Crusaders break away from Cahokia
Pushed for three quarters, the Althoff Crusaders stepped it up down the stretch to pull out a 63-51 victory over the Cahokia Comanches on Friday night.
Leading just 44-43 after the Comanches’ Jackorey Davis drained a 3-pointer a little more than a minute into the final quarter, the Crusaders went on a 13-4 surge over the next four minutes to seize control of the South Seven Conference contest.
Junior forward Jordan Goodwin had six points during the run, including a key 3-pointer, and 6-foot-5 Marvin Bateman also drained a big 3, as Althoff grabbed a 57-47 advantage. Goodwin would finish the game with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The outcome was closer than some might expect for Althoff, which had rolled to convincing victories over Carbondale, Edwardsville and Mater Dei after getting its football players back from their run to the Class 5A state championship game.
“Maybe the wear of the football season is starting to show,” said Althoff coach Greg Lieb, whose Comanches improved to 6-1 and 2-0 in the South Seven, “but we stepped up when we needed to.
“We looked pretty weary at times tonight, but the guys kept grinding, grinding, grinding. We kept hitting the glass and trying to get some easy looks and fortunately we were able to persevere.”
Cahokia seemed to play much better than a team that came in with a 2-5 record as it was able to throw a scare into the top-ranked Class 3A team in the state. The loss dropped the Comanches to 2-6 for the season and 0-2 in conference play.
“A couple of things go our way and it’s a different game,” said Comanches coach Darian Nash, whose young team had two freshmen — Deavis Johnson and Elijah Rice — getting significant playing time. “The main thing we wanted to do was control the tempo and not get into the running game they like to play.
“But they made the plays down the stretch in some crucial situations. It’s something we’re hoping our guys can learn from.”
Althoff senior guard Brendan Gooch, who had seven points early to help keep Cahokia close, said the Crusaders are not the kind of team to panic.
Gooch finished with a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds.
“After seeing teams like Morgan Park and (Westchester) St. Joseph’s, those game were kind of crazy,” said Gooch of two teams Althoff saw in last spring’s Class 3A state tournament, “So we were not going to hang our heads when they kept it close.
“Coach called a time out, Marvin (Bateman) hit a big 3 that kind of got us going and we kind of rolled from there.”
Cahokia got first-quarter points from five different players to help it build a 15-11 advantage. But a pair of baskets from Goodwin and a 3 from Gooch pushed Althoff into the lead at 18-15 early in the second quarter. The Crusaders would take a 30-28 lead into halftime, a pair of Tarkus Ferguson free throws just a minute before the end of the half breaking a 28-28 tie.
A basket from Thomas Bell and a pair of Rice free throws to open the second half allowed Cahokia to gon in front 32-30. But that would be the Comanches’ final lead, as Althoff would go on a 14-2 surge that helped stake it to a 44-38 lead going into the final quarter.
Bell topped Cahokia with 11 points and seven rebounds. Rice finished with eight as 10 different players scored for the Comanches.
“I told my guys, I don’t take moral victories, but I didn’t want them to hang their heads,” Nash said. “That was one of the best teams in the state.
“We’re a young team and the sky is the limit for us. You better get us now, if you’re going to get us, because in the next two or three years we’re going to be in the state title hunt again.”
For Althoff, Ferguson finished with 13 points and Bateman had 10, including a pair of 3s.
This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 11:10 PM with the headline "Crusaders break away from Cahokia."