Redbirds Second Half Rally Punches Ticket Back to 3A Title Game Against Simeon

Friday was the day for the 3A and 4A games for a chance to advance to the State Championships on Saturday. The second 3A semifinal game was between Metamora and East St. Louis.

In the Supersectionals, the Redbirds defeated a well coached Marmion squad 60-48 in the Kingman Gym in Ottawa. Last season at Ottawa, they beat St. Francis in the Supersectional, and upset Simeon in the State Semifinal before losing a heartbreaker in double overtime to Sacred Heart-Griffin.

The Flyers upset the defending champion Sacred Heart-Griffin 59-56 in double overtime after losing to them last season in the Supersectional 60-50.

Flyers 6-7 senior Macaleab Rich, a Kansas State commit, was a problem early for the Redbirds. Through the first two and a half quarters he had 15 points and 5 boards.

The Flyers led 36-28 with 3:15 left in the third quarter before the Redbirds went on a 6-0 run to end the frame. The Redbirds rallied and outscored the Flyers 22-7 in the final 11:15 to finish off the Flyers 50-43.

6-6 senior Ethan Kizer, who's committed to South Alabama, led the Redbirds with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and was 3/6 from three. 6-2 senior Tyson Swanson and 6-0 junior Tyler Mason each finished with 11 points, and had 4 and 8 rebounds respectively. Mason hit a coast-to-coast go-ahead bucket with under 5 minutes left. 6-3 senior Drew Tucker had 5 points (5/6 FT).

The previously mentioned Rich led all scorers with 19 points and 7 rebounds for the Flyers. 6-4 junior Dainen Rucker had 8 points and 5 rebounds, and 6-1 junior Robert McCline had 5 points off the bench.