EDWARDSVILLE - Herb Martin led three Edwardsville players in double figures with 17 points as the Tigers clinched the Southwestern Conference championship outright with a 57-40 Senior Night win over Belleville West Friday night at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
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In the annual pregame ceremonies, the Class of 2025 - Martin, Dominic Boyd, Iose Epenesa, Brandon Hoffmann, A.J. McDonald, Jr., and Bryce Pryor - and their families were recognized, saluted, and thanked for their contributions to the Edwardsville boys basketball program. Then the Tigers went out and took care of business, a 30-15 halftime lead, outscoring the Maroons in the second quarter 15-3, to take the win and conference title.
"Tonight was a great night to celebrate our seniors, and lock up sole possession of the Southwestern Conference," said Edwardsville head coach Dustin Battas. "I am very proud of our program. Very proud of our coaches, and, of course, our players. This is a player-driven league, and if your'e going to have success in this league, you're going to have to have good players, and we certainly have that, along with being high-character young men. They've accepted every challenge we've thrown at them, and have a mutual admiration for each other. It's been a really rewarding group to be around. We have more work to do, and we are looking forward to the regional next week at Alton."
Remarkably, the Tigers reeled off 11 wins in a row after dropping the conference opener at Alton, Battas praised the work of the Tigers players in accomplishing the feat.
"Winning our conference with only one loss is really a hard thing to do," Battas said. "Especially when you lose your very first conference game of the season. To run the table the rest of the way is a testament to how good and committed these players are. Our assistant coaches have also been tremendous all year at motivating, teaching, and supporting our guys. I'm just very fortunate to be the leader of this program."
In the first half Martin scored eight points, while Miccah Butler connected on a pair of threes, holding the Maroons to only a three by Micah May to take a 30-15 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Epenesa came alive with seven points, while Martin scored six points in the final quarter to help the Tigers take their 57-40 win.
May came alive for West in the second half, scoring eight points, while Issac Jones had six points, but it wasn't enough, as the Maroons lost.
Martin led the Tigers with 17 points, while Epenesa came up with 15 points, Butler scored 13 points, Tucker Lindstedt had five points, Rowan Weller scored four points, and Pryor had three points. May led the Maroons with 14 points, while Jones hit for 10 points, Nicholas Hankins, Jr. had nine points, Brayden Estevlein had three points, and both Deshaun Gage and Caiden Capell scored two points each.
The Tigers conclude the regular season 27-2, and meet Granite City in the IHSA Class 4A regional next Wednesday at 6 p.m., while the Maroons finish up 13-16 and host Belleville East in their own regional Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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