SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Jace Easley scored 24 points, 7th grader Lucas Schmidt added 16 and the Our Savior's Eagles beat Mount Zion 56-40 on Thursday night.

Springfield Our Savior's (31-10) was without the state leading scorer Conor McCaffrey (25.9PPG), who broke his nose Tuesday night vs Pleasant Plains. McCaffrey is expected to miss at least two more games and possibly more.

"I'm going to leave it to the doctors," Our Savior's coach Phillip Heppe said. "There are some other issues, too. But I'm going to keep that private, when you are dealing with the head and facial area, it's very sensitive. We are not going to jeopardize this young kid's career."

Heppe declined to comment more on the issue. McCaffrey was on the bench in street clothes for Thursdsy's games, and was seen coaching Lucas Schmidt, who started his first ever game at Point Guard.

Without him it was a couple of the other starters who provided the help.

Jace Easley narrowly missed a triple double with 24 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists. Schmidt 16 points were his most since he scored 22 against Salem Jacksonville in the Nov.25 season opener.

Carter McGownes led Mount Zion (23-15) with 18 points. Trey Webster and Samuel Steveson added 12 for Mount Zion.

"I thought Easley had an incredible game," Mount Zion coach Fred Thomas said. "He controlled (the game) and almost ends up with a triple-double."

It was a physical game from the opening tip. Back-to-back techical fouls were called on both teams late in the first half, and there were several minor scuffles. Schmidt hit two 3-pointers and made several circus layups to pull the Eagles ahead.

Thomas admitted his team had no answer for the Eagles' Easley.

"They are going to make state in LSA," Thomas said. "Listen, Jace Easley is am unbelievably tough matchup, especially when he's knocking down shots from all 3 zones, like he was tonight."