COLLINSVILLE – Junior Brennan Weller scored 18 points and hit four big free throws in the critical final minute, while Edwardsville played good defense the entire 32 minutes in gaining their biggest win of the season to date, a 38-36 decision over Collinsville in a key Southwestern Conference game Tuesday night at Vergil Fletcher Gym.
The Tigers led by as much as 10 points in the game before the Kahoks rallied late in the fourth to come within three, but Weller’s free throws in the clutch helped to enable Edwardsville come up with a big road win to extend their winning streak to 11 in a row.
“It’s a great win for us,” said Tigers’ coach Dustin Battas. “I’m happy for our guys, they’re excited. It’s a good reward for them; they know Collinsville’s really good, and really well-coached. But to come in here and win is just a testament to the way our guys work and the way our guys prepare. I was just so proud of our guys.”
The Tigers held Collinsville senior forward Ray’Sean Taylor to 18 points, with the last 10 coming in the final quarter, keeping him from becoming the all-time leading scorer in the rich history of the program by four points behind Tom Parker. Taylor had four points in the first half.
“We tried to slow him down,” Battas said. “He’s so good, and he’s so good with the ball, and they space so well around him. Our on-the-ball defenders, Caleb Valentine and Ethan Young and Jalil Roundtree, did a good job, and Jack Nafziger was incredible with his quick help, and Brennan Weller with their quick help. It’s kind of a unique scheme that requires guys to be thinking and moving on the pass and moving on the dribble. I just thought we did enough there to slow him down; he’s still good, he got 18. But we were able to get to the other guys and limit some of their shots. It’s just a lot of heart and determination in that scheme of defense. And coach (Mike) Waldo always told me if you’ve got guys with brains and heart, you can get a lot done, and I thought our guys did that tonight.”
Another factor in the game was that the Tigers were able to limit their turnovers and doing a good job in protecting the ball.
“I think the key for us was our ability to take care of the basketball,” Battas said. “Jalil and Ethan and Caleb really take care of the ball, being able to possess the ball. When they’re really good, you don’t want to give them the ball quick. It’s hard to guard them when you give them the ball quick. So I thought we ran our offense well; a lot of that is attributed to our point guards, and we have a lot of confidence in those guys, and they did a tremendous job tonight.”
And Weller’s 18 points and four clutch free throws tipped the scales toward the Tigers.
“Brennan Weller’s a winner, man, there’s no doubt,” Battas said. “And he’s been working on his free throws. He’s harder on himself than any of us are, and I’m not surprised he made all four. He’s a player that was made for that moment, and then, he’s worked himself into being one of the best players in the area, and we’re excited for him to start getting some more respect that we think he deserves, but I’m not surprised, because Brennan puts in the work, and he’s a gifted kid.”
The Tigers missed the front end of two one-and-ones that helped the Kahoks sneak back into the game, but the Tigers kept their cool and held on.
“Yeah, and I thought our guys did a good job there keeping their composure,” Battas said. “Just play present, play in the present. We called a couple of time outs there, and reminded our guys they’re doing a great job on defense. Jalil missed a free throw, and he was upset, but they were our heart and soul on defense. You’ve got to take the good with the bad, and those guys just kept competing, and they didn’t stay down long, maybe five or six seconds, had a free throw, and played great defense. So those didn’t end up hurting us as bad as they would have in the past.”
The two teams started the game by exchanging baskets before Nafziger hit on a three to make the score 7-4 for the Tigers. The Kahoks did have some good chances, but couldn’t connect before Lorent Dzelandini scored to make it 7-6. A drive into the lane by Roundtree put Edwardsville back up 9-6, which is where it stood after the first quarter.
Nic Hemken scored on a missed shot to put the Tigers up 11-6 at the start of the second quarter, but back-to-back baskets from Keydrian Jones and Dzelandini put Collinsville back to within 11-10. Weller then made a great block of a Taylor shot, took the ball and scored on the other end to give the Tigers a 13-10 lead, and on the next possession, had a shot blocked that may have looked to be goaltending. Battas protested the non-call and was assessed a technical foul. Taylor converted the free throws to make it 13-12, but the Tigers went on a 6-0 run to end the quarter, with Valentine, Weller and Gabe James all scoring to make it 19-12 for the Tigers at halftime.
Caleb Ballinger started the second half with a three for Collinsville to cut the lead to 19-15, but a Young three-point play restored the seven point Edwardsville lead at 22-15. Young then drove to the basket in traffic to score, making it 24-15, forcing a Kahok time out. Another Ballinger three cut the lead to 24-18, but a Weller free throw and three increased the lead again to 28-18. Taylor hit on a breakaway later on, but missed the free throw on a three-point play chance, making the score 28-20 Edwardsville after three quarters.
The teams exchanged baskets to start the final quarter before a pair of Taylor free throws cut the lead to 30-24. The lead stayed at six after an exchange of points before two more Taylor free throws cut the lead to 32-28 with 1:45 to go in regulation. Later on, with the score 34-29, two missed one-and-one opportunities for Edwardsville gave the Kahoks a chance, and Jones scored in the lane to make it 34-31 with 28.9 seconds left. After a time out, Collinsville was forced to foul, and Weller converted both ends of a one-and-one to make it 36-31 with 23 seconds left. Taylor hit two free throws to put it back to within 36-33, but Weller again came through with another pair of free throws to make it 38-33 with 15.3 seconds left. Taylor banked home a three at the buzzer to make the final 38-36, a result that sent the Tigers and their supporters wild with delight at the buzzer.
Besides Weller, Young had five points for Edwardsville, Hemken and Roundtree had four, Nafziger hit for three, and Valentine and James had two points apiece. Taylor led the Kahoks with his 18 points, but was the only Collinsville player in double figures. Ballinger had six points, Dzelandini and Jones scored four points each, and both David Granger and Nate Hall had two points apiece.
“It’s a great win,” Battas said. “I think that any win is a good win. I think our guys are excited, because Collinsville’s a really good team, and we have a lot of respect for them. But any road win in our conference is good. Certainly, it’s one of our better wins, but we’re happy with all of our wins; we take them any way we can get them. I’m just happy for our guys that they get to kind of get the fruits of their labor. If we lose that game, I’m still proud of them; we try hard. So, I’m just happy for them; they get to enjoy a victory here.”
The Kahoks are now 25-3 on the year, and next play Friday night at Belleville West, while the Tigers go to 21-7 with their 11th straight win, and play at Alton Friday night, with both games starting at 7:30 p.m. Battas knows that the Redbirds will be ready to go against his team.
“Well, we feel good,” Battas said. “Alton’s going to be really hard on Friday. It’s going to be at their place, and they’ve been playing a lot of teams close. They’re hard for us to guard, and so, we will hopefully keep doing what we’ve been doing, which is having a couple of great days of practice before every game, and we will certainly give it our best shot, but nothing’s going to be easy.”
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
