CHAMPAIGN — Big and strong, York likes to play at a deliberate pace. Marist didn’t let that happen on March 13.
Putting their speed to good use, the RedHawks raced to a 17-point lead after one quarter and never took their foot off the gas. The result: a 55-38 romp in the Class 4A state semifinals at State Farm Center.
That sent Marist (32-5) to its first state-title game in its first trip downstate.
Kendall Meyers led a balanced RedHawks offense with 15 points and Charles Barnes Jr. had 14. Adoni Vassilakis scored nine points and Stephen Brown had eight.
York (32-5) never led and the only tie was at 2-2. Marist ran off the next nine points and was up 21-4 after one.
The RedHawks forced 17 York turnovers and turned them into 23 points. Meyers, a rangy 6-5 junior, led that effort with five steals.
“We thought we had better athletes, that we could get up and pressure them,” Marist coach Brian Hynes said. “(York’s Mike Dunn is) a really good coach. He runs really good stuff and we just wanted to not let them get into their action by pressuring the sideline and pressuring the ball handler full court.”
It wasn’t a passive approach.
“We just went out there, played hard, played violent,” senior guard TJ Tate Jr. said. “Make sure we pressured them and executed the scouting report.”
The lead was 20 at 26-6 early in the second quarter and York never got closer than 13 the rest of the way. The game was so much in hand that Hynes was able to pull most of his starters with the RedHawks up 24 with 4:57 remaining.
A few minutes later, Marist was in the state final for the first time in the program’s 61-year history. Though the RedHawks have long been a successful program, they only had one sectional title and no state trophies before this season.
“This (dream) was always in my eyes,” said Vassilakis, a senior guard. “… It just took some time. Finally got it.
“I would say we expected it earlier, but I’m glad we got it our senior year.”
The game was the second straight the RedHawks played on a bigger floor. They edged past Richwoods in a supersectional at Illinois State’s CEFCU Arena on March 9.
“I think it definitely helped us prepare against the zone, to kind of space them out and get up and down,” Barnes said. “Because they’re bigger. (But) they’re a little slower than us. So I think that did help us.”
So did the development of Meyers, the only junior in an otherwise all-senior lineup.
“I’ve known Kendall for a long time,” Barnes said. “We grew up together, so watching him progress has been amazing. And he pushes me every day in practice — we’ve been going head-to-head since the summer.
“And I feel like iron sharpens iron.”