East St. Louis Wins over Centralia as 3A 618 Powers Clash

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The two best teams in southern Illinois met in the 3A sectional final on Friday night as Centralia and East St. Louis packed the Waterloo gymnasium.&nbsp; It was a crazy sold out crowd and the two teams brought it especially early as Centralia had the game at their pace in the first half as they were executing in the half court and keeping in front of East St. Louis defensively.&nbsp; That changed in the second half as the Flyers blitzed the Orphans with drive after drive and defense flying all over the place.&nbsp; East St. Louis won 69-51.&nbsp; Here we dive into the <strong>5 Takeaways: East St. Louis vs Centralia</strong>!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Penn State Commit and Junior PG Take Over for Flyers</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Centralia looked like it was in control in the early going of this game.&nbsp; In the second quarter the best player on the floor took over as Penn State commit [player_tooltip player_id='1873523' first='Jamison' last='White'] buried three after three in a flurry for the Flyers.&nbsp; Face up four man can really shoot it from distance connecting on four of them in the win including several in that run.&nbsp; He also had a sweet and-1 on a post up and put the exclamation point on the win with a slam late.&nbsp; Don't discount his passing either as he made a ton of nice reads off live dribbles along with being connective to shooters.&nbsp; Monster as a rebounder and intimidating force defensively.&nbsp; Went for 19 points.&nbsp; In the third quarter [player_tooltip player_id='2962335' first='Phillip' last='Jones'] took over!&nbsp; The junior guard who has emerged this season took over the game.&nbsp; Explosive point guard that sliced Centralia's defense up with his speed, burst, finishing in the lane, and dishes.&nbsp; So quick living in the paint for 18 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Flyers Get Rock Solid Guard Play Pushing Tempo and Hitting Shots</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior wing [player_tooltip player_id='2822953' first='Alex' last='Johnson'] has been a PHI favorite for years.&nbsp; Early on in his career he was looked at as a sweet shooter from deep, but this year he has really rounded out his game putting it on the deck for aggressive straight line takes to the cup finishing through and around contact.&nbsp; He had 14 points.&nbsp; D2s and JUCOs need to be in here!&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='2837283' first='Terriyon' last='Webster'] had a rock solid game for ESL as the junior was active defensively, pushed the pace, and was scrappy getting to the line and on the glass for 9 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>East St. Louis Huge Test Next</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prior to the tournament we pointed to this game and the winner getting Decatur MacArthur in the super sectional as the contest to watch.&nbsp; It could realistically be the state championship game on Monday night.&nbsp; With Kankakee knocked out that takes one of the big dogs in 3A out and these two are left.&nbsp; Kaneland and Morton will have something to say about it in Champaign, but make no mistake the top 10 duel in 3A in Springfield will be a classic and could determine who ultimately has the trophy next weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bratton is Legit P4 Football and D1 Hoops Prospect</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Centralia got a big first half from [player_tooltip player_id='2826261' first='Kenny' last='Bratton'].&nbsp; The long and lanky small forward is a sophomore that bumped up in the latest 2028 football rankings and continues to impress as a hooper as well.&nbsp; Just scratching the surface of his potential on the hardwood as he had a breakout season.&nbsp; High level athlete playing above the rim on alley-oops and put backs.&nbsp; Blow bys for scores at the rim and banged in a deep three.&nbsp; Fellow sophomore star [player_tooltip player_id='2751256' first='Archie' last='Goewey'] finished with 10 points as well including a couple of long distance trey balls!&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Centralia Can Win 3A Next Year….Schedule Needs to Prepare Them</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Goewey and Bratton along with juniors [player_tooltip player_id='2125643' first='Jaxson' last='Hancock'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2751229' first='Michael' last='Organ'] will be the core of a team that returns next year.&nbsp; Hancock is a heady floor general that is slick with the ball as a crafty finisher, distributor, and can hit an open three.&nbsp; Went for 10 points.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='2751229' first='Michael' last='Organ'] plays the hits.&nbsp; He lets it fly from three as one of the better pure spot up shooters in the 2027 class as the strong and compact guard had 14 points including four threes.&nbsp; This team can win state next year.&nbsp; They will probably come in preseason co-favorites with East Peoria.&nbsp; One thing we would like to see them do is step up their scheduling as outside of Marist they did not play a team inside the current PHI top 40 all year.&nbsp; Mt. Vernon and Alton were both in at one point.&nbsp; Really believe with the most talent they will have had in a long time that will prepare them to win a game like this.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->