O’FALLON – Herb Martin led the way with 25 points, while Iose Epenesa added 15 points, as Edwardsville pulled away from a 32-29 lead at halftime, and took a comprehensive 71-44 win over O’Fallon on Friday night in a Southwestern Conference boys basketball game at the OTHS Panther Dome.
The Tigers gained their 20th win of the season with the victory, and it’s something Edwardsville head coach Dustin Battas is very proud of.
“We thought tonight was going to be a big challenge,” Battas said after the game, “and it was. They played really well, and made some really tough shots in the first half. I thought our third quarter was really, really good. We were guarding them better, I think we held them to no field goals in the third quarter, so, really proud of our guys. The attention to detail has been great, practice has been great, and I think it’s really showing on the court.”
Both Martin and Epenesa enjoyed big games, and they’re both important players for the Tigers.
“The makeup of our team, I think you always want to maximize who you have,” Battas said, “and so, they started putting more pressure on Herb, and trapping there in the second half, and had Iose a lot at the rim, sometimes one-on-one, of which he’s a pretty tough, strong bull down there. So, we did a good job of finding Iose, he has some really good hands, and caught some of those passes in traffic. Just another good night, in balancing our offense, Herb getting to the basket early. I think he ended up leading us in scoring, but I thought he did a good job in facilitating, and taking what the defense gave him.”
The start time was moved up to help Edwardsville go on the road on Saturday, where the Tigers were set to play Madison at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in a shootout at the home arena of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers. An over-the-road bus was awaiting the team for an overnight trip to the game.
“We’re getting ready to hop on a bus right now,” Battas said, “and try to get to Indianapolis before it’s too late tonight, get to the hotel, and our guys are really excited. That’s a cool, kind of court memory we hope to is as creative for them, and we’re just grateful for that opportunity. I’ve never been to an NBA game before, so I’m probably just as excited as the players are.”
It’s the first of a difficult stretch of games over the next few days for the Tigers, and Battas is excited about the possibilities ahead as the IHSA Class 4A playoffs are also right around the corner.
“This week and next week are a really big challenge for us,” Battas said. “We have six games in 11 days, five of them on the road, one of them in another state. So, obviously, we like where we are this week. Next week, we’ve got Collinsville at Collinsville, then at Staunton, and then home against Belleville East, who’s been playing really playing well lately. So, yeah, to the point, we know it’s only going to get more difficult, but we do think we’re playing our best basketball right now, and I really like where our guys are at.”
It was a game of two halves from the Panthers’ view, playing well in the first half, but letting the game get away from them in the second.
“We had a difference of two halves,” said O’Fallon head coach Brian Muniz. “In the first half,, we played really well, we stuck with them. The second half, we gave them some points, and then they just ran with it, and they just dominated the second half.”
The Panthers have been having an up-and-down season, playing a tough schedule, and O’Fallon has to play very well in order to win games.
“We have a tough schedule,” Muniz said. “We don’t have any easy wins, so we have to go out and play well to win, and we’ve struggled. We’ve struggled just to get over the top, and do that. So, we’re just competing and trying to get better.”
The competition level has been very high all season for O’Fallon, and that’s one thing Muniz is very happy with.
“It has been,” Muniz said. “I told our guys I think we’ve been playing well enough, competing hard enough to win. We just make mistakes, and do things that put us on the other side of that line, and give us a L. Our compete factor has been good for the last few weeks, for sure.”
The playoffs, of course, will be starting soon, but Muniz is focuses on the upcoming games before the postseason gets underway.
“We’re not even worried about the stretch run,” Muniz said. “We’re just worried about our next game. We’re trying to get ourselves better each game, each practice, and see, when it gets to postseason time, if we’re able to compete, and get something done.”
O’Fallon may be struggling at this time, but once the team is able to get over the hump, the Panthers will be a dangerous team to play against.
“Like I said, we’re struggling to get over the hump right now,” Muniz said. “Once we can do that, and once we learn to do that, I think we’ll be alright.”
Martin scored 12 points in the first half to help the Tigers go to a 32-29 lead at halftime, while the Panthers got three threes and 11 points from Brenton Hunter, and two threes from Jayden Dancy to stay close. In the third quarter, Edwardsville pulled away, limiting O’Fallon to two free throws by Ben Akoro and another free throw by Sutton Massey, while Martin scored nine more points as the Tigers outscored the Panthers 22-3 to go ahead 54-32. In the fourth, Epenesa scored eight points from inside to help the Tigers go on to their 71-44 win.
Martin led the Tigers with his 25 points, while Epenesa added 16 points, Miccah Butler helped out with 14 points Rowan Weller scored eight points, both Bryce Pryor and Tucker Lindstedt had three points each, and Devyon Hill-Lomax hit for two points near the end.
Hunter led O’Fallon with 13 points, while Akoro scored 10 points, both Andre Stanley and Dancy had six points each, Nate Smith hit for five points, T.J. Cason had three points, and Massey had a single point.
Edwardsville is now 20-2, and meet Madison in Indianapolis Saturday at 11 a.m., then are at Collinsville on Tuesday, and Staunton on Wednesday, with both game tipping off at 7:30 p.m. O’Fallon is now 8-16, and are at Trenton Wesclin Saturday, then host Alton on Tuesday, and Columbia next Friday, with all games starting at 7:30 p.m.
