Redbird return: Metamora basketball headed back to the IHSA state finals

OTTAWA — All game, Tyson Swanson seemed to find himself in the right spot at the right time.

The Metamora senior guard's second-half flurry of points helped give the No. 1 Redbirds a 60-48 victory over Aurora Marmion Academy at the Class 3A Ottawa Supersectional on Monday.

Metamora's 30th win in a row punched a ticket to the Illinois High School Association state finals for a second consecutive season. The Redbirds will meet eighth-ranked East St. Louis (25-8) at 11:45 a.m. Friday at the State Farm Center in Champaign.

After Marmion tied the game at 30, Swanson buried a 3-pointer from the left win at the 3:58 mark of the third quarter. This gave Metamora a lasting lead, finishing the quarter with baskets from Drew Tucker and Luke Hopp.

"I was just open, so I just shot it," Swanson said. "I credit my teammates for that just finding me when I'm open. I found the gaps, but they found me with the ball."

Swanson then scored 11 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter as Metamora turned a one-point lead to four off his 3-pointer 64 seconds into the final frame. He added a layup, a lay-in off an inbound pass from Tyler Mason, finished on a spin move and slammed home a wide-open dunk down the middle as that margin ballooned to 10.

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Swanson's efficient 8-of-11 shooting night led four of the five Redbird starters in double figures.

"It's what he does," junior Luke Hopp said of Swanson. "He always shows up in the big moments when we need it. He's like that. Our whole team is like that. We're all able to show up when we need it and that's why we're going back to state."

Metamora (32-2) came out aggressive in the first quarter, building a quick five-point advantage behind Tyler Mason. The junior started 3-for-3 from the field and finished with 11 points and six assists.

The Redbirds assisted on 14 of their 22 field goals.

"We came out hot," Mason said. "We came out shooting. We came out prepared, aggressive and I think that got us off to a good start, obviously, and then helped us build a lead."

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That momentum continued as Drew Tucker scored eight second-quarter points as Metamora led 24-12, forcing the Cadets (23-12) into a full timeout with 4:17 remaining in the half.

Collin Wainscott’s finish on a drive jumpstarted a 7-2 to push and made it a 26-21 game at halftime. The senior guard then began the second half with a floater in the lane and got a basket by Travon Roots as Marmion made it a 26-25 game.

“We've been playing in a lot of close games this year,” Metamora senior Ethan Kizer said. “Big games like this. Packed houses. We're used to it. Once they had that run, we just kept on going and playing our game.”

For Kizer, that included playing above the rim. Following Hopp’s dunk, the Southern Alabama recruit drew a huge roar from the sellout Kingman Gymnasium with a tip dunk off a corner miss by Mason for a 30-25 game.

“I just crashed on that one,” said Kizer, who had 10 rebounds, “and it came off perfectly to me, and I threw it down.”

But Wainscott wouldn’t go away. He pulled Marmion even off a bucket and a 3-pointer as part of his 11-point frame.

This led to Swanson’s 3-pointer and ultimately, Metamora’s rally.

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“Usually, the third quarter is ours,” Metamora coach Danny Grieves said. “I told them, 'Hey, let's go with a four-minute game. See what we can do with them.' That first four minutes was pretty good for us.”

Tucker finished with 12 points, Mason had 11 and Kizer added 10 for the Redbirds, who shot 46.8 percent (22-for-47) from the field. Metamora, which won the rebounding battle, 30-22, committed just six turnovers, forcing Marmion into eight — five off of steals.

Wainscott scored a game-high 20 points and Jabe Haith chipped in 13 as the Cadets shot 43.2 percent (19-of-44).

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

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Metamora boys basketball headed back to the IHSA Class 3A state finals