COLLINSVILLE – Ray’Sean Taylor led with 22 points, while both Cawhan Smith and Keydrian Jones each had 13 as Collinsville eliminated Edwardsville in the semifinals of the IHSA Class 4A boys basketball regional Tuesday evening at Vergil Fletcher Gym in Collinsville.
The Tigers were able to stay close with the Kahoks in the first half, but Collinsville was able to pull away in the second half to advance to the final of their own regional.
Edwardsville played hard and kept battling throughout the entire 32 minutes, never surrendering.
“Yes, really proud of our guys,” said Tigers coach Dustin Battas. “Collinsville’s really good, and it was going to take a few mishaps on their part, and maybe get a few rolls, a few balls to bounce our way, and it just wasn’t our night. But it wasn’t from lack of trying with our guys. We practiced great today. You know, my shirt’s wet from tears of those guys, and they thought they were going to win. And they wanted to win. So we’re down in there, but I think that’s a good thing that you care so much about something that it breaks your heart when it doesn’t come to fruition. So we’re really proud of our guys, but we really have a lot of respect for Collinsville; we knew it was going to be hard. But that doesn’t make it feel any better.”
Once the Kahoks seized the lead, it forced Edwardsville to try to play catch-up, always a daunting task.
“We tried to spread the floor, tried to take advantage of maybe some things that are to your advantage on offense,” Battas said. “But they’re so good on offense so hard when they have the ball, and so hard to stop them. So you’re kind of walking on eggshells, because once they get ahead of you, it’s hard to guard them, and it’s hard to keep (Jones) off the glass. (Taylor’s) such a special player and coach (Darin) Lee does a great job with them.
“So it was going to take us to make some threes early there,” Battas continued, “we had it spread out to maybe take the lead to be able to dictate tempo more. We could never make enough shots; a lot of that had to do with their defense. Their defense was really good. We made some threes on some set plays and ran some things well, but it was just going to take like I said, a 50 or 60 percent night from three to have a chance. And they were able to make some shots that we missed.”
Despite the fact the Tigers ended the season with a 9-20 record, the players worked very hard in their practice sessions every night and improved throughout the season. It’s something the team takes much pride in.
“I think the locker room right now is all we need to know about if this year was a success or not,” Battas said. “Those guys are heartbroken, they care about each other, they did everything we asked them to do. I understand that people look at your win-loss record, but that’s not what really this is all about. Those 20 guys in there, is what this is all about. They put their heart on the line. I just told them that Tiger across their chest, that carries a lot of tradition. And I thought they honored that, and the program really well. And to me, that what determines success is the culture in the locker room, and that you carry out the Tiger tradition, and they certainly did that.”
Edwardsville started out in a spread offense, and it was A.J. Robertson who hit a three to start things off for the Tigers. Smith, Jones, and Taylor then all scored to give the Kahoks a 6-3 lead, but a Brennan Weller three tied the game up. Jones then hit three of four free throws to restore a 9-6 lead, and a Jaylon Tuggle basket cut the lead to 9-8. A Jones basket in the lane gave Collinsville an 11-8 lead after one quarter.
Taylor hit a three at the start of the second period to up the Kahok advantage, but Robertson countered with a three on the baseline to make it 14-11. Collinsville then went on a 6-0 run to end the quarter, getting a pair of baskets from Marshall Harrison and a pair of free throws from Taylor that made it 20-11. Weller’s three-point shot at the buzzer bounced off the rim to keep the score 20-11 at halftime.
The Kahoks started the second half with baskets from Taylor and Smith to extend their advantage before Malik Robinson scored in the lane to make it 24-13. After a Jones basket off a rebound, a Tuggle three and a Robinson free throw made it 24-17 for Collinsville, and after an exchange of baskets, Taylor hit a three up top to make it 31-19. Weller hit underneath before the buzzer to cut the Kahok lead to 31-21 after three quarters.
The teams traded threes to start the final period, but a Jones basket and a three-point play from Smith extended the Kahok lead to 39-24. The teams again exchanged baskets, but from there, Collinsville was able to hit their free throws, going 14-for-16 down the stretch to help clinch their 54-34 win.
Both Tuggle and Weller led the Tigers with 10 points each, while Robertson added nine.
The Kahoks are now 27-5 and will play Alton, a 66-61 winner over Springfield in the second semifinal, in the final on Friday night, with the tip coming at 7 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
