NORMAL — Their hometowns are separated by a two-hour drive, but the close-knit community that is Illinois high school basketball brought them together in another state.
Oswego East’s Mekhi Lowery and Moline’s Owen Freeman are senior stars of their respective teams. Their connection, created by the pandemic, made them a focal point Monday night.
“We played together during COVID out in Hammond, Indiana,” Lowery said. “We played on the same team. It was more like a rec league, so I didn’t learn everything about his game.
“But I learned a little bit.”
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That familiarity likely helped Lowery, the 6-foot-5 guard who has committed to Towson, in his head-to-head matchup against Freeman, the 6-9 guard and Iowa recruit.
It worked both ways as Freeman scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Maroons to a 59-55 win in the Class 4A Normal Supersectional that went down to the wire at CEFCU Arena.
Freeman finished with eight dunks, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, but his defensive play against a driving Lowery late in the game was key for Moline (33-3).
It resulted in Freeman’s fifth blocked shot and stymied Oswego East (29-6), which lost despite 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocks from Lowery.
“Playing with him before, I know his game,” Freeman said of Lowery. “Mekhi is a great player. He goes right a little bit more, so I was trying to take that away.
“I knew the ball was going to be in his hands at the end. It just came down to that.”
Freeman’s block came with Moline holding a 58-55 lead and time winding down.
Senior point guard Brock Harding, who will join Freeman at Iowa, came up with the loose ball and was fouled with under 10 seconds left. He made 1 of 2 free throws for his 12th point.
That also iced the win over the Wolves (29-6), who won the program’s first sectional title with Friday night’s 71-64 win over Joliet West at Bolingbrook.
It ended a back-and-forth affair that featured the Wolves starting strong and leading the whole first half until the final 30 seconds, when Moline took a 32-21 halftime lead.
Neither team led by more than the final four points during a seesaw second half.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Freeman said. “We wanted to stick with the game plan, stay within ourselves and ‘D’ up. We hadn’t been tested in the playoffs until (Monday).
“They run transition and they can do it all.”
Freeman agreed the Maroons might have come of age earlier in the season when they lost 67-66 to Simeon, the favorite to win the Class 3A state championship.
“They’re a nationally ranked team,” he said. “It showed we’re at that level.”
Still, senior guard Ryan Johnson’s driving reverse layup beat the buzzer to end the third quarter in giving Oswego East a 49-47 lead.
“All the momentum went with us,” said Johnson, who ended up with 13 points. “It was nice, but we had to stay in the game. We had to keep playing.
“Every possession matters in a game like this.”
The Wolves had several chances in the final 30 seconds trailing by three but finished with just six points in the closing eight minutes.
“When it really mattered in the fourth quarter, it was just hard for us to score,” Oswego East coach Ryan Velasquez said. “We have nothing to hang our heads about. We made a lot of memories for the school community.
“I couldn’t be happier for these guys and what they accomplished, even if this one stings.”
Afterward, even while feeling that sting, Lowery opted to praise Freeman.
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“He’s definitely tough,” Lowery said. “It’s hard trying to front him. He’s so big and it’s tough getting around him because his arms are so long. It was a tough matchup.”