East St. Louis earns return trip to 3A Final Four with win over MacArthur

The East St. Louis Senior High School boys basketball team earned its second trip to the IHSA Class 3A state tournament Monday.

The Flyers held off a late rally by Decatur MacArthur to edge the Generals 51-49 in the Springfield Super-Sectional at the Bank of Springfield Center.

With the win, East St. Louis (30-4) earned its ninth trip to the state finals and second in three years. The Flyers placed third in 2023. They won their only championship in 2019.

They will face Chicago Leo (27-6) in the state semifinals Friday. Tipoff at the State Farm Center in Champaign is 11:45 a.m.

Deerfield (23-11) and Maple Park Kaneland (34-0) will meet in the other 3A semifinal, also on Friday.

Alex Johnson hit 50% of his 16 shots from the field and was 6-for-7 from the free-throw line to lead East St. Louis with a game-high 21 points. His basket with 18 seconds left in the game made the difference in the game’s outcome.

Forward Jamison White, meanwhile, contributed 11 points while also dominating with 17 rebounds, including 10 on the defensive end. He also blocked four shots.

MacArthur last led in the game with 2:31 left in the first quarter and trailed the Flyers by as much as 11 late in the third. But the Generals shot 7-for-12 from the field in the fourth quarter to mount a late run that brought them back within two before time ran out.

Tishawn Clemmons led MacArthur with 16 points. Monday’s loss to East St. Louis was just the second of the season for the Generals, who finished their historic season at 34-2.

This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 9:35 PM.