#3 Kankakee clinches Southland Athletic Conference Title as Lincoln Williams shuts down Jamson Coulter Jr of Rich Township (Richton Park) in their matchup!!!! No top performances tonight!!!

I will do top performances tomorrow night and cover tonight and Saturday. I have an early morning tomorrow. To mention Coulter Jr always looked like he was rusty in second game back. Here we go:

#3 Kankakee 60 Rich Township (Richton Park) 53:

Kankakee is looking for their first trip to the State Finals, which is in Champaign. They are in Class 3A and their Sectional assignments and sub sectionals give them a great possibility of making school history. They start 5 seniors who have played together since elementary school. Indiana State commit EJ Hazelett left for a few years and went to Indianapolis, but came back when his Dad secured the head coaching job for the football team. They play a six man rotation as Eli Cunningham comes off the bench. Starting five also wears numbers 1 (Williams), 2 (Kenaz Jackson Jr), 3 (Cedric Terrell III), 4 (Myair Thompson), and 5 (Hazelett). Thompson is committed to Southwestern Michigan College. Lots of three and four year varsity performers with a lot of experience. Used it tonight to hold off a tough minded Rich Township team that didn't shoot well but kept coming till the last few minutes. Kankakee led 18-8 at end of first quarter, 34-26 at recess, but Rich Township came back to tie the game to 40 in the third quarter. Then Williams stepped in and made two steals and scored on the fast break, and Kankakee got another basket to got up 46-40. Rich Township never got closer than 4 the rest of the way. Williams had a double/double and made his case for #1 in the state of Illinois in Class of 2026.

Kankakee goes to 21-1, 11-0 and title in Southland Athletic Conference, Rich Township (Richton Park) drops to 13-12, 6-4 in Southland Athletic Confence.

NOTE:

Don't let Rich Township's record fool you. It's only Coulter Jr's second game back, and though Williams did a good defensive job on him, he looked rusty tonight. Scored 3 points all on free throws, didn't score a field goal on 0/6 shooting from two, 0/4 from three. He attacked the rim but couldn't get anything to go. He'll be better as he gets more comfortable on the court. They host a regional and are a serious threat to get to the sectional and make some noise. Where they are seeded will tell a lot. Added 5 rebounds and 1 block.

Top performances:

Kankakee:

Senior Lincoln Williams 21 points 10 rebounds 3 assists 4 steals 3 blocks

Senior EJ Hazelett 15 points 6 rebounds 1 steal 3 blocks

Senior Myair Thompson 12 points 2 steals

Senior Kenaz Jackson Jr 10 points 1 steal 1 block

Rich Township:

Junior Taijon Eaton 13 points 4 rebounds 1 steal

Senior Kavon Ammons 11 points 4 rebounds 1 steal 1 block

Junior Trentyn McGinnis 10 points 5 rebounds