MASCOUTAH - Justin King scored 24 points in leading three Mascoutah players in double figures as the Indians took advantage of Edwardsville miscues while the Tigers struggled offensively in a 63-47 Mascoutah win in a boys basketball game played Tuesday night at Mascoutah High.
The Tigers started out well were able to execute their offense well throughout the night, but couldn't score at key times, and it made a big difference in the game.
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"We got off to a good start, but then, we had some trouble guarding them," said Edwardsville head coach Dustin Battas, "and we missed some baskets. They're a really good team, they took advantage of some of our mistakes and they played pretty well."
Bryce Spiller led the Tigers with 14 points, while Malik Allen hit for 12 points, A.J. Tillman scored five points, both Isayah Kloster and Shaun Pacatte each scored three points and Jordan Bush, Hersch Greene, Lucas Greer, Iose Epenesa and M. Greer all scored two points apiece.
Despite the loss, there were many positive things to come out of the game.
"We did a great job taking care of the ball," Battas said. "We only had six turnovers and we executed our set plays well. But we just made a few mistakes and had a rough shooting night. We did take care of the ball and got some shots that we were working on in practice. We just ran into a good team tonight."
The Tigers led after the first quarter 16-12, but Mascoutah came back to take a 29-25 lead at halftime, expanded upon it to 45-36 after three quarters, then outscored Edwardsville in the fourth 19-13 to take the win.
Edwardsville's individual scores weren't available at press time, but King's 24 points led the Indians, with Derek Plab and Jack Seibert both scoring 12 points apiece, Darien Singleton had nine points, Quincy Hall hit for four points and Ryan Bibb scored two points.
Mascoutah is now 19-6 and return to Mississippi Valley Conference play tonight at Civic Memorial, then are at Triad on Friday night, with both games starting at 7:30. The Tigers go to 10-16 on the year and host their Senior Night game against East St. Louis at Lucco-Jackson Gym, which will also be Hall of Fame Night, where the newest members of the Edwardsville High Hall of Fame will be inducted, in a 7:30 p.m. start. Edwardsville then plays at Collinsville next Tuesday and finishes the regular season at Belleville West Feb. 19.
"We'll honor our seniors and it should be a fun night," Battas said. "We have a list of things to get better at and that's what we'll work on tomorrow."
