Kahoks’ senior comes up clutch to lead Collinsville to upset of Belleville West
When it comes to hitting big shots or free throws late, Collinsville’s Jace Wilkinson has no fear whatsoever.
Wilkinson, the Kahoks’ talented senior point guard, knocked down a 3-pointer and nailed three free throws in the final one minute, 20 seconds, allowing Collinsville to hold off Belleville West for a 53-48 Southwestern Conference win on Friday night at Vergil Fletcher Gym in Collinsville.
The win was a huge boost for Collinsville, which has won three of its last four and improved to 11-15 and 3-8.
“I think this game really important for us to get because it gives us some momentum for the playoffs,” Wilkinson said. “We have a tough schedule with Granite City in the first round, so this helps us get resdy for the bigger games.”
Collinsville started strong thanks to an 8-2 run powered by a pair of Wilkinson buckets, and a DeAndre Brown basket gave the Kahoks an 11-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Kahoks first-year coach Hank Matthews was pleased with his club’s strong early start.
“To this group’s credit, I never have to worry about effort,” Matthews said. “They always show up and they always play really, really hard. I thought tonight our focus and execution on both ends was really good.”
Belleville West (18-9, 5-5) pulled within 24-21 on a Caden Capell putback with 3:05 left in the second quarter, but Collinsville carried a 28-23 lead into halftime.
The teams traded buckets in the third quarter, but the Kahoks still led 40-35 going into the fourth.
West finally got its first lead of the night on a Rickey Salmond III triple with 4:20 left to play. Jordan Taylor answered with a backdoor slam and a layup, pushing the Kahoks ahead 47-44.
Taylor, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, was relentless in the paint with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Micah May’s two pulled West within 47-46 with 1:58 to go.
That’s when Wilkinson, who scored a game-high 22 points, showed his clutch gene.
Wilkinson bounced in a long-range triple from the top of the key, making it 50-46, and then calmly sank three of four foul shots in the closing moments to close out the win for Collinsville.
It was just another night for the senior guard, who routinely shoots about 500 shots in practice daily.
“I put in a lot of shots, last night I did over 500 and that’s second home game in a row I’ve shot (a three) from that far and that gave us a lot of momentum,” Wilkinson said. “I had no fear at all.”
Matthews believes his club is finding its stride in the next-to-last week of the regular season.
“We’re playing with a purpose right now,” Matthews said. “The team is playing with a purpose ad we could be really dangerous. We know we’re good enough to compete and we’re just gonna try to have another good day tomorrow.”
Belleville West coach Alex Schobert felt that Collinsville was more physical than the Maroons and that was the key difference in the end.
“Collinsville came out with a ton of energy and they were consistently more physical throughout the game and that’s what I told the team,” Schobert said. “We’ve had a strong year but we need to learn from this and understand we need to play with a lot more energy and toughness if we want to succeed because we’re gonna get everybody’s best shot.”
J’Dyn Lloyd paced the Maroons with 14 points. Salmond III added nine.
West returns to action on Saturday afternoon, when it will face Hazelwood East for the Belleville East Tournament championship at 1 p.m. at Belleville East.
Collinsville will play Belleville East for third place in the tournament on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
This story was originally published February 14, 2026 at 6:51 AM.