Metamora wins the Class 3A IHSA boys basketball state championship

CHAMPAIGN — One thing was on Tyson Swanson’s mind as he stepped to the free throw line with less than a second remaining in overtime of the Class 3A state championship game.

Don’t even sweat it.

The Metamora senior's freebies wrapped up the 46-42 victory over Chicago Simeon on Saturday night, giving the Redbirds their first state title. Metamora’s 32nd win in a row helped to all but erase the memories of last season’s heartbreaking championship loss to Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.

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“I took the pressure off myself,” said Swanson, who saw 0.4 seconds remaining and the Redbirds ahead 44-42 prior to his two swishes. “… Even if I missed, the odds of them making that shot full court is not going to happen. ...

“I was just confident I was just going to knock them down and seal it.”

How Metamora won it

Swanson made both free throws then proceeded to celebrate with his teammates on the State Farm Center court after the final buzzer. The final chapter in the incredible run for Metamora (34-2), which shared the final No. 1 ranking with the Wolverines.

The Redbirds played a near-perfect extra four minutes, getting all their points from Swanson (game-high 20 points) and Tyler Mason (16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists).

“Don’t matter if it’s Chicago,” Metamora coach Danny Grieves said regarding the perception of a Mid-Illini Conference school not be able to become state champions. “Don’t matter if it’s East St. Louis. Don’t matter if it’s Peoria.”

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Mason’s 3 from the right wing opened Metamora’s OT scoring followed by a turnaround jumper by Swanson for a 39-36 advantage. That lasting lead wasn’t safe just yet as Simeon continued to attack.

Kaiden Space’s layup made it a one-point game as Swanson pushed the margin back to two by splitting a pair of free throws. A pretty, fake pass and driving layup by Mason put Metamora up four with 81 seconds left on the clock.

“They trust me to get a bucket in clutch time,” Mason said, “and that’s what I did. I’m just glad they trust me to get buckets then.”

Jalen Griffith scored Simeon’s final points with 56 seconds to go, setting up a 4-for-4 effort from the charity stripe in the final 10 seconds by Mason and Swanson to set the final score.

Simeon (31-4), which was making its eighth title game appearance under retiring coach Robert Smith, had its lowest offensive output of the season. In fact, all four of their losses this season came when scoring in the 40s.

“If we can keep them under 50, we might be OK,” Grieves said, “but I tell you what, our kids battled.”

Rally after halftime

Metamora’s biggest fight came to open the third quarter. The Redbirds trailed 23-14 at halftime, but they came out firing to open the second half.

In just 3 minutes, 14 seconds, Metamora had reeled off 10 points in a row and had their first lead since 2-0. Ethan Kizer (6 points, 5 rebounds) hit a 3-pointer, Mason scored on a backdoor lay-in and added a rebound putback. Swanson then buried a 3-pointer to complete the rally.

“We need a four-minute game,” Grieves said of what changed from his team in the third quarter. “We’ve done that all year long. What a 180 from last year. … Our kids just persevered.”

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From there, the game saw three lead changes and three ties before Simeon got the ball back with under a minute to play. The Redbirds helped milk the clock all the way down to 1.4 seconds left in regulation by fouling five times.

Sam Lewis’ rushed 3-pointer just before the final buzzer didn’t connect and sent the game to OT.

“We had been there before …,” said Metamora senior Drew Tucker, who grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. “We knew what we needed to do (in overtime).”

Metamora, which shot 38.6 percent (17-for-44) from the field, opened the game steadily on offense, hitting half of its first eight opening-quarter attempts to lead 8-5 off Tucker’s strong drive to the basket. But Simeon answered with seven points in a row including a rebound putback by Michael Ratliff off two initial misses.

A 3-pointer from Swanson made it a one-point game — 12-11 at the 1:33 mark. The Wolverines proceeded to go on a 9-0 run, taking a 21-11 at the 2:47 mark of the second quarter and ending the half by shooting 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) from the field.

“It was a great season,” Smith said. “What I hate is that at Simeon when you don’t win the championship it feels like you didn’t do anything. It just hurts when that is the precedent we set as a school.”

Griffith scored a team-high 15 points for Simeon, which shot 40 percent (18-for-45) from the field and was outrebounded, 35-21. Miles Rubin added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

Below are game updates from State Farm Center.

7:12 p.m. - Free throws seal it for the Redbirds

Metamora gets free throws from Tyler Mason and Tyson Swanson to win it, 46-42

7:07 p.m. - Metamora up 42-40 on Simeon with 56.2 seconds in OT

Redbirds ball coming out of a TO

6:59 p.m. - This game will be decided in OT.

Simeon's last second attempt doesn't come close. Metamora 34, Simeon 34.

6:56 p.m. - Game tied with Simeon's ball coming out of the TO

There's 3.4 seconds left and the game is tied, 34-34

6:50 p.m. - Metamora's ball coming up of the timeout

Redbirds lead 34-32 with 2:02 to play

6:45 p.m. - Metamora 32, Simeon 30 with under 4 to play

Tyson Swanson again. Reverse layup for the lead.

6:35 p.m. - Simeon 27, Metamora 26 after 3Q

Redbirds started the frame on a 10-0 run

6:26 p.m. - Simeon 25, Metamora 24 with 4:25 to play 3Q

Tyson Swanson's 3 gives Metamora a lead, but Simeon answers

6:08 p.m. - Simeon 23, Metamora 14 Halftime

The Redbirds went 1-for-9 from the field in the quarter.

6:02 p.m. - Simeon 21, Metamora 11 with 2:45 left 2Q

Redbirds have gone 0-5 from the field in the frame

5:52 p.m. - Simeon 12, Metamora 11 after 1Q

Tyson Swanson has 7 points for the Redbirds. Ethan Kizer's deep 3 rimmed out before the first-quarter buzzer.

5:48 p.m. - Metamora trails Simeon 12-8 with 1:38 to play 1Q

The Redbirds led 8-5 before Simeon goes on a 7-point run.

5:19 p.m. - Metamora warming up for its back-to-back Class 3A state title game

The Redbirds are warming up with about 15 minutes or so until tip.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Metamora wins the Class 3A IHSA boys basketball state championship