Olney Central (75) Kaskaskia (82)
The Blue Knights traveled to Centralia, IL for their second matchup against the Blue Devils. The Blue Devils went on big runs at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half through a barrage of three-pointers to take a lead as big as 19 points. The Blue Knights would fight and claw in the second half through big production from 6'8 Sophomore Elijah Farr, 6'4 Sophomore DJ Haynes, and 6'5 Sophomore Joseph Dalton. The Blue Devils held the Blue Knights run off and won by a score of 82-75.
Olney Central was led in scoring by Farr with 22 points, Haynes with 10 points, Dalton with 9 points, and received 7 points apiece from 6'5 Sophomore Jordan Tchuente and 6'5 Freshman Dillon Harrison. The Blue Knights shot 47.5% overall from the field but were held under their season percentages on three-pointers and the free-throw line.
The Blue Devils tied their season high with 11 made three-pointers and were led by 6'2 Sophomore Payton Sheen with 21 points and 6'8 Sophomore Shomari Tillett with 15 points.
Olney Central (86) Southwestern Illinois (75)
The Blue Knights returned home to "The Dungeon" for a revenge matchup against Southwestern Illinois.
Olney Central would get off to a slow start only scoring four points going into the first media timeout. The Blue Knights would get into a rhythm immediately after the timeout starting with a driving layup from 6'5 Sophomore Cobie Montgomery. The layup would be the first two points of Montgomery's 14 point half. 6'3 Freshman Jordan Graham and 6'4 Sophomore JJ Kalakon would also produce in the first half leading the Blue Knights to a 35-31 lead.
In the second half the Blue Knights would score 51 points through five made three-pointers and the free-throw line. The final score was 86-75 in favor of Olney Central.
The Blue Knights were led in scoring by JJ Kalakon's tied season high of 16 points, Jordan Graham with 15 points, Cobie Montgomery with 14 points, and Elijah Farr with 9 points. As a team the Blue Knights finished 46.4% from the field and were 27-37 from the free throw line for 73%.
The Blue Storm had four players in double figures: 6'0 Sophomore Jack Marinko, 6'2 Freshman Walter Johnson, 6'7 Sophomore Lamarius Lillard, and 6'8 Freshman Luke Davis. The Blue Storm were held to 39.1% shooting overall and 28.6% from the three-point line.
The Blue Knights next play at Wabash Valley in Mt. Carmel, Illinois on Wednesday, March 24th.
Head Coach Casey Wyllie on the games:
(Kaskaskia): "I felt like we did not match their physicality early in the game and didn't execute. I felt like they got every 50/50 ball, got some crucial offensive rebounds, and made some shots that killed us. We didn't convert back out of our press and we gave up some wide open looks. It goes back to doing things in practice and that falls back on me. I need to do a better job preparing our guys in practice for the game."
(SWIC): "We got into foul trouble the first half and we had some guys step up. We made some shots in the second half and we went on a run. We really did a good job of moving the ball and being basketball players. We ended up holding off SWIC late in the game and were able to make some free throws. I'm really proud of how well the guys played."