Salem Invitational Title: East St. Louis vs Mt. Vernon

<p>The Salem Invitational Tournament concluded on Friday night with the championship game between East St. Louis and Mt. Vernon.  This contest featured the top two seniors in all of southern Illinois.  The East St. Louis Flyers captured the title for the third consecutive year with a 59-41 win.  Let’s dive into the contest in <strong>Salem Invitational Title: East St. Louis vs Mt. Vernon</strong>!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="999560" first="Christian" last="Jones"] (East St. Louis – 2022)</strong></p> <p>Jones was fantastic in the championship game.  The 6’5” point guard impacted the game early on with his defense.  Long guard got into his opponents with active hands intercepting passing lanes for multiple steals and deflections that led to points on the other end.  He is so good in the open floor with the rock in his hands scoring on slick transition takes going right through the defense.  Does the same thing in the half court winning on straight line takes finishing with nifty conversions with either hand at the cup.  Did bank in one three, but most of his point production was at the rim.  His passing was on point as well hitting shooters and throwing lobs picking apart the Mt. Vernon defense.  The Mizzou commit finished with 16 points, 6 dimes, 3 steals, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="939073" first="Macaleab" last="Rich"] (East St. Louis – 2023)</strong></p> <p>Rich took home MVP honors for the tournament he had.  Strong and physical combo forward that was impactful on both ends in this one.  He frustrated Benson throughout the night and took a lot of avenues for him to score away with his lateral quickness.  Blocked shots and got steals.  Instinctual defensive player.  Offensively he opened throwing down an alley-oop.  Got on the offensive glass for put backs and played off his defense for scores in transition.  From a prospect standpoint would still like to see more of a perimeter threat out of him as he was 0-3 with the jumper just like in the semis.  Rich was outstanding all tournament finishing with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 3 steals.  Mid-major schools should take a serious look!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1215296" first="Demarion" last="Brown"] (East St. Louis – 2023)</strong></p> <p>Brown only scored a point in this game but was definitely a player that made a difference.  He got on the glass using his long arms and thick body to snatch rebounds in his area.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Robert McCline (East St. Louis – 2024)</strong></p> <p>McCline was the breakout player in this contest.  Listed at 6’0” the sophomore shooting guard let it fly off the catch draining three triples especially being fond of the corner in a 9 point outing.  Clean and fluid lefty shot.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="863631" first="NJ" last="Benson"] (Mt. Vernon – 2022)</strong></p> <p>Benson elevated on Monday to the top center in the 2022 class.  He tried everything he could do to keep his team in this game while ESL focus was on stopping him.  Benson tried to do more ball handling and perimeter stuff to get things going, but he just didn’t have the supporting cast that the Flyers stars did.  He threw down a handful of dunks in the contest once again showing his bounce off the floor and quickness in the paint for explosive slams.  When he gets space for take off it is over and he also flew in for a couple slams on tip dunks.  Finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds.  Monster get for Missouri State in the MVC.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Cooper Hemby (Mt. Vernon – 2022)</strong></p> <p>Hemby provided some help especially early on for the Rams.  The point guard hit a three and got loose in transition finishing with 8 points.</p>