East Peoria ends GHS boys win streak at five
Galesburg matched visiting East Peoria point for point through the first 14 minutes, but in the final two minutes of the first half the Raiders pulled away and went on to a convincing 66-51 boys basketball win Jan. 21.
The nonconference loss ended the Silver Streaks’ five-game winning streak and dropped them to 13-9. East Peoria improved to 15-2.
“They’re a top eight team in the state with a couple of Division I prospects, just long and physical,” Galesburg head coach Taylor Thiel said. “We knew it was going to be like that. We wanted to match their physicality and their tempo. We executed the game plan to a T and actually won the first quarter.”
Galesburg led 16-14 after the opening period, capped by a late East Peoria basket. Cesaire Bile hit two 3-pointers and a field goal in the quarter. Tobi Kivunina, Keigen Crummer, Demetrius Watson and Eden Malaya each added a field goal.
The pace stayed tight through most of the second quarter. With the Raiders up 24-18, Bile hit a 3-pointer and Crummer scored on an offensive rebound to pull the Streaks within 24-23.
With East Peoria leading 26-24, Quinton Kitt hit two free throws. After a Galesburg miss, Cole Dubois scored and added a free throw to push the lead to 31-24. The Raiders then stole the inbounds pass, and Kitt scored and converted another free throw to make it 34-24.
On the next possession, Galesburg turned the ball over on a bad pass. East Peoria held for the final shot, missed, but Kingston Weatherspoon grabbed the rebound and hit a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer.
In just over two minutes, the Raiders stretched a one-point lead into a 36-24 halftime advantage.
Galesburg never fully recovered, though the Streaks made a late push, outscoring East Peoria 17-14 in the fourth quarter. Crummer and Bile each scored six points in the period, and McCellan added five.
“When you’re playing against a good team and you’ve given them that opportunity to capitalize and they do it, it’s tough to come back from,” Thiel said. “That’s a great team. I came in at halftime, and we tried to make a few adjustments to come out with some more energy and I thought we did that.”
Thiel praised his team for battling back.
“I’ll take that as a positive, but we’ve got to clean up some things,” he said. “I don’t know how many turnovers we had tonight, but some silly turnovers are costing us some points on that end and not scoring. Once we clean that up, I think we’ll be able to compete a little bit better.”
He also highlighted the defensive work of Kivunina and Watson for taking on the assignments of guarding some of the tougher opponents.
“And they’ve accepted that role,” he said. “I think it really gives us a boost knowing that we have a couple guys who are just bought in to try to make that defensive effort as much as possible for us.”
Bile led the Streaks with 19 points, Crummer had 12, McCellan scored six, Kivunina and Mayala had five, and Watson and Wyatt finished with two apiece.
Kitt led East Peoria with 22 points, including 8 of 9 from the free throw line, and Dubois finished with 20 points.
Galesburg returns to action Jan. 23 with a 7 p.m. Western Big 6 game against Alleman at John Thiel Gymnasium. The Streaks travel to Rock Island for another conference matchup at 7 p.m. Jan. 27 and close the month with a 7 p.m. game Jan. 30 at United Township.
Grinnell overpowers Knox men in second half
For one half, the Knox College men’s basketball team managed to keep pace with Grinnell’s high-octane attack. But the Pioneers found their rhythm after the break and pulled away for a 98-74 win Jan. 21 in Galesburg.
The Prairie Fire (6-11, 2-6 Midwest Conference) held Grinnell to 38 first-half points — the Pioneers’ second-lowest output in an opening half this season. Knox, however, struggled just as much offensively and trailed 38-26 at halftime.
Both offenses opened up in the second half, but Grinnell maintained control, outscoring Knox 60-48 after the break.
Knox jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game before Grinnell chipped away and went ahead for good at 15-12 with 10:49 left in the first half. The Pioneers dominated much of the second half, and Knox never cut the deficit to single digits.
Turnovers proved costly for the Prairie Fire. Their 28 giveaways led to 31 Grinnell points. Knox held the Pioneers to 12-for-41 shooting (29.3 percent) in the first half, but Grinnell responded by hitting 19 of 37 attempts (51.4 percent) in the second. Knox shot 8-for-35 (22.9 percent) in the first half before heating up to 17-for-25 (68 percent) after halftime.
Josh Stewart led Knox with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. Ryan Erdos added 12 points, and Russell Wright and Noah Campbell each scored 10.
The Prairie Fire travel to Ripon College for a 1 p.m. tipoff Jan. 24.
The Knox College women’s basketball team used a strong fourth quarter to pull away from Grinnell for a 52-42 home win Jan. 21.
Knox (7-9, 6-2 Midwest Conference) led for all but 15 seconds, but the game stayed close until the final minutes. Holding a 37-36 edge entering the fourth, the Prairie Fire opened with a 9-3 run to go up seven with 4:59 left.
Grinnell cut the margin to four before Kylee Callahan (14 points, seven rebounds) answered with four straight points. Her jumper with 1:03 remaining pushed the lead to 50-42 and sealed the win.
Bria Medina, limited early by foul trouble, finished with 22 points and nine rebounds. Her performance moved her into second place on Knox’s all-time scoring list.
Knox led 11-9 after one quarter and 21-17 at halftime. Grinnell’s 19-16 third-quarter edge trimmed the lead to one entering the fourth.
The Prairie Fire defense held Grinnell to 14-for-59 shooting (23.7 percent), including 4-for-27 from deep, and forced 18 turnovers with 14 steals. Knox shot 20-for-58 (34.5 percent) and delivered in the fourth, hitting 5 of 11 shots and all five free throws.
The win keeps Knox tied for second in the Midwest Conference with Lawrence heading into Saturday’s 3 p.m. game at league leader Ripon (No. 22/17). Knox hosts Illinois College at home Jan. 27.
