3 the easy way: SHG's Singleton capitalizes on 'wide-open' shots
DECATUR — It’s probably a good idea to guard the player who won a state championship with his buzzer-beating 3-pointer a year ago.
But Sacred Heart-Griffin coach Tim Allen is just fine if he is left open.
Senior KeShon Singleton scored 13 points in the first quarter, 19 in the first half and finished with a career-high 31 points as Sacred Heart-Griffin beat Normal West 80-57 in the Class 3A Decatur MacArthur Sectional semifinal on Wednesday.
“I don’t know what scouting report they had to leave him open, but we appreciate that,” Allen said. “That was wide open; that was free-throw shooting. KeShon is a big gamer.”
SHG (30-3) will face host MacArthur (29-4) for the sectional championship on Friday at 7 p.m. SHG beat MacArthur 72-58 in Springfield on Jan. 6 and 57-51 in Decatur on Feb. 7.
Singleton’s turnaround 3 at the buzzer lifted SHG to a 57-54 double overtime win over Metamora to win the 2022 Class 3A state championship. And while the guard has 21 made 3s on the season, Wednesday was his best performance yet.
Singleton was 4-for-5 from behind the 3-point line and he hit triples from each wing to open the game and give SHG a 6-0 lead early. He was 8-for-10 in the first half and finished the game 11-for-15 overall.
“That’s just the great thing about this team: we’ve got so many weapons, you focus on one player and the next player can go off,” Singleton said. “It just happened to be a good night for me, I got it going. I was just glad I was able to help the team win in a big way.”
The Cyclones also got 19 points from senior Zack Hawkinson and 11 from Jake Hamilton. Hawkinson posted a double-double with 13 rebounds.
Singleton said his previous career high was 21 points last season against Springfield High.
“KeShon came out and played very well. He had it going, going to the hole, and-ones, did his thing,” Allen said.
Singleton also had seven rebounds.
“I’m just proud of him,” Hawkinson said of Singleton. “I’ve been looking for that KeShon for a while now. We know he’s capable of doing that and he’s done great for us this year but that’s the type of player he is.
“It’s not just me and Jake as the main scorers: he can turn around and do that easily. Any of the starters can: J’veon (Bardwell) and Will (Hamilton) can too.”
Overall, SHG didn’t shoot well from distance. Bryce Musgrave was 2-for-5 but he and Singleton were the only Cyclones to score from behind the arc. The rest of the Cyclones were 0-for-10 combined.
That and a mediocre free-throw shooting night — 20-for-31 (64.5%) — were about the only knocks on the SHG win. That aspect is where the Cyclones need to improve, Hawkinson said.
“(Singleton) was wide open and he knocked down the shots,” Hawkinson said. “For us to win a state championship again, that’s what is going to have to happen. We can’t bank on just getting it inside: we’ve got to knock down shots and spread the floor out a little bit more.”
Normal West was frustrated for much of the game. Wildcats’ coach Ed Hafermann picked up a technical foul in the third quarter while he protested to a passing official. That was after the Normal West bench was assessed a warning in the first half. In the fourth quarter, West’s Gavin Camp fouled out when he was whistled for a technical. Camp finished with 10 points while Nate Moore poured in a team-best 25 for the Wildcats (19-15).
It had to be a hard place to be, Allen said, when a team is so outmatched.
“If I’m their coach, I didn’t see a path to victory,” Allen said. “The best thing (West could’ve done against SHG) is make (SHG) shoot a bunch of 3s like he did and hope they don’t go in.”
The Cyclones, ranked No. 3 in the final Associated Press Class 3A poll, say there aren’t fancy Xs and Os to draw up for Friday’s game. Instead, the team will try to bring 32 minutes of energy.
“Stay hustling throughout the game,” Singleton said of Friday’s gameplan. “The first two times, we built quite a lead but we got lax. We have to stay with the energy the entire time because I know they will and we have to rebound the ball better.”
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: KeShon Singleton dials up four 3s as Sacred Heart-Griffin moves on
