5 Takeaways: Salem Invitational Tournament

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the top mid-winter tournaments annually in southern Illinois is the Salem Invitational Tournament.&nbsp; PHI took in the 3^rd place and championship games from the SIT on Saturday night.&nbsp; Check out our thoughts in <strong>5 Takeaways: Salem Invitational Tournament</strong>!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cal State Fullerton Commit Robinson Shows Out in Title Game</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With top 10 senior [player_tooltip player_id='939073' first='Macaleab' last='Rich'] out with an injury suffered in the semis East St. Louis looked to their other D1 star to carry them and he did just that at least in the first half of the championship game.&nbsp; East St. Louis went on to win their fourth straight SIT over Mt. Vernon 49-44.&nbsp; They were led by Cal State Fullerton signee [player_tooltip player_id='1537979' first='Antwan' last='Robinson'].&nbsp; He was dominant in the first half scoring all 17 of his points in the first two quarters.&nbsp; Robinson was NBA Jam on fire with his jumper from all over the floor on deep pull up threes, triples off the catch, and step back twos.&nbsp; He was unstoppable in the first half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>East St. Louis Size Up Front Could Be Problem for Teams in March</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The other big factor for East St. Louis in this game was their size up front.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='1371071' first='Cameron' last='Boone'], Demarion Brown, and [player_tooltip player_id='1744060' first='D'Necco' last='Rucker'] go 6'10”, 6'8”, and 6'5” on the Flyers frontline without Rich.&nbsp; Boone was a force at times on the defensive end with his shot blocking.&nbsp; Both centers have slimmed down and it has opened up more offensively.&nbsp; Boone scored on deep post touches, dump offs, put backs, and a baseline spin for 10 points.&nbsp; Brown had an awesome play grabbing a defensive rebound, going coast to coast, and then throwing down an and-1 slam early on.&nbsp; Rebounded well and showed nifty footwork on a baseline spin en route to 8 points.&nbsp; Rucker is a wiry wing that didn't have his best outing, but still managed 8 points on a three along with trips to the line.&nbsp; One thing is clear though they have to close out games better and take care of the ball if they want to win in the state tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mt. Vernon Storms Back in 4th Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Rams scored 5 points in the first quarter and were down by 19 points in the first half.&nbsp; Credit Mt. Vernon as they did not give up and got it down to a single point with a minute left.&nbsp; They forced the Flyers into turnovers one after another with their quickness and trapping.&nbsp; In the fourth quarter senior Colin McClure was in a zone shooting it hitting four threes to get them right back in the contest.&nbsp; Overall though the best player on the team is Navontae Nesbit.&nbsp; The 5'11” junior point guard is a compactly built guard with speed and athleticism.&nbsp; The majority of his game was getting downhill and attacking the cup for euro steps, floaters, and acrobatic layups.&nbsp; In fact he scored all his 16 points at either the line or in the paint.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>TF North Gets Big Outing From Junior Guard in 3rd Place Win</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the third place game we were really looking forward to getting a good eval of TF North 6'4” senior wing Jevon Warren, but he went down early with an injury and never came back in.&nbsp; They needed someone to step up and that is just what happened as 2024 6'0” shooting guard Chase Abraham went off for 18 points.&nbsp; The thin and wiry guard was excellent shooting it from distance, pushed in open floor, and had a nice float game.&nbsp; They also got a good outing from Christopher Cook.&nbsp; The smaller point guard knocked in a pair of threes off the catch and a smooth pull up en route to 10 points as TF North defeated Carbondale 46-44 to win 3^rd place.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Carbondale 2024 Duo Shine and 2026 Emerges</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Carbondale junior wing duo [player_tooltip player_id='1619364' first='Decarl' last='Payne'] and Jaden Patterson stood out for the Terriers.&nbsp; Payne is a 6'0” shooting guard who had a very strong outing.&nbsp; Hit multiple from beyond the arc and scored in traffic for 18 points.&nbsp; Patterson is a bit bigger at 6'3” with good length.&nbsp; He had 11 points converting and and-1 off an out of bounds play and scoring in the paint.&nbsp; Keep an eye out for Carbondale's 2026 point guard Jaxson Marlow-Evans.&nbsp; He was a spark for them in this game scoring 9 points with a clean jump3er and playing with poise.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->