The Collinsville High School boys basketball team could not overcome a seven-minute scoreless stretch Friday night, losing to Belleville East 40-36 in a Southwestern Conference matchup.
Anfirnee Wilkinson against Belleville East / Photo by Roger Starkey
The Kahoks (0-5 SWC, 4-9) started the game with a 3-point basket from Anfirnee Wilkinson. Collinsville went 0-10 from beyond the arc the rest of the game.
The 3-pointer was also the only CHS basket of the first quarter. Wilkinson hit five free throws and Jacob Shaffer made one. Wilkinson scored the team’s first six points and collected eight of his 10 for the game in the quarter. The Kahoks trailed the Lancers (3-1 SWC, 8-5) 13-9 after a quarter of play.
Sean Davis tipped in a missed shot attempt to end the first half and give Collinsville a 19-17 lead going into the locker room. Collinsville’s man-to-man defense held Belleville East’s Darreon Reddick to only three points on 1-6 shooting in the half. Reddick came into the game averaging 14.5 points and was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Collinsville Schnucks Holiday Classic.
Playing better defense was a focus in practice, Head Coach Darin Lee said. “We really went to work the last couple of weeks to become a better man-to-man defensive team,” Lee said.
The second half opened with a much quicker pace from both teams. Following Emondre Rickman’s third bucket of the second half, including his second dunk of the game, the Kahoks held a 25-21 lead with 4 minutes 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter. They would not score again until 6:02 remained in the game.
At one point during Belleville East’s 12-0 run, with CHS still leading 25-24, the Kahoks missed three consecutive 3-pointers, including two air balls from Wilkinson. CHS was able to get stops defensively, until Reddick stepped in front of a pass and went the length of the floor for a layup with 2:35 remaining in the third quarter. Reddick’s free throw completed the three-point play and the Lancers held the lead the rest of the way.
Two of the next three Lancers’ baskets game on steals and layups, before Davis stopped the bleeding with 6:02 to go in the fourth quarter. His three-point play cut the lead to five points. The Kahoks did not get closer until the final score.
Belleville East held a 10-point lead with 1:27 remaining, when Wilkinson scored his second bucket of the game and Rickman made two baskets, pulling the Kahoks to within four (40-36) with 14.7 seconds remaining.
Reddick missed the first half of a 1-1 free throw attempts with 14.7 and five seconds remaining in the game. Wilkinson missed a 3-point attempt following each failed free throw.
Reddick scored seven of his game-high 15 in the fourth quarter.
Rickman scored 10 of his season-high 14 points on the second half. Rickman, who, at 6-foot 8-inches, enjoyed a four inch height advantage over his tallest Lancer opponent, connected on 7 of 8 shots from the floor.
“He’s played better in practice the last few weeks,” Lee said. “He had a nice game against Quincy. He’s playing better, there’s no question.”
The difference in the game, Lee said, was his team’s inability to make baskets.
“We pretty much accomplished what we wanted to accomplish defensively, we executed our offense, we cut our turnovers down and we rebounded a bit better,” Lee said. “We’re just going to have to start knocking our shots down.”
Scoring for Collinsville were: Rickman-14, Wilkinson-10, Shaffer-5, Davis-5, Midgett-2,
The Kahoks play a 7:30 p.m. contest Saturday at Granite City.
