ST. LOUIS – Miccah Butler closed out the regular season in style with another big performance, scoring 24 points, while Brady Niemi connected with five threes and 17 points as Edwardsville closed out its regular season with a 59-48 win at St. Louis Confluence Prep Academy in Midtown St. Louis.
The Tigers finished their regular season at 21-7, and did so with a great game plan against a physical Titan team.
“Tonight was a good win for our team, as it was a very physical and fast-paced game,” said Edwardsville head coach Dustin Battas. “We were able to get the lead towards the end of the first quarter, and maintain it throughout the game. Miccah and Brady were able to make some outside shots, which helped alleviate some of their pressure that they were putting on us defensively. I thought Devyon (Hill-Lomax) had a really good game in the middle of the lane, guarding against their triple penetration, and Miccah, Max (McMichael), and Tucker (Lindstedt) rebounding was big. Rowan (Weller) had another really resilient night taking care of the basketball, and led us in assists.”
Battas also gave a shout out to two of his bench players who don’t get to see much time, but were ready to go when called upon.
“I am also proud of Levi Wedel and Christopher Roberts, who have us some valuable minutes tonight,” Battas said. Those guys put in a lot of time and hard work behind the scenes, and I was happy for them that they were able to contribute tonight.”
The focus now shifts to the upcoming IHSA Class 4A regional next Wednesday and Friday, which the Tigers will be hosting.
“Tonight was a good ending to a successful regular season for us,” Battas said, “and now, we turn all of our attention to our regional on Wednesday. We look forward to getting our guys back in the gym tomorrow and making sure we are playing our best basketball Wednesday night.”
The first quarter had Niemi and Butler combining to sink three threes as the Tigers trailed 13-11 after the first quarter, with Niemi hitting two more threes and Butler connecting on three shots as Edwardsville took a 29-22 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, Hill-Lomax scored twice, and both Niemi and Butler hit a pair of threes as the Tigers extended their lead to 45-32 at three-quarter time, and in the final quarter, Butler sank three free throws to help keep Confluence at bay, and Niemi hit hit final three to give the Tigers their 59-48 win.
Butler led Edwardsville with his 24 points, while Niemi added 17 points, Weller had 10 points, and Hill-Lomax connected with eight points.
The Titans are now 6-9, while the Tigers conclude their regular season at 21-7, and will host the IHSA regional on Wednesday, meeting Quincy in their semifinal at 6 p.m. The winner meets the winner of the second game between Collinsville and Granite City next Friday at 7 p.m., with the winner going to the Rock Island sectional, and will play the O’Fallon regional winner in a neutral site game on Mar. 3 at 7 p.m.
The winner plays the winner of either the Minooka or East Moline United winner in the sectional final in Rock Island Mar. 6 at 7 p.m. The Rock Island sectional winner meets the Joliet West sectional winner at the Illinois State University super-sectional at CEFCU Arena Mar. 9 at 7 p.m., the winner going to the state finals Mar. 13-14 at State Farm Center on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.
