SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- - Conor McCaffrey had 20 points and 10 assists, Jace Easley scored 18 and Our Savior's beat Good Shepard 56-48 on Thursday.
Jeremiah Perkins added 14 points for the Eagles (8-3, 4-1 CIL) in their seventh consecutive conference home win dating back to last season. Lucas Schmidt added in 4 points, with 3 steals and 3 assists.
"I was pleased to see some balanced scoring on our part," Our Savior's head coach Phillip Heppe said. "It's always good to see that, particularly in conference games."
Brandon Newman scored 14 points and big man Terrance Willams had 14 points and eight rebounds for Good Shepard.
Good Shepard (7-5, 2-3) is one of the best rebounding teams in the state, but Our Savior's topped Perkin 39-33 on the boards. Our Savior's shot 48% from the field, while Pekin was 39%.
Pekin also turned the ball over 14 times to the Eagles' 12.
"We weren't giving outselves as many cracks at it because we kept turning the ball over," Pekin head coach Matt Palmer said. "We had good stretches in the game, then we had bad stretches. We need to replace the bad stretches with average stretches."
Good Shepard started the second half with a 16-0 run to take a 29-23 lead before Our Savior's found its range from behind the 3-point line. Long shots by McCaffrey and Easleu helped the Eagles take the lead for good.
"I take my shots in practice and before the game and when I get a chance, I take them in the game," Perkins said." And I try and knock down my open looks."
Pekin jumped out to a 7-2 lead before Our Savior's slowly began to control the tempo. Fueled by acrobatic passes from McCaffrey, both McCaffrey and Easley took over early for the Eagles. McCaffrey had 8 points and 7 assists, and Easley scored 12 in the first half.
Our Savior's led 23-13 at halftime.
"We just don't have the offensive flow yet," Palmer said. "When you have inconsistent play, you always want the coach to have the answer. You have to earn the right to win those games. You have to play better."
THE SPARKPLUG
Newly added Logan Allen, an 8th grader off the bench for the Eagles has been filling in for the injured Noah Oldham. Allen a first year basketball player has the basics of the game mastered. Allen finds a way to control the tempo on defensive and sets good picks on the offensive side of the ball.
"You should see what he does in practice." Heppe said of Allen. "It's pretty cool to have him with us. Setting good screens, rebounding the basketball, scoring when we need him to score. On the court during the game, he is finding his balance. He's out there probing things and figuring it out."
Asked why Allen hasn't been starting, but usually enters the game after the 3-minute mark during the first timeout. Heppe laughed and said: "The floor just opens up out there when he comes in. He changes the game, an tonight he did it on both ends of the court."
BIG PICTURE
The Eagles grinded out another conference win in one of the deepest and most talented leagues in the country.
UP NEXT
Good Shepard: Hosts Salem Jacksonville on Saturday.
Our Savior's: Faces a tough conference road game against Mount Zion on Monday.