EDWARDSVILLE – Senior guard Bryce Pryor led the way with 16 points, and hit a pair of key threes in the second half, allowing Edwardsville to come away with a 47-39 win over small school power Dieterich on Thursday night, Jan. 2, 2025, in a game that was scheduled this week and played at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
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The game was a late addition to the Tigers schedule, and was added on to help fill a gap between the end of the Don Maurer Holiday Invitational Holiday Tournament, won by Edwardsville on Monday night over Ladue Horton Watkins 71-69, and a key Southwestern Conference game against East St. Louis on Jan. 7. The Movin’ Maroons entered the game 11-2, and ranked eighth by the Illinois Associated Press in Class 1A.
“We’re certainly glad we got the win,” said Edwardsville coach Dustin Battas in his postgame interview. “Our guys are a little bit down about not executing some things, but I told them that it’s basketball, it’s competitive, they’re 11-2, they’re well-coached, they’ve got guys that you can tell means a lot to them, So, we’re happy to get the win. We missed a lot more shots than we’ve been missing, so I thought we really had to anchor down on defense, and try to limit them offensively because we were having a tough time making baskets. So, all things considered, we’re happy to be 12-1 now, heading through holiday break.”
The Tigers were coming off the big championship win at Mary Institute-Country Day School in Ladue, and played exceptionally well in the four games of the tournament, which featured many of the better teams in the St. Louis area.
“The guys were obviously thrilled and proud to win the MICDS tournament,” Battas said. “That’s a good tournament. We’re just trying to carry that momentum over, and this was a late-scheduled game, We had a couple of teams cancel on us right at the start of the season, so Dieterich reached out about playing. So we’re happy to kind of have a game tonight, so we didn’t have another huge gap.
"This would be a good game for us to kind of propel us back into the conference schedule on Tuesday when we play East St, Louis, Like I said, all things considered, it’s been a great break, and we’re happy with our progress, so we just want to keep getting better.”
That conference schedule picks right back up with the game against the Flyers at home on Tuesday night, and it’s going to be a key game in the conference standings.
“Every Southwestern Conference game is a challenge, ”Battas said, “and certainly, East Side will be a formidable opponent. I think it’s a game that probably both teams look forward to, and a little bit of a rivalry, a game we know will be a tough one.”
With the calendar just turning over to the new year, these next few weeks will dictate how the Tigers are doing, and help establish their seed for the Class 4A playoffs in late February and March.
“Yes, this is another big week or two of the season, Battas said. “A lot of times, this stretch , the next two or three weeks, really determines your seed in the regional, and it determines the pecking order of the Southwestern Conference. And so, we think practice will be really valuable these next few days, and we just want to take advantage of those practices, so we can play our best basketball, and have the chance to win a conference championship.”
The game started with Pryor and Lucas Westendorf trading threes, with Iose Epenesa scoring inside to give Edwardsville an early 5-3 lead. The Maroons came back to tie the game on free throws by Jaxon Funneman and Brock Niemeg to tie the game, and from there, the two sides traded baskets, with a Funneman basket giving Dieterich an 11-9 lead after the first. In the second quarter, the Tigers went ahead 16-11, with Pryor leading the way, and Herb Martin converting a three-point play. The Maroons came back on a three by Westendorf, and a pair of free throws before the buzzer by Westendorf allowed the Maroons, to tie the game at halftime 18-18.
Westendorf scored again at the start of the second half to give Dieterich a 20-18 lead, but Martin and Epenesa scored to give the Tigers the lead back at 22-20. After an exchange of baskets, a three by Andrew Hall gave the Maroons a 25-24 lead, but Miccah Butler countered with his own three to give the Tigers the lead back at 27-25. Near the end of the quarter, with the score tied 33-33, Pryor put in his first of the threes that helped decide the game to give Edwardsville a 36-33 edge, and a pair of Martin Free throws gave the Tigers a 38-33 lead after three quarters.
A Landon Keck basket cut the lead to 38-35 at the start of the final quarter, but the Tigers maintained their lead throughout the period. Late in the game, Pryor hit his second big three to give Edwardsville a 42-35 lead, and from there, the Tigers pulled away and took a 4839 win.
To go along with Pryor’s 15 points, Butler hit for 12 points, Epenesa had 10 points, Martin scored seven points, and Rowan Weller had two points. The Maroons were led by Westendorf’s 14 points, with Keck adding seven points, both Funneman and Niemeg had five points each, and Tanner Will had four points.
Dieterich is now 11-3, while the Tigers go to 12-1, and host East Side in their big conference game next Tuesday, After that, Edwardsville is at Collinsville, with both SWC games starting at 7:30 p.m., with the Tigers playing at Belleville Althoff Catholic Jan. 11 at noon.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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