Late heroics doom Belleville West in key Southwestern Conference showdown

Edwardsville senior forward Micah Butler had not been shooting well over the past few games for the Tigers.

But Butler’s shot-making returned Friday night, and it paid off for the Tigers.

Butler drained a clutch 3-pointer and added a free throw in the final minute, lifting Edwardsville to a 44-41 gut-check Southwestern Conference road win at Belleville West High School.

The win was a huge relief for Butler and the Tigers, who were looking to avoid back-to-back losses after falling 60-52 at home to Mascoutah on Tuesday.

“This was definitely a bounce-back win to come back after tough loss against Mascoutah,” Butler said. “It was fun playing tonight and we got a big win tonight.”

Edwardsville (14-7, 5-3) came out hot in the first quarter, surging to a 12-2 lead behind a bucket from Butler and 3-pointers from Nolan Weller and Brady Niemi.

An 8-4 run keyed by a pair of Weller buckets pushed the lead to 20-9 late in the second quarter.

Belleville West (13-8, 3-4) trailed 27-18 at halftime due to a lack of shot-making and poor offensive flow.

“They forced us to take tough shots and I thought in the first half we played into their game plan and settled for too many outside shots,” Belleville West coach Alex Schobert said.

West used an 8-3 run spurred by a pair of Micah May 3-pointers, cutting the lead to 30-26 with 2:23 left in the third quarter. May finished with nine points.

Amauri Fenton gave West its first lead of the night with a conventional three-point play to make it 36-35 with 4:19 to go.

Schobert praised his team’s second-half comeback effort.

“Credit to our kids, I think we were down 12 or 14 at point and we battled back,” Schobert said.

J’Dyn Lloyd’s basket with 49 seconds left gave the Maroons a 41-40 lead. Lloyd led Belleville West with 17 points.

Butler responded with his biggest shot of the game, stepping out off a screen on the right baseline to drill a 3-pointer and make it 43-41 with 16.7 seconds remaining.

“Coach Battas told me to keep shooting and I’ve been in a slump the past couple of games and it was really big to get that shot,” Butler said. “It was just a spontaneous play.”

Butler then knocked down a free throw with 5.3 seconds left to seal it for the Tigers. He finished with a game-high 21 points.

Edwardsville coach Dustin Battas was happy to see Butler step up in the clutch.

“I’m happy for Micah and you want to try to get shots for your guys that have some experience, so I’m happy to see him get a little bit of a sliver of some space there and happy to see him make it,” Battas said.

Schobert felt the Maroons had opportunities in the final minute, but came up short.

“We definitely had our chances but it doesn’t come down to the last minute or quarter, it comes down to the fact we were down 20-9 in the second quarter and we just didn’t execute like we needed to,” Schobert said. “I’m proud of our kids for battling and we’ll probably see them again in the postseason.”

Edwardsville visits Alton next Friday for a 7:30 p.m. conference showdown.

Belleville West travels to Granite City on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. for a nonconference game.

This story was originally published January 31, 2026 at 6:44 AM.