COLLINSVILLE – Brennan Weller scored 17 points, and Jalil Roundtree added 11, while Edwardsville used a strong defensive effort to defeat Collinsville 48-26 in a Southwestern Conference boys basketball game Thursday night at Vergil Fletcher Gym.
The Tigers broke open a 14-10 halftime lead with a big third quarter, outscoring the Kahoks 18-5 to take control of the game, and built upon their lead in the final quarter to take the win.
“Great defensive effort,” said Edwardsville coach Dustin Battas in his postgame interview. “I thought Jalil and Caleb (Valentine) were outstanding, Brennan and Preston (Weaver) were really using their intelligence in jumping towards the ball, when certain actions in practice were happening. A defensive effort like that takes a lot of people; it takes guys in practice, and we haven’t had a lot of practice time lately with the weather. So, I’m not sure as a staff that we’ve been more proud of a defensive effort than what we were just able to see. We have a lot of respect for Collinsville and coach (Darin) Lee, so to keep them in the 20s says a lot about the intelligence of our guys, and also how hard they were trying.”
The Tigers were well-prepared for the Kahoks, and the effort really showed.
“I thought our walk-through today was excellent,” Battas said. “We had a lot of confidence in our plan, we thought we knew their personnel really well, and like I said, they make it hard on you, because they’ve got big guys, and they’ve got a couple of fast guys. So our guys covered a lot of ground and used every ounce of their bodies to get into the right spots. So, extremely proud of that. And I think some of that in the second half led to our offense, which Jalil and Caleb hitting roundouts, and things like that. So, just a great defensive effort.”
Roundtree led the third quarter charge where the Tigers took control.
“Jalil sat the rest of the second quarter because of fouls,” Battas said. “We were feeling good at halftime; we hadn’t made as many baskets, but we were without Jalil for most of that second quarter. So him, with full steam ahead, was able to get to the rim with some steals, he was able to get in the lane, get on two feet and find open guys for threes, and we emphasized that at halftime. We were getting to the basket, but I thought we were taking guarded shots. We wanted to get in the lane and get on two, and find those guys open on the perimeter. Gabe James had a big one, Caleb had a big three, and obviously, Brennan made two there in the third quarter, so that opens it up. Those three-point shots, when they fall, makes our offense a lot better.”
And getting a win at Vergil Fletcher Gym is always a big win, given the Collinsville basketball tradition and history.
“Yes, that’s what I told our guys, don’t take this for granted,” Battas said, “because this is a hard place to win. They’re a great program. Anytime you win a game in the Southwestern Conference, you should be proud of your effort. Anytime you win a varsity basketball game, and hold a team in the 20s, you should be really proud of that.”
The Tigers started out with baskets from Weller and Roundtree to take a 4-0 lead before the first COVID-19 time out, then Travion Swygeart and Weller exchanged free throws to make it 6-2. Two more free throws from Weller and a basket from the Kahoks’ Jackson Lee made it 8-4 at the end of the first quarter. In the second, Swygeart hit back-to-back baskets to tie the game 8-8, but Weller made a nice move in the lane to score, and a Hayden Moore basket in the lane pushed the Tigers’ lead back to 12-8. Swygeart again hit from close range to cut the lead back, but a basket before the buzzer gave Edwardsville a 14-10 lead at halftime.
The Tigers began to break things open at the start of the second half. An exchange of baskets opened the third quarter, and a three-point play by Roundtree opened up a 19-12 Edwardsville lead. Roundtree hit again to increase the lead to nine at 21-12, and after the COVID-19 time out, Nate Hall hit on a reverse to make it 21-14. Edwardsville then went on an 11-1 run the rest of the period, getting a basket from Shaun Pacette, a three off the baseline from Valentine, and a pair of threes from Weller, the second one right before the buzzer, to take a 32-15 lead after three.
Another exchange of baskets started off the fourth quarter, but James used a nice move around a defender to score, then hit a baseline three to extend the Tigers’ lead to 39-17. A three-point play from Swygeart made the score 39-20, Edwardsville, but then the Tigers closed out the game by hitting seven-of-nine free throws in going on to their 48-26 win.
Besides Weller and Roundtree, Valentine had seven points for Edwardsville, James hit for five points, Weaver had four points, with both Moore and Pacette scoring two points each. The Kahoks were led by Swygeart’s 13 points, while Hall scored seven points, and Kyle Moore, Lee and Dayton Horras all had two points.
Battas was very proud of his team’s defensive effort.
“Yes, just really proud,” Battas said. “Even our JV guys running their plays in practice, giving our guys a good look of what it was going to be like. We had great pressure from our guards, like Caleb and Jalil, and Hayden Moore came off the bench and applied some pressure on defense, and then, our bigger guys rotate down and get in the right spot. That takes a lot of communication, that takes a lot of hard work, and our guys were able to do both tonight at a high level.”
The Tigers are now 3-1 on the year, and prepare for a SWC match-up Saturday afternoon at Alton, while the Kahoks fall to 2-3 and host Metro-East Lutheran Friday night. Battas knows that the Tigers will be ready for a good Alton team.
“Hoping to just be consistent in our effort,” Battas said. “I think we’ll have a good practice tomorrow, just trying to keep our guys healthy, and make sure we’re ready to play our best game Saturday. We’ve had to deal with some adversity, some weather, and we’ve had some guys banged up, so hopefully. we’ll have a great day of practice tomorrow, and be ready to be competitive with Alton on Saturday. I’m just really proud of our guys, and happy they get to experience this reward with beating Collinsville, and really proud of their effort.”
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
