Jamison White led three players in double figures with 23 points, as East St. Louis led at halftime 38-18 then turned back a comeback attempt by Edwardsville to take a critical Southwestern Conference win over the Tigers at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
“We did some things well,” said Edwardsville head coach Dustin Battas. “They’re really good, so your room for error is much smaller, because of their size, and their speed. Their room for error is greater. I thought it just came down to we had too many possessions, especially early, where we didn’t execute, or we gave them an easy basket at the rim, and we fixed that.
"Credit to our guys, they really competed, played better, and that’s what got us back into the game. There’s surely some bright spots, but overall, when you’re playing a really good team, you’d like to get off to a little bit better start and execute a little bit better in the first half.”
The Flyers' defense focused on both Brady Niemi and Miccah Butler, who made a combined 14 threes in the first meeting in East St. Louis on Dec. 2, 2026.
The strategy worked, as the Tigers made four threes in the entire game.
“We thought they would put some defensive attention on Brady and Miccah,” Batttas said, “because the made 14 threes at their place earlier in the season, and those guys are established shooters. I thought we had Devyon (Hill-Lomax)at the rim a couple of times, and Rowan (Weller) did a good job in seeing that.
"But I think we were only four-of-27 in threes in the first half, which is a little bit under our average, but that’s because of their length and their speed, so we made a few adjustments at halftime, and we executed things a little bit better.
"Missing Matthew (Wilson) hurt some, having another physical body that can score some around the rim, and I thought Tucker (Lindstedt) and Max (McMicaehl) gave us some extended minutes while Matt’ s recovered from being sick.
"There are a lot to be proud of, but we know that if we want to go to where we want to go, we have to find some ways to win those types of game, and the good news about basketball is you get to come right back and play tomorrow. So, we'll prepare for (Belleville) Althoff (Catholic) in the morning, and get right back on the court and get this sour taste our of our mouth."
The difference for Edwardsville in the second half was being able to make shots, and playing better defense against a good East Side team.
“You’re making shots,” Battas said, “and they’re missing some. I know that sounds basic, but that’s the reality. I thought we did a better job in making them take contested shots out of the lane, guarded the paint better, rebounded better. And then, rowan was really reading , put (White) in some ball-screen covers, and hit Devyon at the rim a couple of times.
"And so, you’re guarding better, and they’re missing some, we’re executing a little better on offense, and getting more high-percentage shots. We got shots, even in the first half, but got ones in the second half I thought practiced, and ones that were in the flow of our offense. So, there’s certainly an execution element of it, and sometimes, you just need the ball to bounce your way some. They missed some threes they were making in the first half, and then, we made some, and that kind of allowed us to get back in it.”
White certainly made a big difference for the Flyers in the game, and Battas sang his praises of what he means to East Side.
“He’s really physical,” Battas said, “He’s got a big body, he’s really handsy, he does a good job of getting a defender in a position where he can score. We obviously tried to focus on him some, but he’s a strong, physical he moves guys, he get rebounds, and he’s above the rim a lot. And that’ a hard match-up for anybody I thought Max really did a lot of good things, but that’s probably another example of where we missed Matthew’s strong body a little bit.”
Philip Jones hit a three, and both Terri’yon Webster and Devin Houston both scored to give the Flyers an early 7-0 lead, before Linsted hit on a three to put the Tigers on the board at 7-3. Alex Johnson and White then scored to give East Side an 11-3 advantage, White and the Flyers took charge, with White hitting his shots, putting East Side into a 23-10 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, White continued to dominate, and get help from Devrice Johnson and Jones as the Flyers built a 20-point lead and went into halftime ahead 38-18,
White scored the first two baskets of the second quarter to give the flyers a 42-18 advantage, and East Side continued to maintain a 20-point lead but slowly but surely, the Tigers began to chip away, getting a pair of threes from Niami and baskets from Hill-Lomax to cut the East Side lead to 49-34 at three quarter time. Baskets from Hill-Lomax ax at the start of the fourth quarter got the lead down to 49-40, and the Tigers were able to come within 52-45 late, and had a chance to cut the lead even further, but the Flyers were able to hold off Edwardsville with free throws from Houston and a dunk from White to take the 60-45 win.
White led the Flyers with his 23 points, while Alex Johnson had 19 points, many in big situations, Jones came up with 13 points, Houston scored seven points, Devrice Johnson had three points, and both Webster and Rahaan Wallace had two points each. Butler led the Tigers with 13 points, while Niemi had 12 points, Hill-Lomas scored six points, both Weller and Lindstedt had five points each, and Sire Bolden had a single point.
Edwardsville is now 12-4, and play the host Crusaders in the Southern Illinois Classic Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m., then host Decatur Eisenhower next Friday, and Mascoutah Jan. 27, both games starting at 7:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
