East St. Louis – East St. Louis answered a Collinsville basket to open the game with a 17-0 run and never looked back on its way to a 91-50 victory in Southwestern Conference play.

Jacob Shaffer against East St. Louis / Photo by Roger starkey

The Kahoks (4-10 SWC, 12-16) answered with a 7-0 run before the Flyers (10-4 SWC, 17-7) reeled off the next 14 to stretch their lead to 31-9 with three minutes remaining in the first half. A 3- pointer with five second remaining in the second quarter sent East St. Louis into the locker room with a 43-17 advantage.

The Kahoks were plagued by turnovers in the first half, committing 13. Many were the product of East St. Louis’ 2-2-1 press, while others were unforced. Many passes went through Kahok hands, Lee said.

“If you can’t catch it, you’re going to have a tough time,” Lee said.

Although the Flyers committed eight turnovers of their own in the half, they also nabbed six offensive rebounds, received scoring from nine players and made five 3-pointers. East St. Louis made 11 triples on the day, partly from poor CHS defense, and partly because they were hot, Lee said.

“It’s hard to make that many with nobody guarding you,” Lee said.

Collinsville shot only 7-21 from the floor in the first half and 17-46 in the game (37 percent). The Fyers shot 55.4 percent for the game, including the 11-18 from beyond the arc.

The third quarter was the Kahoks best. They were only outscored by four points and the public address announcer did not speak into the microphone during the period.

As the teams finished halftime warm-ups and prepared to start play, the announcer attempted to get the fan’s attention for yet another announcement. He had been working the microphone the entire break and had just invited former mayor and police chief Carl Officer onto the floor to attempt a half-court shot while the teams were waiting for the quarter to begin. Officer rejected the offer and the game officials refused to allow him to make his final announcement.  He did no announcing for the entire third quarter, after being chastised by game officials.

With a 30-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter, the Flyers continued to press. When they built the lead to 37 with 4 minutes reaming, the Flyers continued to press. Lee said he wasn’t upset with head coach Tony Young’s decision to press with such a large lead, but it is not how he would have handled himself.

“I wouldn’t do it, I can tell you that.”

On the night, the team did not compete as well as Lee would have liked, he said. The defense has not played well this week, Lee said. Defense will be one area of focus for the Kahoks heading into the first game of Regionals Monday at 7 p.m. at Belleville West.

Before the game, the junior varsity played its last game of the season, losing 80-72 to East St Louis. The team finished the season 11-4.

Scoring for the Junior Kahoks were: Midgett–40, Buehne-13, Flora-10, Page-8, Lyons-4

Unofficial league line