East St. Louis’ bid for state championship falls short against Metamora in semifinals
The East St. Louis basketball Flyers appeared headed to their second state championship game appearance in four years midway through the third quarter Friday.
Holding a 10-point lead after a Robert McCline bucket, the Flyers were rolling. Then Ethan Kizer, Tyler Mason, Tyler Swanson, and the Metamora Redbirds quickly shifted the narrative.
Swanson scored a driving layup that ignited a 12-0 run going from late in the third quarter into the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. Then, Kizer and Swanson combined to hit four free throws in the final 25 seconds as Metamora (33-2) held off East St Louis 50-43 in an IHSA Class 3A semifinal match-up at State Farm Arena on the University of Illinois campus in Champaign.
Metamora — losers to Sacred Heart-Griffin in the Class 3A championship last season — will seek its first state title at 5:30 p.m. Saturday against Chicago Simeon.
Metamora coach Danny Grieves lauded his players’ never-say-die attitude and grit as the Redbirds overcame deficits of eight and 10 points to knock off the Flyers and collect their 31st-straight victory.
“What I love about these guys is the way they share the ball, and they know the things that they (each) do offensively and defensively, and they just refuse to lose. And when our guys have that type of attitude, good things happen,” Grieves said.
East St. Louis overcame a slow start to lead 14-10 after the first quarter and then took a 27-19 advantage into the halftime break behind smooth-shooting senior forward Macaleab Rich’s scoring. Rich, the Kansas State bound recruit, scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the first half.
East Side pushed its lead to 36-26 halfway into the third quarter, but the Redbirds settled down, dug in on defense and came roaring back thanks to the 12-0 run sparked by Swanson’s bucket. A pair of Drew Tucker free throws tied it at 36-36, and a Mason steal and bucket capped the Redbirds’ surge.
Tucker said Metamora did not panic after falling behind 10 points in the third quarter.
“We were in the same situation against Simeon last year, so stay calm, relax, play our game, and let the game come to us,” Tucker said.
East St. Louis struggled to hit shots in the second half as Rich got double and triple-teamed near the basket.
“I just really kept trying to attack in the lane and help get my teammates involved (offensively),” Rich said.
The Flyers pulled within 46-43 on a Rich step-through with 25 seconds left. However, Swanson knocked down a free throw, and Kizer sank three foul shots to deny the Flyers a state championship berth.
Falling short in the semifinals and playing for third place was not the plan for East St. Louis, but Flyers coach Mark Chambers said they would be ready to move on and learn from it.
“I just told them we have to put this behind us and move on; we’ve got to let it go, and we’ve still got a lot to play for. It’s the seniors’ last game, so we’re gonna try to finish strong and play hard,” said Chambers, who guided East St. Louis to the Class 3A title in 2018-19.
Rich anchored the Flyers with 19 points. Kizer led Metamora with 16 points, while Mason and Swanson eached scored 11 points.
East St. Louis regroups to capture 3rd place game
The Flyers scored a huge victory in Friday night’s third place game, defeated St. Ignatius College Prep (24-13) 50-48.
With the win, East St. Louis finished the season at 26-9.
The Flyers trailed 25-20 at halftime but outscored the Wolfpack 19-9 in the third quarter to take a 39-34 lead. ESL held on from there.
Rich again led the way with 24 points.
This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 3:59 PM.