5 Takeaways: East St. Louis vs Belleville West
Huge Southwestern Conference battle on Friday night as the top two teams in the metro east battled as Belleville West hosted East St. Louis. It was a close one throughout and both teams had their runs, but in the end…
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Continue ReadingHuge Southwestern Conference battle on Friday night as the top two teams in the metro east battled as Belleville West hosted East St. Louis. It was a close one throughout and both teams had their runs, but in the end a pair of free throws by top 5 2019 Terrence Hargrove Jr. sealed the win for the Flyers as East St. Louis won 57-56. Here are our 5 Takeaways: East St. Louis vs Belleville West.
Terrence Hargrove Primetime Performance
Hargrove is the #4 overall recruit in the 2019 class in Illinois. Super athletic combo forward that plays with a ton of intensity. He set the tone for his squad in this game. Came out aggressive scoring on a post-up. Then used his length on the defensive end to get a steal which he took coast to coast for a one handed slam. Also showed off his ever evolving perimeter game knocking down a mid-range one dribble pull up along with a three. Was aggressive late attacking on a reverse layup and then was fouled where he converted what turned out to be the game winning free throws. Defensively he was extremely active disrupting and blocking shots. The St. Louis Billikens commit had 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks in the win.
East St. Louis’ Guard Depth
Obviously East St. Louis’ biggest asset is its size, but their guard play will be what decides how far they go in March. Got contributions across the board. Elijah Rice and Cornellious Leflore provide shooting and ball handling. Jashawn Anderson is speedy guard getting to the rim and pressing the pace. He had 7 points. Travion Jones is an angular guard who crashes the glass.
Richard Robinson Continues to Develop
Senior power forward Richard Robinson had a monster game with 17 points and 6 rebounds for East St. Louis. Physical forward with size at about 6’7”. He has established himself throughout the season as the #2 option on this team. Runs the floor very well. Active on the interior finishing dump off passes and junk points. Also drained three triples spotting up for threes. This is going to be a huge asset to his value at the college level.
EJ Liddell Looks Good in Return
Liddell returned after sitting out the Maroons loss to Collinsville on Tuesday. The state’s top senior prospect suffered an ankle injury against Simeon last Saturday night. He actually looked pretty good. Liddell handled the ball quite a bit facing up. Showed burst on a few drives getting to the rim. Elite second jump on the glass rebounding. He had 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Despite the defeat the bright spot is Liddell looked back to his old form. Will Shumpert and Keith Randolph also played well inside for the Maroons. Both are physical forwards that are tough finishers and crash the glass fromtheir positions. Shumpert had 13 points while Randolph had 8 points.
State Tournament Look Ahead for Both Teams
What is the status of these teams heading into the state tournament in a couple weeks? Belleville West has lost its last two games and almost three in a row beating Simeon by only one. They have time to get things back together with a couple weeks before the playoffs, but after not losing a game in almost a year it has been a struggled over the last week. On the opposite side of things East St. Louis is rolling heading into March as they have won 11 in a row. That includes wins over Belleville West, Vashon, Alton, and Teutopolis in that streak. This is a team in 3A that has a serious shot to win state.