NORMAL — What a wild postseason ride for Richwoods.
The Knights saw their 2026 state tournament run end to No. 9 Chicago Marist, 56-53, in the Class 4A Normal Supersectional on Monday at CEFCU Arena on the Illinois State University campus. Richwoods, which was a three-seed in its sub-sectional, advanced to the program’s second Elite Eight in three years and first as a Class 4A school.
“We battled all throughout the playoffs,” Richwoods sophomore guard Amarion Smith-Holley said. “We battled through the season, coming into practice and making each other better. It was a great season, for sure.”
Last week, Richwoods erased a pair of double-digit deficits to win their sectional semifinal by hitting three free throws with no time on the clock, then posted a Sweet Sixteen victory thanks to some late-game freebies. Both times Amarion Smith-Holley played hero, going 5-for-5 from the charity stripe in those critical moments.
The Division-I recruit scored all 16 of his points in the final three quarters Monday. His personal six-point run was capped by finishing on a drive to the basket, giving Richwoods a 53-49 lead with 4:46 to play.
“Staying in attack mode,” Smith-Holley said of his mentality after a scoreless first quarter. “Just putting pressure on defense is key in (those) moments.”
That, however, would be the last bucket of the game for the Knights. Marist closed out the game on a 7-0 run, claiming a lasting lead at the 1:51 mark off Stephen Brown’s steal and dunk.
“I saw (Richwoods) throw a lob pass,” the 6-foot-7 senior forward said, “and I knew I was fast enough to go get it, so I reached my arm out and hit my hand, tipped it up to myself and it was just me and the rim, so I went to go dunk it.”
The North Carolina State football commit finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Ninth-ranked Marist (31-5) now faces unranked Elmhurst York (32-4) in the 2:30 p.m. Friday state semifinal at State Farm Center in Champaign.
This is Marist’s first state finals berth.
Richwoods had a chance to tie the game, inbounding the ball with eight seconds to play. Smith-Holley had a clean look from beyond the arc that bounced to the top-of-the-key. The ball was batted around until the final buzzer sounded.
“We’re just trying to get the quickest shot possible,” Smith-Holley said of his potential game-tying triple.
“I think we’re very resilient,” Richwoods coach Will Smith added. “Just tonight we came up short. … Coming from last year to this year, I thought we made big strides to get to the Elite Eight. You can’t frown about it.”
Unranked Richwoods (27-8), which took third at the 2024 Class 3A state finals, trailed by seven in the first half and five at halftime. But a seven-point spurt — sparked by Anfernee Moore’s three-point play — to start the second half gave Richwoods its first lead of the game.
From there, the game featured four ties and four lead changes before Chuck Barnes Jr.’s steal and lay-in started the late Marist rally.
“It all comes down to just great coaching,” Barnes Jr. said. “They’re talking to us on the bench, saying, ‘Our story doesn’t end here. We’ve been in this position before.’ … Basically come out here and it’s now or never.
“We’re just trying to get the quickest shot possible.”
Richwoods outrebounded Marist, 17-9, in the second half and 26-23 for the game, but turned it over five times in the fourth quarter.
“We turned it up second half,” Richwoods senior Tony Bradford said. “We were going back and forth. We got defensive stops. What just killed us at the end was turnovers. Too many turnovers. Too many missed layups. They didn’t do nothing spectacular. We just had too many turnovers.”
Barnes Jr. scored a game-high 14 points to go with nine rebounds for the Redhawks, who shot 44.2% (23-of-52). TJ Tate chipped in 12 on 6-for-6 shooting.
Moore scored 10 for Richwoods, with Bradford contributing nine points and six rebounds. Davion McClendon added eight points and nine rebounds.
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA boys basketball scores: How Richwoods’ wild postseason ended
Reporting by Adam Duvall, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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