BELLEVILLE – Edwardsville junior forward Brennan Weller led the Tigers with 13 points, while junior Nic Hemken had nine rebounds and senior Ethan Young had five assists, but Edwardsville, after trailing at halftime 13-11, were outscored in the second half 26-13 as two-time defending IHSA Class 4A boys basketball state champions Belleville West celebrated its home opener with a 37-25 win over the Tigers Friday night at the West gym.
It was a close game throughout, as the Tigers played well, but couldn’t put enough offense together to defeat the Maroons.
“I thought the guys played good defense and gave ourselves a chance to win,” said Edwardsville head coach Dustin Battas, “We missed some free throws and some shots around the basket. We just didn’t score enough points to win.”
Battas felt that his team did have a very good defensive game, and also had a very good game under the boards.
“We certainly did some great things defensively,” Battas said, “and we rebounded well.”
Battas singled out Weller, Hemken and Young for having good games.
“Brennan had 13 points, and I thought Nic Hemken did a really good job in getting him open,” Battas said. “Ethan did a good job in assisting.”
But the missed shots close in did hurt in the end, as did three-of-11 free throw shooting.
“We were three-of-11 in free throws, and we had a hard time scoring,” Battas said. “You can’t do that, especially against good teams in our conference.”
Hemken was the only Tiger player in double figures with his 13 points, while Gabe James was next with four points, Jack Nafziger had three points for Edwardsville, both Hemken and Caleb Valentine scored two points, and Gavin Reames scored a single points.
The Maroons were led by Keli’i Price with 13 points, with Tommie Williams scoring eight, Ruben Howell had five, both J’lun Patterson and Greg Wells scored four points, and Deonte Wright had four for West. It was also the home debut for new coach Alex Schobert, who took the helm after Joe Muniz stepped down after the Maroons’ second championship.
The Tigers have a very big and busy week ahead, with another Southwestern Conference game on Tuesday night at Belleville East, then the home opener next Friday against Collinsville, with both conference games tipping off at 7:30 p.m. Edwardsville then meets Belleville Although Catholic in the Scott Credit Union Shootout at Lucco-Jackson Gym Dec. 14 in a 1 p.m tip.
“It’s back to work, and we’re looking forward to practice and preparing for Belleville East,” Battas said. “We’ve got a big week ahead, and we’ll do our best to prepare, and try to win every game.”
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
