O’FALLON – Jack Marinko scored 28 points and hit a milestone by scoring his 1,000th career point during the game, but Lawrence Brazil III’s 20 points and E.J. Liddell’s 19 helped Belleville West defeat Edwardsville 68-44 to win the IHSA Class 4A O’Fallon regional Friday night at the Panther Dome. The Tigers were eliminated with a record of 18-9, while the Maroons go to 27-2 to advance to the Pekin sectional next week.
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The Tigers jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and held a 15-10 advantage after the first quarter. West took the lead in the second, used an 8-0 at the end of the period to take the lead, and never looked back.
“Well, first of all, I thought my guys executed great,” said Edwardsville coach Mike Waldo. “I thought we really did a good job of defensively of what we practiced, and you know, they’re had to guard because they had a lot of guys make shots. But I really do think my guys did a great job of giving them the shots we wanted to give them most of the game. I thought we executed a lot of things great on offense against a big, rangy, well-coached team.
"Their pressure was good; we did a good job against their pressure early, and we got a lot of open looks early in the game when they trapped us. But as the game wore on, they did a better job of being able to pressure, and then not give us wide open shots. So, I just think you’ve got to give them a lot of credit for the way they played.
“When you play against a delay game, that’s hard to do,” Waldo continued. “You’ve got to try hard, and you’ve also got to have discipline. And I think you’ve got to give them a lot of credit as the game wore on, they really got good at that.”
The Tigers were able to defend well against a good athletic team as the Maroons.
“Like I said, I thought defensively, we did a lot of things really well,” Waldo said. “They’re a hard team to rebound against, I mean, they’ve got a lot of guys that can go get, and they try hard to go get it. And I think my guys battled hard tonight. In the second quarter, we had a couple of open looks we didn’t get in. And then we got some fouls, and that ended up how they got ahead of us in the second quarter.”
The opening quarter saw the Tigers get off to a dream start, as Marinko scored the game’s opening basket and also a three-ball sandwiched around an R.J. Wilson basket to give Edwardsville a 7-0 lead 2:25 into the game. After Liddell broke the ice for the Maroons, Marinko hit another three to extend Edwardsville’s lead to 10-2. After an exchange of threes, Liddell scored West’s next five points on a three-point play and a dunk to make it 13-10.
JaylenTuggle scored shortly before the siren to make it 15-10 in favor of Edwardsville after one. As the second period started, a three by Brazil and a pair of free throws from Malachi Smith tied the game for the first time at 15-15. Nick Hemken scored from underneath to give Edwardsville back the lead, but a three-ball from Curtis Williams put West up by one. The lead changed hands twice before Tuggle scored from underneath to give the Tigers a 21-20 lead. West went to work and scored the period’s last eight points, a free throw by Liddell, a Smith drive to the basket, two more free throws by Liddell and a three from Williams to give West a 28-21 lead at halftime.
The Maroons extended their edge to 34-23, courtesy of baskets by Liddell and two from Brazil, forcing Edwardsville to call time. Marinko scored the next five points to cut the lead to six, but West doubled the lead on two baskets by Brazil and another from Liddell. The Maroons made the score 46-31 at three-quarter time, and extended their lead at the start from a dunk by Liddell and a basket from Kevin Randolph, Jr. The Tigers kept battling, getting a basket and a three from Caleb Strohmeier before he fouled out with 2:42 left. The Maroons ran out 68-44 winners to take the regional crown.
Waldo praised both the Maroons and his team.
“Well, you know what? Belleville West has got good players,” Waldo said, “but they do a really good job of using those guys. They put you in bad positions all the time, and by what I mean by that is when you take something away, they’ve got something else open. They put their players in such good positions, that they put you in binds all the time; you double the post, you give this up, and so on. And they’ve got athletes, but they’re extremely well-coached. And a team that’s got athletes that’s prepared, and are well-coached, that’s a hard team to beat. And I thought my guys — actually, I thought we did a great job tonight.”
Foul trouble also hurt the Tigers throughout the night.
“They just put you in positions where it’s hard sometimes to keep from fouling them,” Waldo said. “That was a factor in the game.”
And Waldo had very special praise for Marinko and his teammates.
“Jack Marinko has got the heart of a lion,” Waldo said with emphasis. “That guy tries so hard every day. He sprinted countless miles this year in practice and in games, using all these screens. Jack Marinko’s got the skill, he’s smart, he’s got the heart. But I think probably, the best thing he has is that he’s a great teammate. And the guys love him. And that’s why Strohmeier and R.J. Wilson have set 10,000 screens this year. And you could see him standing there, and you could see Jack coming, and you could see Strohmeier and R.J.’s body just shiver, get drilled so Jack could get open. So good for Strohmeier and R.J., standing there and know you’re going to get drilled and take it. And good for Jack; they love Jack. Good for him. There’s a reason why they love him is what a great teammate he is. So, I think it’s a combination of those things.”
While the Tigers’ season is concluded, the Maroons advance to play Quincy, a 57-36 winner over Alton in the Blue Devils’ own regional, Tuesday night at the Redbirds Nest. Tip-off will be 7 p.m., with the winner playing against the winner of the other semifinal between Moline and Rock Island in the sectional final next Friday night. The sectional winner goes on to the Normal Supersectional March 13 at Illinois State’s Redbird Arena.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
