EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville forward Miccah Butler had an extraordinary game on Friday, hitting for 35 points in one of the St. Lous area’s best performances of the season, as the Tigers took a 76-48 win over St. Louis Gateway STEM at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
It was also Little Tigers Night, as the Edwardsville youth teams, players, and families were saluted and honored for their hard work and celebrated. After the game, the players were invited back to the locker room, where the players introduced themselves, and afterward, signed autographs for the kids.
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“We feel good,” said Edwardsville coach Dustin Battas. “We appreciate the Little Tigers being here, and obviously, with them here makes it better. Miccah made some shots early, and got into a good rhythm. We did a good job of finding him, I thought Herb (Martin) did an excellent job assisting and finding open guys, there’s a lot that goes into to that, as far as a player making that many baskets. It’s him having the ability, but it’s also your players playing unselfish, moving the ball well and screening. So, just a really good team win tonight, and I thought our guys really played well together.”
Butler scored the lion’s share of the points for Edwardsville, and he had plenty of help as well.
“Miccah, Bryce (Pryor), Tucker (Lindstedt), and Herb, those guys spend a lot of time in practice shooting at the machine, so there’s a lot of work behind the scenes that goes into those guys making those baskets, and tonight was Miccah’s night tonight, and deservedly so.”
The Tigers did play exceptionally well as a team, and clicked right from the start.
“We think that makes us hard to play against,” Battas said. “Iose (Epenesa) can score inside; he did that on Wednesday (a win over Decatur Eisenhower), and tonight, they packed it in a little bit more, and so, we had guys open on the perimeter. You want to have balance, you want to have multiple guys that can make baskets. Having a good lead guard like Herb obviously helps facilitate all that, so excellent balance tonight, I thought the ball was really moving, and our guys were executing things well.”
The road for the Tigers doesn’t get any easier, as Edwardsville plays twice away from home, at a good Mascoutah team on Tuesday, and at O’Fallon in the Southwestern Conference next Friday, as well as a game next Saturday against Madison in a shootout at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home arena of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, in Indianapolis.
“Teo road games we’ll have to be ready for,” Battas said. “And then we go to Indianapolis on Saturday, so a big week coming up.”
Despite the difficult week ahead, Battas has some good feelings about what could happen down the road..
“The big picture is that we’re 18-2,” Battas said. “Which we’re obviously proud of and happy with what we put ourselves in. We’re first place in the conference, but we know there’s lot of work to be done there. Overall, we’re happy with our guys. The best thing about them is that they’re all good guys, they’re easy to work with, they’re all high-character guys. So, beyond the basketball record, and the success we’ve had, it’s more rewarding that they’re excellent people to be around.”
Things started really well for Butler, as he hit back-to-back threes, sandwiched in between a three by Romero Cannada, to give Edwardsville an early 6-3 lead. Epenesa scored inside to make it 8-3, and after a basket by the Jaguars, the Tigers, ed by Butler’s hot shooting, went on a 20-8 run for the remainder of the quarter, with Epenesa also making a contribution. Cannada also stayed hot for Gateway, and after the first quarter, the Tigers led 28-16, with Butler scoring 17 points in the period.
In the second quarter, a pair of free throws by Marquari Holmes cut the Tiger lead to 28-18, but the Tigers kept pulling away, as Butler kept scoring, and got some help from Pryor and Martin as Edwardsville took a 46-27 lead into the intermission, with Butler going up to 24 points. The third saw the Tigers continue to build on the lead, as Butler and Martin took charge of most of the scoring. At the end of the third, Edwardsville led 66-33, Butler had 31 points, and the running clock rule prevailed in the final quarter.
That final quarter saw Butler end up with his final four points before he was taken out to tremendous applause from the Tigers’ supporters, and Edwardsville continued to execute very well and efficiently, as the Tigers went on to their 76-48 win.
To go along with Butler’s 35 points, Martin had a good game with 15 points, while Epenesa had eight points, Pryor scored six points, Devyon Hill-Lomax and Brandon Hoffmann had four points each, and Rowan Weller and Max McMichael had two points apiece.
The Jaguars are now 5-7, with the Tigers going to 18-2, and going on the road next week, playing at Mascoutah on Tuesday and O’Fallon on Friday, both games starting at 7:30 p.m., then meeting Madison at Indianapolis next Saturday at 11 a.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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