In a battle of boys basketball teams on three-game Mid-Illini Conference winning streaks, the visitors emerged Friday.
East Peoria (9-9, 5-3) overcame a 12-point deficit in the second quarter at Alice Ingersoll Gymnasium to trim Canton, 55-51.
“It was a good win for us,” EPCHS head coach Ron Kelch said. “A lot of guys played well down the stretch tonight for us.”
Alex Cline of East Peoria paced all participants with 21 points and eight rebounds.
Dylan Sparkman and Shane Moses also were in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively, for the Raiders.
In a tough place to place after a 45-minute bus trip, East Peoria fell behind 14-4 after one quarter.
The Little Giant lead grew as big as 18-6 after Matt Putrich’s lone first-half basket with 6:24 left in the second period.
“We didn’t give up. We dug through it and kept pulling through,” said Cline.
The Raiders scored nine points in the last 1:59 to get within 23-22 at halftime.
Cline’s three-pointer with 22 seconds left highlighted an 11-2 run in which East Peoria’s defense caused a slew of Canton turnovers.
The squads exchanged baskets throughout much of the third quarter. Moses and Sparkman had five points apiece for the Raiders, who stayed within range at 40-37.
Cline made a pair of shots early in the fourth frame to tie the game at 41.
Sparkman’s bucket at the 6:11 mark gave East Peoria its first lead of the evening.
Two Cline field goals in a span of 21 seconds secured a five-point cushion.
As the Raiders wore down the Little Giants, Joe Kelch hit Cline in transition for quick strikes.
Ron Kelch said when a team closely follows Joe Kelch, it “loses sight of everybody else.”
An Austin Rhodes trey and Jace Fletcher deuce evened the game again at 47.
Moses made it 49-47, then extended the margin to four when he banked in a shot on a nice drive down the lane with 2:55 remaining.
“Shane was big tonight,” said Kelch of the senior guard.
T.J. Trau made the first shot of a one-and-bonus with 1:05 on the clock to keep East Peoria in front by three points.
Cline made two big blocks of shots by Justin Rollett to complete the Raiders’ season sweep of Canton.
“I was just going to contest the shot,” said Cline, whose leaps were timed precisely to swat away the outside shooter’s attempts twice in the final 30 seconds.
Cline’s five boards in the fourth quarter helped the Raiders overtake the Little Giants in that category.
“Alex does more than score points,” coach Kelch said.
In Canton’s talented starting line-up, no one had more than Jordan Fouts’ 13 points.
“They’ve got some weapons,” said Kelch. “In the second half of the season, we’ve been playing pretty good defense as a team.”
Cole Nieukirk and Trau continue to play their forward roles well.
“(Nieukirk and Trau) are absolutely as big a part of that win,” Kelch said, “they’re the glue that keeps everybody going,”
Sparkman fouled out with six minutes to go and East Peoria ahead by one point, but the guests held on without their starting center.
Postseason: Team seed “meetings” are next week for Class 3A.
East Peoria is part of the Ottawa Sectional complex.
The Raiders join Washington, Morton and Metamora in a five-team Limestone Regional field that also includes the host Rockets.
East Peoria currently is 1-4 against teams in the regional after a Tuesday loss at Limestone.
Pairings should be determined by Feb. 12.
The Ottawa and Hampshire sectionals feed into the DeKalb Super-sectional.
Canton, Ill. —
