The East St. Louis Flyers concluded a magical high school basketball season by winning their second state championship.
The Flyers (33-4) defeated Deerfield 52-46 to win the Illinois High School Association Class 3A state championship on Saturday in Champaign on the campus of the University of Illinois. It was the second state championship under the direction of head coach Mark Chambers. The Flyes won their first state title in 2019.
Leading the way for East St. Louis was 6’8″ senior forward Jamison White, who had a dominant all-around game with 19 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and three steals. The Penn State recruit had the big play of the game in the closing minute when he rebounded his own missed free throw and scored on a layup to give the Flyers a 50-46 lead.
Senior Alex Johnson also turned in a strong effort in his final game in a Flyers’ uniform with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists. Junior guard Terry’ion Webster scored seven points while Devrice Johnson added six points.
East St. Louis advanced to the state championship game with a 59-40 victory over Chicago Leo on Friday. Johnson was the main player for the Flyers on Friday with a team-high 19 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and made a pair of 3-pointers.
Junior point guard Phillip Jones had 17 points, five rebounds and three assists while White had another double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Emaurion Johnson added nine points for East St. Louis.