Collinsville held a 26-25 lead with three minutes remaining in the second quarter Thursday, but did not score again until halfway through the third quarter, losing 71-50.
Jake Moore scores against Urbana / Photo by Roger Starkey
The Kahoks (3-7) came out like a team determined to taste victory for the first time since winning their first three games of the season. They hit four early 3-pointers, grabbed six first-quarter offensive rebounds and held a 17-12 advantage over Urbana (6-4) after one quarter.
Anfirnee Wilkinson hit his first two 3-pointers but, like the rest of the team, his touch went cold from beyond the arc. Wilkinson missed his final four 3-point attempts and the team, after shooting 4-12 from deep in the first quarter, made just one of their final 10 attempts.
Urbana heated up as the Kahoks cooled down. The Tigers snared seven offensive rebounds in the second quarter and forced several late Collinsville turnovers on their way to a 20-9 scoring advantage in the quarter.
The dagger for Collinsville may have been a long 3-pointer from Urbana’s Korrion Taylor as time expired in the second quarter. The shot capped a 7-0 run to end the half and was the highlight of a 19-0 run that turned a Kahoks’ one-point lead into an 18-point deficit.
Sean Davis scored a bucket with 4 minutes remaining the third to get the Kahoks on the board in the half and cut the deficit to 16, but they would never get closer. Davis scored nine of Collinsville’s 13 points in the quarter and finished with a team-high 14.
Despite giving away at least three inches to each of Collinsville’s big men, 6-foot 4-inch Urbana center Conner Gremer worked over the Kahoks’ interior defense for 23 points, to lead all scorers. Marcus Catchings and Shimaaz Ivy scored 10 each for Urbana, who move on to face the #3 seed Althoff in a 6:30 p.m. contest Friday.
Scoring for Collinsville were: Davis-14, Shaffer-8, Wilkinson-8, Rickman-8, Midgett-4, Chambers-3, Langley-3, Moore-2
Collinsville plays at 4 p.m. Friday against Triad (1-9) in the consolation bracket. The Knights lost 54-45 to Althoff Thursday.
