CHAMPAIGN – One for the other thumb.
Manual held off second-ranked Quincy Notre Dame, 60-55, to win the Class 2A boys basketball state championship on Saturday at State Farm Center. The No. 5-ranked Rams (25-9) ended a 29-year drought between state titles and gave the program its sixth crown.
“Just to think about, ‘We’re state champions,’” Manual coach Marvin Jordan said. “We’ve never been able to say that with this (senior) group. … Before you left, we did it. We’ve worked, worked, worked, worked, worked. Big pay day and that’s exactly what it looks like right there.
“What better group to win a state championship for Peoria Manual than that one?”
The Rams also collected their ongoing, record-setting 18th state trophy in their state-best 25th state finals appearance.
“We’re going to live forever,” Manual senior Reggie Postlewaite said of this team’s legacy, “even when we die, we’re going to live in that gym.”
QND (32-2), which led by six in the first half, rallied from down 13 late in the third quarter, making it a 57-55 game with less than 40 seconds to play. Both Beau Eftink and Gavin Doellman missed potential, go-ahead 3-pointers in a five-second span with Manual guard Tahj Tolliver corralling the defensive rebound.
Tolliver got the ball to Josh Humbles, who was fouled, then sealed the victory by hitting 3-of-4 free throws in the final 19.3 seconds.
“Every free throw is the same,” the senior all-stater said. “As I’m shooting my free throw, I’m shooting how I shoot every other free throw.”
The Raiders had controlled the paint in the second half, but the choice to go for game-winning triples was totally OK with QND coach Greg Altmix.
“We’re at the point in the season,” he said, “where I trust these guys fully, whether it’s on the offensive or defensive end. … It’s a shot I’m good with, I’m fine with. … When you’re wide open and you’ve got that look and you’ve got that chance with less than a minute to go to put your team on top by one, I’m going to be OK with that shot from all these guys in that moment.”
Manual found itself up 26-23 at halftime off a nine-point burst to close the second quarter. Their signature defense pressure turned QND over 17 times off 12 steals. Seven more Rams points opened the third quarter for a 16-point run that lasted nearly eight minutes and saw QND go 0-for-6 from the field.
Jaquan Brown scored four of his game-high 23 points in that span. The Manual senior finished 11-for-14 from the field with the Rams shooting 63.4% (26-for-41).
“This is my last year,” Brown said, “so I got to do what I got to do, show out and get this win.”
However, QND didn’t go away, chipping away at its deficit thanks to the play of Jace Allensworth. He scored nine of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter. Allensworth fouled out with less than 30 seconds remaining, but not before Robbie Reed’s two buckets sandwiched between Gavin Doellman’s 3-pointer made it a one-possession game.
“I’m just looking to go in there one more quarter,” Allensworth said, “and give everything I got and try and help my team get back in the game.”
That set up Humbles’ game-sealing freebies.
“We worked our butts off to get here,” Humbles said, “and we just stuck together as a team, and it showed out on the court today. We pretty much did everything we needed, stuck to the game plan even though some things weren’t going our way. We stayed poise under pressure.”
Humbles finished with 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Tolliver chipped in eight points and eight assists, while getting a pair of critical fourth-quarter steals that led to transition baskets.
Doellman chipped in 12 points for QND, which had its 12-game winning streak snapped.
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: How Manual ended a 29-year wait with a state basketball title
Reporting by Adam Duvall, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
