By Phil Knapper – Metro Independent Contributor
BELLEVILLE — The healthier Emondre Rickman gets, the better the Collinsville Kahoks will be. That statement was backed up brilliantly by Rickman Friday night at Belleville West, as he scored 19 points and pulled down 9 boards in a 66-59 Kahoks win.
Nic Gonet / Photo by Roger Starkey
“That was his best performance,” Collinsville coach Darin Lee said. “The difference is that he is healthier and we were doing a good job getting him the ball. And he is working hard and taking care of business out there.”
Rickman and Anfirnee Wilkinson made quite a 1-2 punch Friday night. Wilkinson scored 19 points as well, including a 4 of 4 performance at the free throw line late as Collinsville held off a Maroons comeback.
“Anfirnee is a hard worker and he had a good game tonight,” Lee said. “He does a real good job for us on both ends.”
Collinsville (4-8 Southwestern Conference, 12-14) trailed 10-6 early, but used an 11-2 run to grab a 17-12 lead after one period. Harrison Wethers grabbed an offensive board and scored to pull the Kahoks within 12-10, with Wilkinson following with a 3-pointer to give them the lead for good, 13-12.
“We shot the ball better tonight,” said Lee. “And people look at Belleville West’s record (2-10 SWC, 5-18) and don’t realize what a good team they have. We beat a good team tonight. This was a good win.”
Wilkinson and Rickman combined for 13 of Collinsville’s 15 second-quarter points as it led 32-28 at the half.
The two teams played an even third period before Collinsville started to pull away down the stretch. West made a run at the Kahoks, though, pulling within 42-41 on a 3-pointer from Eugene Jones. Jones hurt Collinsville all night, scoring 22 points in the game.
“We have to figure out a way to stop him,” Lee said of Jones. “We play them again and we can’t let him score like he did tonight.”
Collinsville returns to Belleville West for a 7 p.m. game against the Maroons in the opening round of the Regionals on March 3. The winner plays top-seeded O’Fallon the following night. Collinsville has lost to O’Fallon both times they played this year.
Brett Langley’s big 3-pointer and a Rickman three-point play, before putting down a nice two-handed dunk, gave the Kahoks a 50-44 lead. Wethers then hit two at the stripe and Nic Gonet hit a huge 3-pointer to give the Kahoks some distance, going ahead 55-46 with just under two minutes left.
“That was a big 3-pointer,” Lee said. “Nic has been shooting the ball better.”
Jacob Shaffer and Wilkinson went 4 of 4 each at the line in the waning moments and Collinsville was 12 of 13 at the charity stripe in the fourth period as a team.
Jones was the lone Maroon in double-digits, Demond White scoring nine.
Collinsville returns home for senior night Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. against Belleville East
Unofficial line
| Player | Total Points | FG | 3PT | FT | Rebounds | Ast. | Stl. | TO | BLK | |||||
| Made | Att. | Made | Att. | Made | Att. | Off | Def | Tot | ||||||
| Gonet, Nic | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Shaffer, Jacob | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Wilkinson, Anfirnee | 19 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Rickman, Edmondre | 19 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Davis, Sean | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wethers, Harrison | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Chambers, Matt | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Wellmaker, Jamaal | ||||||||||||||
| Moore, Jake | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Langley, Bret | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Buehne, Cole | ||||||||||||||
| Midgett, Ronnie | ||||||||||||||
| Page, Jeren | ||||||||||||||
Prior to the game, the Collinsville junior varsity team beat the Belleville West junior varsity team 56-44. Collinsville junior varsity scorers were: Buehne-15, Flora-10, Page-10, Gonet-8, Midgett-8, Robinette-3, Lyons-2
