Collinsville catches fire in fourth quarter, hands O’Fallon its sixth consecutive loss

Down by eight points in the fourth quarter Friday, things looked bleak for the Collinsville Kahoks.

But junior Ronnie Midgett and sophomore Jake Hall made key 3-pointers and senior Tommy Maden was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line as the Kahoks rallied for a 57-54 victory over O’Fallon in a Southwestern Conference game.

The win wiped out any linger feelings of disappointment the Kahoks might have had after their 60-55 loss to East St. Louis on Tuesday. In that game, Collinsville that couldn’t protect a six-point lead in the fourth quarter and were dominated 44-18 on the boards.

“This is a real big win,” said the 5-foot-9 Maden, who finished with 12 points. “We had to bounce back and get this one. We just had to take care of the ball, rebound a lot better and play better defense. That was bad (Tuesday). We had a lot of breakdowns.”

Midgett finished with a game-high 22 points as the Kahoks improved to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the SWC. O’Fallon, which got 14 points from senior Chance Armstrong and 11 points and three 3-pointers from sophomore Tabari Dunlap, fell to 1-7 and 0-3.

“I thought we played well, especially there at the start of the fourth quarter (when we) extended the lead to eight points,” Panthers coach Rick Gibson said. “We were playing well and they hit two big 3s. We’re not used to winning right now. We’re finding ways to lose, and that was a good example of it. We let up defensively.”

Key sequence

O’Fallon led 48-40 after senior Lucas Hackmann made two free throws with 5:09 to play in the game. But Midgett and Hall followed with back-to-back 3-pointers 46 seconds apart, and suddenly Collinsville was within 48-46 at the 3:58 mark.

The Panthers led 52-48 on a basket by junior Jarvus Smith after Midgett missed a floater in the lane, but junior Sam Webb had a three-point play for the Kahoks to make it 52-51.

Senior Amron Cooper-Hodges followed with a layup on a slick pass from Midgett, putting Collinsville ahead to stay at 53-52 with 1:23 remaining.

The teams exchanged turnovers, and after Dunlap missed the front end of a one-and-one, Maden made a pair of free throws to make it 55-52 with 18.3 seconds left.

Sophomore Jalen Hodge scored on a drive to the basket with six seconds left to again bring O’Fallon within one at 55-54, but Maden made two more free throws with 5.1 seconds to play, putting the Kahoks ahead by three.

Dunlap’s 3-pointer from the right wing was then blocked by Midgett as time expired.

“We were fortunate,” said Collinsville coach Darin Lee said, whose team trailed 39-36 after three quarters. “We didn’t do a great job to start the fourth quarter. Those two big back-to-back 3s by Midgett and Hall got us back in the game. We did a better job guarding, I guess, in the fourth quarter, or they missed some shots. One or the other.”

Midgett breaks loose

Midgett can be sporadic at times, showing a lack of discipline at the offensive end. But his ability to get to the rim combined with a dangerous 3-point shot keeps teams honest.

Midgett was 9-for-20 from the field and made two 3s.

“He’s dangerous with the ball. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” Lee said. “Sometimes when he gets the treatment of a double-team, he’s got to find somebody. That’s one thing we’ve worked on.

“He can get to the rim or he can pull up and shoot. A lot of it is he’s just got to continue to make good decisions with the basketball. Read whether they’re going to double him, where the double’s coming from or if he’s man-to-man.”

By the numbers

Collinsville shot 45 percent from the field (21-for-47) and was 7-for-9 from the field. The Kahoks were charged with 14 turnovers, nine coming in the first half.

O’Fallon shot 41 percent from the floor (22-for-54) was 5-for-10 from the line. The Panthers committed just 11 turnovers.

Hodge and Hackmann chipped in with nine points apiece for O’Fallon, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Panthers’ sixth consecutive loss.

“Losing is very contagious, and we’re in that funk of losing right now and finding ways to lose instead of finding ways to win,” Gibson said.

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 10:20 PM with the headline "Collinsville catches fire in fourth quarter, hands O’Fallon its sixth consecutive loss."