The East St. Louis Flyers will be headed to the Final Four of the IHSA Class 3A state tournament this weekend.
The Flyers defeated Decatur McArthur 51-49 in the Class 3A Supersectionals on Monday night in Springfield. Senior guard Alex Johnson picked up a loose ball and scored on a layup with 18 seconds left to break a 49-49 tie to send the Flyers to the Final Four for the sixth time in the school’s history.
East St. Louis (30-5) will take on Chicago Leo (28-6) in the state semifinals on Friday at Assembly Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign. Tip-off is at 11:45 a.m. The winner of that game will take on the Kaneland-Deerfield winner for the state championship on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Johnson, a 6’3” senior guard, led the Flyers with 21 points. Senior forward Jamison White scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high 17 rebounds. Junior guard Terri’yon Webster scored 11 points while junior point guard Phillip Jones had eight points, six rebounds and eight assists.
East St. Louis is seeking its second state championship in the school’s history. The Flyers won the Class 3A state championship in 2019.