EDWARDSVILLE - Junior forward A.J. Smith had a big game with 28 points, and guard Chris Chipman added nine, including five big free throws, as Metro-East Lutheran advanced to the semifinals of its Thanksgiving Turkey Tip-Off tournament with a 62-54 win over Marissa-Coulterville in the final quarterfinal game of the tournament, played Wednesday night at Hooks Gym.
Elliott Wilson also contributed to the Knights win with 10 points, including a pair of threes, as did Nathan Butler with nine points, including three free throws.
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Metro-East led after each quarter, taking a 14-6 lead at the end of the first, then extending the edge to 32-20 at halftime, and opening up a 46-31 advantage after the third quarter.
Sebastian Ivory-Greer, one of the Meteors' best players had a big game as well, scoring 20 points before fouling out, and Logan Jones came up with 19 points, including five threes, to keep it close, but Metro-East was able to prevail in the end.
Cam Gusewelle was the only other Knights' player to score, coming up with six points. The other Marissa players to score were Austin Gilley, with seven, Garrett Harrell had five points, and Blake Steinwagner scored three.
The Knights are now 2-0, and will face Marquette Catholic, who edged Roxana 38-35, in the second semifinal on Friday night, with the game tipping off at 7 p.m. It's a rematch of last year's final, which was won by the Explorers 50-37. The Shells and Meteors meet up in a fifth place semifinal Friday afternoon at 4 p.m., with both games to be played at Hooks Gym.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
