Anfirnee Wilkinson scored eight first quarter points to help the Kahoks to an early lead against Mascoutah Friday, and made four fourth quarter free throws to help seal a 53-46 win.

Jacob Shaffer drives the lane against Mascoutah / Photo by Roger Starkey

Collinsville (9-12) led 14-9 after one quarter, but managed only three points over the first five minutes of the second quarter. Leading by one point with three minutes to go in the first half, Collinsville scored nine points in a minute to grab a 26-16 lead.

The 9-0 run started on a Wilkinson 3-pointer. The Indians (4-18) then turned the ball over against the Kahoks’ press and Sean Davis was fouled attempting a shot.

Mascoutah failed to inbound the ball following Davis’ two made free throws and Davis scored a bucket on the subsequent possession. Following a third Indians’ turnover against the Collinsville press in as many possessions, Harrison Wethers scored a bucket to cap the 9-0 spurt.

Mascoutah Head Coach Cody Reynolds said his team did not handle the press well in the first half. “We were too far out by the baseline,” Reynolds said. “We didn’t give our guards room to catch the ball and get some space to make passes against it.”

The Kahoks forced eight turnovers in each half, but the majority of the Indians’ second-half turnovers came in the half-court offense. Collinsville had eight turnovers in the game.

After trailing by 14 points early in the fourth quarter, Mascoutah cut the lead to five (49-44) with 2:10 remaining on a steal and layup by Brian Pettiford. It was the closest the Indians had been since 21-16 late in the second quarter.

Wilkinson was fouled on the subsequent possession and made both free throws. Two Indians’ free throws made it 52-46 with 41 seconds remaining, but they could get no closer. Jamal Wellmaker made 1-2 free throws with 5.8 seconds remaining to ice the game.

The Kahoks took a 40-28 lead into the half, but were outscored 28-24 in the second half, including 18-13 in the final period. Lee said the team did not maintain its quality of play throughout the second half. “I thought we played a good first half and a ho-hum fourth,” Lee said.

Collinsville was 3-8 from the floor and made just 7-12 fourth-quarter free throws and 14-21 for the game. Mascoutah was a perfect 12-12 from the charity stripe on the evening.

Neither team shot well from the floor. Collinsville managed only 18-46 (39.1 percent) for the game. Mascoutah made 16 of 45 (35.6 percent). Reynolds said the Kahoks’ defensive pressure forced his players to shoot quickly, not always getting their feet set properly.

Collinsville scorers were: Wilkinson-19, Shaffer-11, Davis-10, Wethers-5, Chambers-4, Langley-3, Wellmaker-1

Tim Parks led Mascoutah with 15 points. Patrick White added 12.

Collinsville returns to action at 7:30 p.m. when it hosts Granite City at Vergil Fletcher Gym.

Prior to the varsity game, the junior varsity knocked off the Indians junior varsity squad 61-51.

The Collinsville junior varsity scorers were: Page-16, Gonet-15, Midgett-13, Flora-11, Buehne-6