03/09/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHAMPAIGN - The Winchester West Central Cougars did something on Saturday that the rest of the opponents of Mounds Meridian failed to do this postseason.

Coach Ryan Sichting's club kept the Bobcats off of the offensive glass.

Without the second chance opportunities that Meridian had taken in its previous state tournament games, a bad shooting day turned into a championship game defeat.

The Cougars took an early advantage and never let the southern Illinois representative back in contention in a 62-43 state title game victory.

West Central held a 38-22 rebounding edge, mostly do to the dominant performance from 6-foot-2 senior guard Zack Evans.

“One of the things we had to execute was keeping them (Meridian) off of the offensive glass,” said Coach Sichting. “When they crash the offensive glass they're almost unbeatable. Give credit to all of our guys for boxing out. I thought we did a great job team rebounding. That (rebounding) is something that we have done really well this year.”

Evans recorded a double-double with 27-points and 13-rebounds while handing out four assists as the club finished 36-3, winning their final 15-games.

“Mounds Meridian is a heck of a team and well coached. The one thing we talked about is we wanted to attack their press,” said Coach Sichting. “Not just break it but try to get lay ups out of it. Give credit to our guys. I told them it will be a game where we might turn the ball over more so than what we have all year long, but I thought we did a great job attacking the press.”

The Bobcats hit just 18-of-52 shots overall and only 3-of-22 from the 3-point line.

It wasn't the outcome that Coach David Davis was hoping for.

The third year head coach was a player on the 2015 team that lost in the title game to Brimfield and Saturday the Bobcats had to settle for the program's third second place finish.

It is the first boy's state championship for West Central, a cooperative of Winchester and Bluffs, reached the state championship game in 2011 and finished second to Newark.

Evans hit 12-of-21 shots from the floor, mostly on drives to the basket and as a team the Cougars nailed down 24-of-45 overall.

Senior guard Mason Berry also hit double-figures in scoring with 13-points and he hit West Central's only two 3-pointers in the title game triumph.

Mounds Meridian closed out their outstanding season at 28-9.

The Bobcats were led in scoring by freshman Antonio “AJ” Flenoid, Jr. with 13-points while sophomore guard Javionne Ranson and senior guard Will Thurston scored eight-points each.

Senior Cole Kaufman added seven-points while Fanelle Woodson (four) and Gregory Johnson (three) rounded out the scoring for Meridian.

“I'm very proud of this team. We played in the last game that any senior could play in and the last game any 1A team can play in. I'm proud of my guys and we represented the Deep South, I couldn't ask for anything more,” said Coach Davis. “We dug ourselves a really big hole and we didn't really hit the glass too hard.”

One of the key reserves for Coach Davis only played 1:56 of the game before an ankle injury sidelined him for the rest of the contest.

Jai'Deon Reed, who had 15-points and nine-rebounds in the semifinal win over Hope Academy, got hurt with 7:45 left in the second quarter and didn't return.

Johnson played just 4:14 and hit a 3-pointer for his only points.

“Injuries hurt us. We had both our sixth and seventh men who come off of the bench were both out,” said Coach Davis about Jai'Deon Reed and Gregory Johnson. “Jai'Deon would have given us five or six more rebounds.”

Meridian did a lot of things right on the defensive end.

The Bobcats forced 24-turnovers by West Central but they failed to make enough of the Cougars' mistakes add up to offensive runs.

Added all up it wasn't too be for the Meridian program that has now finished second in both Class 1A and Class A.

The Bobcats finished second to Lawrenceville in the first Class A state championship in 1972.

(CONTINUED)

It took the Cougars just :34 into the game to take the lead.

Evans scored on an assist from junior Carson Brown, who had made a steal.

The basket in the paint on a lay in was the first two points of what turned out to be 40-points in the lane by West Central.

Evans scored twice more in the quarter and Little converted a three-point play as the Cougars led 12-3 early.

Berry nailed down a first quarter 3-pointer and finished a fast break off an outlet pass from Evans as West Central led 16-7.

“It was huge. Any time you're playing a big game like this if you can get a good start and get a decent lead it definitely calmed some nerves,” said Coach Sichting about the beginning of the game. “I'm proud of these guys for the fight they put through tonight.”

Meridian missed its first six shots and ended up just 3-of-13 in the first quarter to go with six of its 18-turnovers in the first eight minutes.

The only scoring run the Bobcats managed in the contest was consecutive scores by Johnson and Flenoid.

Johnson canned his 3-pointer from the left wing and Flenoid converted a three-point play as Meridian trailed just 21-13 with 4:45 left in the half.

Evans added to his totals with an offensive rebound score and Brown scored his only points on a shot out front for a 30-16 advantage.

Ranson answered with his only made 3-pointer but the Cougars added points on a free throw from Little and a steal and fast break by Evans as West Central led 33-19 at intermission.

The Bobcats got to within nine-points twice late in the third quarter.

Consecutive baskets by Thurston and Kaufman cut the margin to just 40-31.

A basket on a baseline drive from Thurston with 1:50 left cut the deficit to just 42-33 with 1:50 left.

Meridian would get no closer.

Little scored on a mid-range shot from the right wing before Evans grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for a lay up while being fouled by Kaufman.

His converted free throw with :16.1 left in the third pushed the lead to 49-35 heading to the fourth quarter.

“It took a lot of work in the off season,” said Evans, who was named first-team all-state by the Associated Press and has over 2K in career points. “Every week I was in the gym putting shots up, working on my game. But I couldn't have done it without my teammates. They found me when I was open and set good screens for me. I couldn't have gotten it done without them.”

The Cougars pulled away by spreading the floor on offense as Evans scored twice and Little scored with all three of those baskets coming on cuts to the basket.

Key turnovers (four) and Thurston picking up his fifth foul (with 6:11 left) didn't help the cause.

Evans finished off his game with another basket with under a minute left as the Cougars wrapped up the championship with a 13-8 fourth quarter advantage.

Despite turning West Central over (24-turnovers) the Bobcats couldn't capitalize.

After missing three early second quarter free throws, the Cougars hit 12-of-18 free throws, 7-of-8 in the second half to close out the Winchester win.

Meridian hit just 4-of-9 free throws in the game.

The Bobcats near championship run ended with just 4-of-15 shooting in the final eight minutes and just 13.8 percent from the 3-point line for the contest.

“This is a very special group. Their passion and love for the game. They're not scared of any moment. They played in several big games this year,” said Coach Sichting, whose team won 30-consecutive games against Illinois opponents with the title game victory. “From the tip we were ready to go (today) and I love these guys. This is special (championship) and it is something that we will remember for the rest of our lives.”

Winchester West Central (62) - Berry 3 2 1-1 13, Ford 0 0 0-0 0, Evans 12 0 3-3 27, Little 6 0 7-10 19, Brown 1 0 0-2 2, Sievers 0 0 1-2 1, Meyer 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-22/3FG-2/FT-12-18/PF-7.
Mounds Meridian (43) - Ranson 2 1 1-2 8, Easley 0 0 0-0 0, Thurston 4 0 0-0 8, Kaufman 2 1 0-0 7, Flenoid, Jr. 5 0 3-7 13, Woodson 2 0 0-0 4, Dionte Reed 0 0 0-0 0, Jai'Deon Reed 0 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 1 0-0 3.
2FG-15/3FG-3/FT-4-9/PF-22.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.