Macomb High and Illini West had split two previous matches earlier this season, both low scoring affairs.
But nobody, other than maybe the Chargers, expected the defensive effort by IWHS Wednesday night as the Chargers rolled past MHS 42-24 at The Hangar.
With the win, Illini West improved to 22-6 for the season and clinched the Prairieland Conference South Division championship with a 5-0 mark.
IWHS jumped out to a 14-2 first quarter lead after a 9-0 start forced MHS head coach Jeremy Anderson to call a timeout at the 4:18 mark.
A Nick Elbe basket broke the run and made it 9-2 before Ethan Carlisle hit his second trey of the period as the Chargers closed with a 5-0 spurt to end the quarter.
The defensive intensity picked up on both ends of the floor in the second quarter as MHS was held to only one field goal in the period, but IWHS managed only six points, five by Wes Robertson, to grab a 21-6 halftime lead.
Anderson was quick to point out the reason for the Bombers’ offensive struggles in the first half.
“Illini West guards you really well,” he said. “There’s not going to be too many open opportunities. You have to be able to execute your stuff really well to get good looks. They were doing a really good job of containing our scoring options.”
“The shots that we did get at the basket, we missed a lot of them early in the game that maybe could have settled us down a little bit,” Anderson added. The MHS defense limited IWHS to only three field goals in the third quarter, but could only close the deficit to 28-16 heading into the fourth quarter.
MHS may have suffered its biggest loss early in the period when senior Drew Watson went down awkwardly on a layup attempt and had to be helped from the floor with an apparent leg injury.
The Bombers would close the gap to 28-19 a short time later before Robertson personally sparked a 7-0 run with a trey and a three-point play. He then hit one-of-two free throws to extend the Chargers’ lead out to 35-19 with just under three minutes remaining, closing out any further MHS comeback attempts.
“I was really happy with the way we kept playing hard,” said Anderson. “We kind of pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps and went back out there and got after it. Illini West is playing really well and are well-coached.”
Elbe led MHS (18-9, 4-1) with eight points while Watson and Nolan Hoge each had five points. Kellen Martin had four points and Cooper Hobson added two points to round out the MHS scoring.
Cooper Hobson Photo by Andrea Ratermann
Robertson led IW with a game-high 19 points. MHS is scheduled to host Camp Point Central Friday night before travelling to Payson-Seymour on Feb. 17. The Bombers will then finish the regular season at home against Monmouth- Roseville on Feb. 20.
Anderson knows his squad still has time to bounce back before regionals, but the status of Watson remains uncertain for now.
“You have to flush it and take what you can and learn from it,” said Anderson. “Now, we’re not sure what our situation will be with Drew so we’re going to have to rework some things personnel-wise. It’s going to be a challenge. We need to come in tomorrow ready to step up and take on that challenge.”
