EDWARDSVILLE – Herb Martin led Edwardsville in scoring again, this time with 20 points, and Miccah Butler added 16 points as the Tigers went on a 15-1 and 23-4 run in the first half to take a 64-33 win over Riverview Gardens of north St. Louis County in a boys basketball game played Monday night at Lucco-Jackson Gym.

Get The Latest News!

Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.

The Tigers won their seventh game in eight starts with the win over the Rams, and are well set for the Don Mauer Holiday Invitational tournament over the Holidays at Mary Institute-Country Day School in Ladue, Mo. In west St. Louis County.

“We’re proud of our guys, getting a win,” said Tigers head coach Dustin Batta. “It’s always a challenge, and our guys prepared well yesterday. They have a couple of good guards, (Tyrique Collins-McIntyre) especially, he’s averaging around 15 points a game. So, I thought we did a good job on defense, kind of eliminating the easy baskets in the first half. And they were able to get some momentum on offense after a little bit of a slow start. So, executed things well, I thought our intensity on defense was really the difference.”

The Tigers did get off to a sluggish start on offense, but once the Tigers got things going, they were very hard to stop.

“It’s just one of those things, sometimes, a couple of shots weren’t falling early,” Battas said, “we tried to get the ball in some inside to Iose (Epenesa) early, had a couple of tough breaks early on some post passes. But we got some baskets to go, got some momentum, and we were able to score 20 points in the first quarter after slow start, and just kind of kept up the momentum from there.”

Both Martin and Butler played well throughout, and they have been the main linchpins for Edwardsville’s good start.

“Our guard play has been good,” Battas said. “Balanced scoring is always good. Herb’s been able to score more points this year than he has in the past, and that’s been a big part of our success, and Miccah being able to stretch defense is a big reason Herb’s been able to get to the basket; A lot of teams have spent a lot of attention on Iose, and that’s opened up things for Bryce (Pryor. Even Rowan (Weller) had some baskets tonight, and we’re continuing to encourage him to be more aggressive offensively, and attack the basket. He’s done a great job assisting, and taking what the defense gives him. So, well-rounded effort, and our guard play’s going to be a big part of our success moving forward in our rugged conference.”

Article continues after sponsor message

The Rams got a basket at the start from Collins-McIntyre to lead 2-0, but that would be the only lead Riverview would have in the entire game, as Martin tied things up with a basket, and Martin hit a three to give the Tigers a 5-2 lead. Another basket from Collins-McIntyre cut the lead to 5-4, but the Tigers then went on a 15-1 run the rest of the period, as Martin, Butler, and Pryor led the way to give Edwardsville a 20-5 lead at quarter time.

In the second quarter, the Tigers via Martin and Butler, scored the period’s first nine points to make it 29-5, before a pair of free throws from Rico Lumpkins cut the lead to 29-7. The Tigers then scored the game’s next 12 points, to go up to 41-7, with Jayden Anthony scoring to break the streak and make it 41-9. Weller scored right before the buzzer to make the halftime score 43-9 for Edwardsville.

Collins-McIntyre, Lumpkins, and Calvin Nash all scored the first five points by Martin, scored 12 of the quarter’s last 24 points to take a 57-22 lead going into the fourth quarter. The final eight minutes saw many of the Tigers’ bench players get into the game, as Edwardsville went on to the 64-33 win.

Martin led with 20 points for the Tigers, while Butler had 16 points, Weller had 11 points, Pryor scored six points, Epenesa scored four points, Tucker Lindsedt had three points, and both Devyon Hill-Lomax and Dominic Boyd had two points each.

Collins-McIntyre led Riverview with 11 points, while Nash had six points, Malachai Dickerson had five points, Lumpkins hit for four points, and Karon McFadden and Anthony both had two points each.

The Rams are now 3-5, while the Tigers go to 7-1, and next play at the Don Mauer Invitational next Monday, Dec. 23, against Overland, Mo., Ritenour at 3 p.m. Battas is looking forward to competing in the tournament, which goes through Dec. 30.

“We like the MICDS tournament,” Battas said. “We see a different variety of teams, we’re the only Illinois team over there. It’s a good mix of some public schools and some bigger schools, and we got the two seed, which is a compliment to us, because the tournament Is very well-rounded. So, we’ve got a handful of practices here, the coach is looking forward to those, the kids probably want to keep playing games, but we’ve got some things we want to get better at, and keep evolving on offense and defense, add a few things, and hopefully be playing our best basketball by Monday. Just a good win for the guys.”

More like this:

Jan 23, 2025 - Epenesa Leads With 19 Points, Martin Adds 18, Edwardsville Holds Off Late Rally, Defeats Eisenhower 62-56

Jan 25, 2025 - Teamwork Fuels Tigers As Miccah Butler Soars To 35 Points

4 days ago - Martin Leads With 18 Points, Tigers Win Over Madison 53-34 In Shootout Game In Indianapolis  

5 days ago - Martin Leads With 25 Points, Epenesa Adds 16, Tigers Pull Away From Panthers In Second Half

Jan 8, 2025 - Martin Leads Tigers With 20 Points, Final 18-5 Run Helps Give Edwardsville Key 53-45 Win Over East St. Louis