03/13/2025
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHAMPAIGN – The Belleville Althoff Crusaders are on the brink of something special in the history of the Illinois High School Association.

No school has ever won boy's soccer, football and boy's basketball in the same school year.

Coach Greg Leib and his team took a huge step towards bringing home the program's second basketball championship on Thursday afternoon.

The top-ranked Crusaders continued their title journey with a 60-45 win over Chicago Christ the King in the first 2A semifinal.

The stellar play, which has led the team to a 32-5 record, was on display at the State Farm Center.

Five-eleven senior Dierre Hill, Jr. shows each time that he steps on the floor that he is the real deal in both football and basketball.

The Division I signee in football for Oregon scored 22-points in the semifinal victory.

He also dished out five assists and led the team with seven rebounds.

Senior guard Bryden Gryzmala chipped in 14-points and senior Luke Smith (nine) and senior Zach Winkeler (eight) added points in the workman-like win.

Coach Leib did something on Thursday that no one really expected.

He instructed his squad to play a two-three zone defense to try and keep the much larger Christ the King from getting penetration into the lane.

The strategy paid off for Althoff as they held the Gladiators to just 35.6 percent shooting and they frustrated them with 17 forced turnovers with eight of the miscues being steals.

“The guys will tell you that minute-wise this is the most zone we've played all year. We played more zone tonight than we did the entire season,” said Coach Leib. “We knew coming in that these guys (Christ the King) were just so good to the rim and they were really good on the put back. We worked on some zone yesterday. We've had it in our back pocket and we responded well.”

Christ the King, who won the Sterling Super-sectional, will play Peoria Manual on Friday for third place.

Six-seven senior Aaron McClure was the leading scorer with 10-points as the only one with double-digits in points for the 25-10 squad.

Althoff in the early going struggled a bit with the Gladiators' size with McClure and 6-3 senior Darien Green scoring on the inside.

A two-handed dunk by McClure opened the semifinal game scoring and Green also scored in the lane as they pulled even with the Crusaders at 10-10 at the 2:14 mark of the opening frame.

But Hill, Jr. scored three times in the early going and his rebound basket off of his own miss made it 14-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Senior guard Christian Buford pulled Christ the King within 18-17 with a 3-pointer from the right wing in the second quarter before Althoff went on its usual game changing run.

Twelve consecutive points to close the first half put the Crusaders in the driver's seat.

A driving score in transition by Gryzmala was followed by a 3-point bomb from senior Luke Smith.

He took a pass from Winkeler in the right corner and drained a 20-footer to keep the scoring spree rolling.

(CONTINUED)

All three of the scores came on fast breaks off of Gladiator turnovers.

A spinning lay in score was the first of the trifecta followed by a 3-pointer from the left wing.

A lay up on a goal tending call with :07 left in the half made it 30-17 at the break.

Christ the King committed six turnovers in the second quarter and hit just 2-of-11 from the floor as they trailed heading into the second half.

Another 3-pointers, this time from Winkeler, and an additional basket from Smith put the Crusaders up 37-22 with 6:22 left in the third.

Gryzmala added six important points to close out the quarter.

He nailed down a 3-pointer from the top of the circle and, with time running down, he attempted a 3-point shot but was fouled at the buzzer.

The senior calmly drilled home three consecutive free throws for a 43-31 lead heading to the fourth.

Despite five third quarter turnovers, the Crusaders still were in control.

Althoff never let the lead dwindle under 10 the rest of the contest.

The Crusaders paraded to the foul line in the final eight minutes, hitting 13-of-20, including a pair from Hill, Jr. off a technical foul on senior Matthew Harland, who picked up his fourth personal foul before being getting his fifth on the technical.

Althoff took care of the ball, committing just eight turnovers and they finished off the contest by holding the ball the final 1:25 to seal the spot in the championship game.

“I've got smart kids. They can play basketball. They know their responsibilities, whether it is zone or man and that is all on them,” said Coach Leib. “Hat's go off to the guys up here. They just know how to play basketball.”

The Crusaders will face Chicago Dyett in the final as the Eagles held off a Manual rally for a 54-50 win in the second 2A semifinal on Thursday.

Althoff ended up 18-of-44 from the floor, 6-of-16 from the arc and won despite being out-rebounded by the Gladiators, 33-23.

For the game, the Crusaders were 18-of-25 from the foul line and scored 17-points off of turnovers.

“We hit free throws down the stretch and took care of the basketball. We did what we needed to do to win today,” said Coach Leib. “They've done that all year. I've just got good kids. I have six football players and four soccer players. The camaraderie we developed this summer and the commitment that these guys made in improving their game. They've done a really good job of keeping their poise. They keep their composure. Our defense is where we start it.”