03/14/2026
Leo Vs. Kaneland - Basketball Commentary by Dan McGrath.
Size, size, size, size and size.
Throw in some big-time talent and it’s a can’t-miss formula for basketball success.
And It’s what the Leo Lions faced when they drew East St. Louis as a semifinal opponent in the IHSA Class 3-A state tournament semifnal at the University of Illinois’ State Farm Center on Friday.
Exploiting a height advantage at every position, the high-flying Flyers (33-4) rode the skills of Alex Johnson, Philip Jones and Jamison White to a 59-40 victory and a spot opposite Deerfield (24-11) in Saturday’s 3-A title game.
Deerfield, looking to become Illinois’ first double-digit-loss state champion, took down previously unbeaten Kaneland 49-48 in overtime in Friday’s other semifinal.
So Leo (28-7) faced Kaneland (35-1) for third place Friday evening, and the Knights prevailed, 35-32.
It would be grossly unfair to say the Lions’ hearts weren’t in it – they competed with customary vigor. But their legs were another story – they hit just 11 of 52 shots (21 percent), and at least a dozen clanged off the front of the rim – a telltale sign of weary legs.
In the last year of the East Suburban Catholic Conference – the league joins the Chicago Catholic League in all sports next year – the 4-A title game will be an all-ESCC affair. Marist ran past York 55-38 in the first semifinal, and Benet outlasted DePaul Prep 39-38 on a Colin Stack free throw with one second remaining in the other.
Leo made a game of it for three quarters against East St. Louis – the undersized Lions scrapped as only they can and were within four (24-20) at halftime and six (37-31) after three. But they clearly wore down in the final period and took a 22-9 pounding as ESL won going away.
“Fatigue set in,” junior guard Brian Kizer conceded, and Coach Jamille Ridley agreed.
“You expend a tremendous amount of energy battling a team that big and strong, and it takes a toll,” he said. “Depth is not our strong suit. And there’s no magic formula, no exotic scheme to offset it. We had to be who we are, do a great job being Leo, and we came up short.”
The Flyers parlayed their size advantage into a 37-15 rebounding advantage, taking down 17 offensive boards to Leo’s two. A missed shot was their best offense – following a misfire they would hit the glass like an invading army and create a game’s worth of second-chance opportunities.
Size also influenced the halfcourt trap ESL used to dismantle Leo’s offense. The Lions had to start their sets farther out than they like, and a long, rangy defender or two seemed to materialize any time they even thought about attacking the basket.
“The trap was a good adjustment,” Flyers coach Mark Chambers said. “It took away some of the things they like to do. Defense is where we turned the game around.”
Indeed, the Lions hit just 15 of their 37 shots (40.5 percent), including 6-for-19 three-pointers. Kizer was their only double-figures scorer with 11 points. Freshman Elon Henderson, subbing for foul-plagued starter Nate Stephens, scored eight points with four rebounds in 13 minutes.
ESL’s Alex Johnson, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, was the best player on the floor with 19 points, 10 rebounds and a smooth-as-butter floor game. Senior forward Jamison White, who will take his NBA body to Penn State next season, went for 12 points and 15 rebounds, nearly matching Lions’ team total.
Twelve of junior guard Philip Jones’ 17 points came in in the second half. “My teammates kind of got on me about not playing hard enough, so I had to step it up and not let them down,” he said.
Leo was making its first state tournament appearance since 2016, and there were some long faces in the handshake line. But the Lions knew they had experienced something special, beginning with the sirens-wailing police es**rt that accompanied them from their hotel to the arena.
“We went through a lot of ups and downs this year, but we fought through it all and got here, and this gives us something to build on for next year,” junior guard Asa Harris said.
Ridley’s end-of-season, seven-man rotation consisted of five juniors, a sophomore and a freshman. By next year It could very well include another freshman, Andre Tucker, who scored a team-high 10 points against Kaneland and converted a steal into a game-tying layup with just over a minute left.
But multi-talented Marshawn Cocroft concluded his Kaneland career by scoring 17 of the Knights’ 35 points, including four free throws in the final minute.
“I don’t think any of us knew where this was headed after we got crushed by Hyde Park back in January, but I’m tremendously proud of how this group stayed tough, stayed together and battled to get here,” Ridley said.
“And our best basketball is ahead of us.”
