The Collinsville boys basketball team held a nine-point lead against Quincy entering the fourth quarter Saturday, but were outscored 21-9 in the period and lost 49-46 on a last second 3-pointer.
Emondre Rickman shoots a jump hook against Quincy on Dec. 28, 2013. The Kahoks lost 49-46 / Photo by Roger Starkey
Collinsville (4-8) scored all nine of its fourth-quarter points on free throws, making 9-16 after making 8-10 entering the final period. Missed free throws, four turnovers and five offensive rebounds surrendered allowed Quincy (5-6) to scratch back into the game.
Despite not scoring a point in the first three quarters, Quincy’s Cameron Gay made three baskets in the final 3 minutes 10 seconds that gave the Blue Devils a tie or the lead, including the game winner with 3 seconds remaining. After Gay tied the score at 43, Collinsville’s Sean Davis and Anfirnee Wilkinson each converted on only 1 of 2 free throw attempts, to give the Kahoks a 45-43 lead with 1:10 to go in the game. Collinsville stepped to the charity stripe eight times in the fourth quarter and converted 1 of 2 free throws seven times.
Gay then drilled a 3-pointer with 57 seconds remaining to give the Blue Devils their first lead since 5-2 early in the first. Davis snared a loose ball on the ensuing possession and was fouled attempting a shot. Davis, made 1 of 2 free throws, to knot the score with 35.5 seconds remaining.
Quincy worked the ball around as the clock wound down, before finding Gay in the corner for the game winner with only 3 seconds remaining. The Kahoks inbounded the ball to midcourt, but center Emondre Rickman could not get a handle on it and Collinsville turned the ball over without attempting a game-tying shot.
The lack of a go-to scorer hurt Collinsville again. The team’s last made field game came with 1:47 remaining in the third quarter and, as the Blue Devils crept back into the game, the Kahoks did not have a player to stop the bleeding. After shooting 10-20 from the floor in the first half, Collinsville managed only 3-21 in the second half.
Collinsville Head Coach Darin Lee has repeatedly spoken about his team’s rebounding struggles. Quincy took advantage of the weakness to score 15 second-chance points and snare five crucial offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
For the game, the Kahoks shot 3-13 from beyond the arc and 13-41 (31.7 percent) overall. Collinsville made 17-26 from the charity stripe, good for 65.4 percent.
Quincy had 17 more field goal attempts than Collinsville, shooting 17-58 (29.3 percent). The Blue Devils made 8-22 3-point attempts and 7-12 free throws.
Scoring for Collinsville were: Davis-13, Rickman-8, Midgett-7, Langley-7, Shaffer-6, Chambers-3, Wilkinson-2
Quincy lost 65-49 to Decatur MacArthur in the consolation championship Saturday evening. Number one seed Lincoln knocked of third seed Althoff 66-56 to win the Schnucks Holiday Classic.
Collinsville returns to the hardwood on Jan. 7 for a 7:30 p.m. matchup at Granite City.
Collinsville coach told their leading scorer in a particular game that if he continued to shoot then he would be benched. His leading scorer has now dropped from over 18 points per game to just over 12 points per game. The player is now afraid to shoot the ball in fear of being removed from the game. He is the only player on the team that can score off the dribble. Everyone else are set shooters. For instance, two early plays were called for this player against Urbana and he hit his first 2 three pointers. Then the coach stopped calling plays for him. After that it was all down hill. The coach let Urbana run 16 straight points before calling a time out. Then gave up and blamed the kids. Its really unbelievable what is happening with this team. Collinsville’s athletics are frustrating many.
Mike Knipp, great assessment of the current “coach” and the way the team responds to his methods. I myself saw the hesitancy of the shooter in question. Passed up a few open shots, and now it makes sense. I couldn’t help but notice that in the last two games, there was very little inside play. For some reason, higher percentage shots don’t seem to be in the playbook for Collinsville. On the few occasions that they passed the ball inside, Chambers and Davis did quite well, yet the coach for some reason preferred missing three pointers to inside play. As far as driving the lane, only late in the Triad game, when Moore came off the bench, was this even attempted, and was done with success. Was it attempted again against Quincy? No. In fact, I never even saw the player enter the game. I have to question the reasoning behind these “coaching” decisions. The only conclusion I can draw is he (Coach Lee) is trying to prove that you can’t win with just an outside shooting game. Apparently it hasn’t occurred to him that both inside and outside play would garner much more success. We’ve seen great inside play from Chambers, Davis, and from Moore driving the lane, so the reason can’t be because they don’t have players that can do it? Why then is it not being done? It may be time to rethink the coaching staff, and their decisions.
The boys are doing the best they can. Please support them because they are all trying their hardest. Thanks!