COLLINSVILLE – Chase Reynolds hit a big three at the start of overtime, then the Kahoks connected on big free throws down the stretch of the period, helping Collinsville take a key Southwestern Conference win over East St. Louis 68-63 in a game played Friday night at Vergil Fletcher Gym.
It was a close, nip-and-tuck affair all the way through, with the Flyers taking the lead early, but Collinsville being able to stay with East Side, taking advantage of chances late in the game to hold off the Flyers in the end.
Behind hot early three-point shooting, the Flyers took a 13-8 lead in the first quarter, but the Kahoks held on and cut the lead to 17-15 at the end of the period. At the outset of the second, Collinsville took its first lead when Evan Wilkinson hit a three to go up 18-17. Good shooting by Arlandis Brown and Montreal Stacker kept the Flyers in the lead in the second, but at the end of the period, baskets by Stanley Carnahan and Jace Wilkinson gave the Kahoks a 27-26 lead at halftime.
The two teams traded blows in the third quarter, with Brown hitting a big three to tie the game 38-38, but the Kahoks answered back as Donovan Coates nailed a three to give the Kahoks the lead back at 4342, with Collinsville eventually maintaining their one-point lead at 45-44 after three quarters In the fourth, Carnahan scored to increase the lead to 47-44, but a three-point play by the Flyers tied things up again at 50-50. Eventually, Brown hit another three to tied the game up 56-56 late, and the Flyers had a chance to win the game late, but a final tip with 0.1 seconds left in regulation missed, leaving the score tied 58-58, forcing overtime.
Halfway through the overtime, Reynolds buried the clutch three to give the Kahoks a 61-58 lead and used free throws to extend the lead to 63-58. The Flyers hit a clutch three of their own, banking home a shot to make it 63-61, but could come no closer, as free throws by the Kahoks spelled the difference as Collinsville won 68-63.
Coates led the way for the Kahoks with 18 points, while Jace Wilkinson added 14 points, Solomon Talbott, who also had a good game, hit for 12 points, Reynolds came up with nine points, Carnahan had eight points, and Evan Wilkinson scored seven points.
The Flyers were led by Arlandis Brown’s 18 points, with Alex Johnson adding 16 points, Stacker had 11 points, Lawson Bynum scored eight points, Devrice Johnson scored three points, and both Jordyn Ayers-Burris and Tyrik Barnes scored two points each.
The Kahoks are now 5-3, and host Granite City on Tuesday, and play at O’Fallon next Friday, both games starting at 7:30, before hosting Carbondale in their opening game of the 40th Prairie Farms Holiday Classic Dec. 27 at 6 p.m.
East Side goes to 4-5, and hosts Belleville West next Friday at 7:30 p.m, then meets Columbia, Mo., Tolton Catholic in the Midwest Showdown Shootout at Ritenour High in Overland, Mo., Dec. 21 at 5:30 p.m., then plays at Springfield High Dec. 23 at 3:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
