From the first basket to the final three free throws Tuesday night, Moline was in control of its Class AA supersectional showdown with Prairie Ridge in Rockford. In the end the Maroons closed the deal, beating the Wolves 58-45 to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals against Homewood-Flossmoor.
The victory sent Moline (28-2), riding a 19-game winning streak, back to the Elite Eight for the third time in four years. For Prairie Ridge (29-3), which was bidding to become the first team from the Fox Valley Conference to make it Downstate, it was a bitter end to a sweet season. But with 5 minutes 58 seconds left in the game, Corky Card’s team still had a pulse, trailing 34-28.
“I think if we could have made a couple of threes, all the way to the final minute we had a chance,” said Card, whose team never led. “We needed a break and couldn’t get it.”
A 7-0 spurt bumped Moline’s lead to 41-28 with 4:02 left. Prairie Ridge never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
The two teams played physical. But it was the Wolves who got the short end of the foul count–21-10. And the Maroons compounded the problem by making 23 of 32 free throws. Prairie Ridge was 7 of 11.
Moline was led by Paul Bayer (17 points) and Jordan Salmonson (16 points). The Maroons also got nine points and 12 rebounds from 6-9 center Kyle Lasek.
Todd Babington and Brett Cole had 15 points and 14 points, respectively, for the Wolves.
Rick Sorci.
At SIU-Edwardsville: Justin Dentmon hit two free throws with .03 seconds to play as Carbondale edged East St. Louis 58-56. Dentmon finished with 21 points while Tommie Liddell poured in 27 for the Flyers (26-5). The Terriers (27-5) play Simeon at noon Friday in the AA quarterfinals in Peoria.
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At Illinois State: Peoria Central rallied from an early eight-point deficit to eliminate Mt. Zion 63-54 behind 17 points from Shaun Livingston. Brandon Lee collected 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Lions (29-2), who face Farragut in Friday’s second quarterfinal.