The East St. Louis Flyers head into this week’s basketball playoffs with high aspirations after another terrific regular season.
Head coach Mark Chambers has directed the Flyers to a 26-4 record in the regular season and the championship of the Southwestern Conference. East Side closed the regular season with a thrilling 70-66 victory over Collinsville on its Senior Night last Friday at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville. In addition to winning the conference title, the Flyers also won the Proviso West Tournament, which is one of the biggest Christmas Tournaments in the state of Illinois.
East St. Louis won its first state championship in 2019 behind standout forward Terrance Hargrove Jr. The Flyers have the pieces to make another long postseason run this season with its talented unit.
The Flyers enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the Illinois High School Association Class 3A Regional Tournament at Mascoutah. The regional championship game will be held on Friday at 7 p.m. The regional champions will be headed to next week’s sectional playoffs at Waterloo.
The top player for the Flyers is 6’8” senior forward Jamison White, who was a member of the St. Louis American “Fab Five” All-Stars last season as a junior at Chaminade. White has been a dominant player in his one year with the Flyers. The Penn State recruit is averaging 23 points and 13 rebounds a game.
There are plenty of talented players who surround White. One is 6’3” senior Alex Johnson, who has been a standout guard for the past three seasons. He is averaging 16.9 points, five rebounds and four assists a game.
Junior Phillip Jones is an outstanding young point guard who runs the offense and also scores when it is needed. The 6’1” Jones is averaging 11 points, 4.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists a game, which is among the leaders in the St. Louis area.
Senior guard Devin Houston is a 6’1” power player who scores on physical drives to the basket. He is averaging 11 points and four assists a game since becoming eligible at the semester after transferring from CBC. The fifth starter is 6’5” junior forward Terri’yon Webster, who averages eight points a game.
Alton, Belleville East girls win regional championships
Southwestern Conference teams Alton and Belleville East both won IHSA Class 4A regional championships last week.
Belleville East defeated O’Fallon 37-32 to win the regional championship at Belleville West. It was the 26th victory of the season for East. The Lancers were led by sophomore guard Hailey Gray, who scored a game-high 18 points. Sophomore forward Ramiyah Young added 10 points and six rebounds.
Alton defeated Edwardsville 49-33 to win the championship of the Edwardsville regional. The Redbirds won their 28th game of the season, which included another Southwestern Conference championship.
The winner of the Alton-Belleville East sectional game this week will advance to the sectional championship game on Thursday night at Peoria Richwoods at 6 p.m. Alton and Belleville East met twice during the regular season with Alton winning both games.