EDWARDSVILLE—Senior forward Herb Martin led Edwardsville with 20 points and it was a late 18-5 run the Tigers went on with the Tigers trailing 40-38 that won the game over East St. Louis 53-45 on Tuesday night at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
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The Tigers held off the Flyers in a tight, closely-contested game in which neither team was able to pull away until late, when Martin hit a three to give Edwardsville the lead, and spark the Tigers on to the decisive run that clinched the game.
‘We did,” said Tigers head coach Dustin Battas. “Obviously, we’re feeling good. We’re proud of our guys and the effort. It’s been a bit of a wild two or three days, with the weather, and having to modify practice, or not getting to practice. I just thought our guys really prepared well, and controlled what they could control, and I think it showed on the court that the game meant a lot to them. I thought our defense was excellent; holding them to 45 points means you’ve got to guard well, but it also means you can’t turn the ball over and give them easy lay-ups. So, I thought we did a good job of handling their pressure, and then, being able to limit their transition baskets, and set our defense proved valuable to us.”
Many of the Tigers’ bench players made big plays when it was needed, and Battas saluted their efforts.
“I’m really proud of Tucker (Lindstedt),” Battas said. “Tucker made a couple of big free throws late, Miccah (Butler) made a couple, and Devyon Hill-Lomax got a big offensive rebound, or kind of tipped it to Herb, on a missed free throw. Those extra points, or those extra possessions really help, so those are guys that maybe don’t get as much credit or publicity as Herb, Miccah, Iose (Epenesa), and our seniors that play more minutes, but I thought those guys came off the bench, ran off, and was feisty, got a couple of deflections. So, it takes extra in these tough Southwestern Conference games, and I thought those guys that don’t get maybe 30 minutes a night, were very, very important to us, and were ready to go, whether they were going to play eight minutes, or play 15 or 20 minutes.
“So, very proud of the effort from all of our guys,” Battas continued, “and it took some guys stepping up a little bit, or stepping into roles they haven’t had to do as much to make that game successful for us.”
The tough stretch of the season continues for the Tigers as Collinsville on Friday night, and things don’t get any easier from there.
“It doesn’t get easier, and these next couple of weeks are really tough for us,” Battas said, “and Collinsville will be a tough one on Friday, and our guys look forward to playing. Friday night games in the Southwestern Conference are always fun, and we just reminded them that the way to do good on Friday is to have a really good practice tomorrow, and we believe our guys will do that, They’ve handled themselves this year, with practice and preparation having been a big part of our success. I am proud of our guys, and just looking forward to continuing in battle in the ever-challenging Southwestern Conference.”
Some crucial mistakes during the final part of the game ended up costing the Flyers the game, but it’s also a learning experience for a young East Side team.
“We made some crucial mistakes in the end,” said Flyers’ coach Mark Chambers. “Up two, we had a crucial turnover and another bad shot or turnover that put them up 43-40. You never look back, so, we’re at that point."
Bryce Pryor and Arlandis Brown traded threes to get the game started, with Brown hitting another three to give the Flyers an early 6-5 lead. The two sides then kept trading baskets, with Edwardsville holding a 12-11 lead after the first quarter. In the second, an Alex Johnson basket and a three from Brown gave East Side a 16-12 lead, but the Tigers returned to take the lead on consecutive baskets by Rowan Weller and Martin to take an 18-16 edge at halftime.
In the third quarter, Pryor scored off a turnover to up the lead to 20-16, with the two teams again trading baskets before a Butler three gave Edwardsville a 27-22 lead. East Side managed to cut the lead to 29-28 before a key three from Pryor upped the edge to 32-28, but Montreal Stacker hit a three of his own to cut the lead to 32-31, with the Tigers leading after three 34-33.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Devrice Johnson hit a three to give the Flyers a 36-34 lead, and traded baskets tied the score at 40-40. Martin’s big three gave the Tigers the lead at 41-40, and a pair of free throws by Martin upped the lead to 43-40. From there, the Tigers went on their run, using key free throws from Lindstedt, Martin, and Pryor, with Butler scoring the final basket to give the Tigers their 53-45 win.
Martin led the Tigers with his 22 points, while Butler added 14 points, Pryor his for nine points, Weller had six points, and Lindstedt had two points. The Flyers were led by Stacker with 12 points, with Devrice Johnson coming up with 11 points, Alex Johnson had nine points, Brown scored six points, Seth Kirkpatrick had four points, and Ishaia Brown had two points, and Lawson Bynum scored a single point.
The Tigers move to 12-1, and play at Collinsville on Friday at 7:30 p.m., then at Belleville Althoff Catholic on Saturday at 12 noon, before going to Belleville West next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
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