No.11 Metamora used tough defense to outlast Our Savior's 83-79 on Sunday to stay undefeated.
Tyler Mason led the Cardinals with 27 points. Trailing the Eagles by one with 2:22 to play, Metamora's Luke Hopp capitalized on an offensive rebound by putting in a layup. On the next possession, Jack Hessing forced an Our Savior's turnover, and Mason scored an easy layup to make it 79-76 with 1:55 to go.
Mason opened the game by making 3 of 4 attempts from 3-point range and finished 10 of 16 from the field and five made 3s for Metamora (9-0). Jake Walker added 19 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, while Hopp had 16 points and eight rebounds.
"We were battling every second of the game, and it came down to little turnovers, little stops and we managed to do better," Hopp said. "I think that was the key to winning."
Metamora outscored Our Savior's 42-16 in the paint, limiting Easley and McCaffrey's drives to the rim, making the Eagles frontline of Colter Smoot and Eli Oldham useless. Mason credited the Cardinals' defense performance, especially Hopp and Hessing, who scored four points and had seven rebounds.
"We have the best bigs in the state," Mason said. "I don't want to be like that, but in practice, we (are) working really hard. Our birgs are pretty comfortable, our game plan was pretty good and I just feel like we had the right game plan to make it tough on them on their drives."
For Our Savior's (7-3), Jace Easley led his team with 31 points on 10 of 17 shooting, going 6 of 11 from deep. Conor McCaffrey followed closely behind with 22 points, while also adding his own 6 of 11 performance from beyond the arc. Drew Dejaynes added 16 points and 6 rebounds for the Eagles.
"It was bareknuckle boxing," Metamora coach Tommy Allen said. "It was knock-down, drag-out, and we knew it was going to be. I think we're built for those, and I think we get a little experience playing in those and it's really going to help us and make us better."
Easley scored 11 straight points in the first half during a 19-0 Eagle run, which was capped by a steal and a coast-to-coast layup for a 37-24 late in the 2nd quarter. But Metamora closed the first half on a 14-5 run, trailing 42-38 at the break after a Mason layup with 23 seconds left.
TRAVEL TROUBLES
The Cardinals had some issues getting to Springfield for the game, due to severe weather and tornado warnings, the team had to book it up at a hotel in Lincoln just 2 hours before the game, the tip-off of the game was pushed back 45 minutes, allowing Metamora to arrive and get gathered for the game.
BIG PICTURE
Metamora: The Cardinals now have two wins over LSA CIL opponents, and look poised to finish the nonconference slate without any blemishes -- although they have to play at No.13 DePaul Catholic on Dec. 22.
Our Savior's: Had won five straight games before Sunday's loss.