COLLINSVILLE – Nick Horras led the way with 19 points, as three players scored in double figures as host Collinsville won their first-round game over Decatur Eisenhower 64-47 in the Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic tournament Wednesday evening at Vergil Fletcher Gym.
It wasn’t pretty at times, as turnovers plagued the Kahoks during the game, but hitting five-of-11 from behind the three-point arc helped, as did good shooting throughout the game, as Collinsville hit 57.8 percent of their shots overall.
“Well, we got the first-round win,” said Kahok head coach Darin Lee, “so, always happy when we can get into the quarterfinals. We played pretty good defense in the first half, second half, obviously, not so much. But offensively, we did a good job of finding Zack (Chambers) in the second half.”
Both Horras and Jamorie Wysinger shot well from outside, with Wysinger hitting four threes during the game, and Horras shooting well all throughout.
“Both guys can shoot it,” Lee said. “I mean, there’s no doubt. They’re good shooters. We just had too many turnovers.”
The Kahoks advanced to the quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon, with a win putting them into the semifinals later that evening, but as of now, the quarterfinal game against Triad is Lee’s main concern.
“Right now, we’re just going to focus on winning the first game tomorrow,” Lee said. “It’s going to be a tough tournament; we’ve just got to focus on winning our game against Triad. It’ll be tough.”
The ultimate goal, of course, is to get to Friday night’s final, where an undefeated Quincy team possibly awaits. But for now, it’s one game at a time for the Kahoks.
“I don’t know, right now, we’re just focused on Triad,” Lee said. “I have no idea who’ll come right after in the semifinals, no clue. It’ll be one of four.”
The most important thing is that Collinsville is 13-0 on the season, and Lee is very pleased with how the season has gone thus far.
“Yeah, it’s unreal what we’ve been able to do,” Lee said. “We’ve accomplished a lot. We’ve really shot well, especially Wysinger and Horras, who’ve shot the heck out of it.”
The Kahoks started off well with a three by Wysinger and a basket from Stanley Carnahan that lifted Collinsville to a quick 5-0 lead, with Wysinger hitting another three before the buzzer to give the Kahoks a 10-4 lead after the first quarter, In the second quarter, Chambers and Wysinger led Collinsville on an 11-0 run to expand the lead to 21-4 before a Damonte Phillips basket broke the run. Horras then hit a pair of shots late to give the Kahoks a 27-8 lead at halftime.
The two teams exchanged baskets to open the second half, with the Kahoks maintaining their double-digit lead throughout the third quarter, but the Panthers putting on a bit of a rally and having the better of the play in the third quarter. At the end of the period, Chambers hit a pair of free throws and also converted on a basket to give Collinsville a 40-24 lead after three quarters.
The two teams traded baskets for much of the fourth quarter, with Eisenhower coming to within 56-41 late in the period, but the Kahoks were able to hold off any uprising in going on to their 64-47 win.
Horras led with 19 points, while Wysinger hit for 18 points and Chambers was named player of the game with 17 points, 13 rebounds and three assists. Both Carnahan and Tyree Brister had four points each and Chase Reynolds hit for two points.
Tishawn Clemmons led the Panthers with 15 points, while Garryon Henderson hit for seven points, Jarvis Smith, Phillips and Marcus Page all had six points each, Jaterryon Moore scored three points and both Braedon Apholone and Zephon Warren had two points each.
Eisenhower is now 3-7, while the Kahoks are now 13-0 and will meet Triad, who got past Carbondale in their opener 41-40, in the third quarterfinal game at 1 p.m. A win puts Collinsville into the semifinals against either Lincoln, who defeated McCluer North 45-43, or Belleville East, who defeated Collierville, Tenn 52-49 in the final game of the day, later that night at 7:30 p.m. The final is set for Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
