East St. Louis, Gibault boys 1 win away from state, while Breese Central, O’Fallon fall
The metro-east boys basketball postseason continued with several key sectional championship games Friday.
Here is a quick view of the outcomes.
Centralia Sectional championship, Class 3A
East St. Louis 53, Triad 38
Behind 23 points from Kansas State recruit Macaleab Rich, the Flyers eased past the Knights by 15 points.
East St. Louis improved to 24-8, while Triad’s season ended at 28-7.
The Flyers outscored the Knights 19-7 in the third quarter to expand a 21-19 halftime lead to 40-26 and now are one win away from the state tournament.
Next up: East St. Louis advances to the Springfield Super-Sectional and will face Sacred Heart-Griffin (32-3) at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 6.
Hardin Sectional championship, Class 1A
Gibault 58, Springfield Calvary 56
The Hawks (28-7) are one win away from the state tournament following a two-point victory against the Saints (26-8) at Hardin Calhoun High School.
Next up: Gibault advances to the Jacksonville Super-Sectional and will face Illini Bluffs (32-4) at 7 p.m. Monday, March 6.
Moline Sectional championship, Class 4A
Moline 62, O’Fallon 38
The Panthers got off to a slow start and never could recover in falling in the sectional title game.
O’Fallon finished at 25-8.
The Panthers fell into a 14-2 hole and trailed 21-7 after one quarter. O’Fallon cut the deficit to nine points in the second quarter and ultimately trailed 36-25 at halftime following a shot at the end of the quarter. Moline then got hot in the third quarter and built an insurmountable 54-29 bulge.
“They started the game off ... we had some bad possessions and they had some good possessions,” O’Fallon coach Brian Muniz said. “They started to score every time in the third quarter and really blew it open in the third. In the fourth quarter, they kind of held the ball on us.”
All in all, Friday’s outcome ended a terrific season for the Panthers, which saw them win the Southwestern Conference with a 9-3 mark, capture a regional championship and defeat Quincy 64-35 in the sectional semifinals..
“I’m so proud of these guys,” Muniz said. “It’s not like we’ve been playing together forever. They came in and had to learn each other. I don’t think anyone expected us to win the conference or regional. We grew to be a family and really figured each other out. We really believed we could beat anybody by end of the season.”
Looking ahead to 2023-24, Muniz said, “We have three guys coming back who had quality minutes. We’ll have to find some guys to fill in those (other) shoes for sure.”
Next up: Moline (32-3) advances to the Normal Super-Sectional and will face Oswego (16-16) at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 6.
Pinckneyville Sectional championship, Class 2A
Pinckneyville 47, Breese Central 43
Breese Central saw its season end at 29-5 following a four-point loss to the Panthers (28-6) at Pinckeyville High School.
Next up: Pinckneyville advances to the Carbondale Super-Sectional and will face Tuetopolis (27-7) 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 6.
This story was originally published March 3, 2023 at 11:13 PM.