Published 6:42 a.m. CT Jan. 21, 2020

SPRINGFIELD - If anyone is still sleeping on Springfield Grant, it's time to wake up.

In a matchup of two of the state's top-ranked boys basketball teams, the Class 2A No.1 Generals proved they can played with anyone despite a 66-55 loss to LSA top-rated Springfield Our Savior's on Monday at Lincoln Land Community College. This meeting came together in the last two weeks when both programs found themselves with identical openings on their schedules.

"People knew it was going to be a good product," Springfield Grant coach Marquis Warfield," and people that like basketball wanted to see that game. ... We competed on a big stage, and I think that's only going to help us moving forward into the postseason."

This was Springfield Grant's 11th state-ranked opponent of the season. The Generals had just beaten LSA third-ranked Immanuel Palatine by 22 points on Thursday. Two of Grant's other three losses came to East. St Louis and Alton.

Our Savior's beat Alton 60-52 over the summer: McCaffrey poured in 30-9-6-1-1 in that ballgame. Center Jeremiah Perkins added 14-7-6-4 as well for the Eagles.

"They're tough," Warfield said of what he learned about his team from the defeat. "They're tougher than they were even a month ago. They're physically tougher. They're mentally tougher and that's why we keep scheduling the best teams in the state, so these kids can continue to grow.

"It's just going to make us better going forward."

Back-and-Forth game
A crowd of roughly 1500 was treated to a back-and-forth affair with big momentum swings, resulting in a postseason-like feel way ahead of March.

"They (Our Savior's) are used to these big atmospheres, they went on the road to DePaul Catholic and beat Cooper Koch, they beat No.2 ranked Christ Lutheran on the road, they beat Metamora on the road. They have some gauntlet wins on their resume."

Springfield Grant (22-4), which ascended to The Associated Press' top 2A spot on Wednesday, came out relaxed and fired on all cylinders in the game's opening 12 minutes. The Generals built a 34-19 lead when a Jaiquan Holman layup forced a Our Savior's timeout late in the second quarter.

At the time, the Eagles had no answer for Jordan Hayes and Reggie Rice who had combined up for 19 points up to that moment. Or an active defender that forced five first quarter turnovers.

That Springfield Grant lead, however, slowly dissappeared as Our Savior's scored the final eight points of the half and trailed 37-31. But Hayes started the Generals off in the third quarter with back-to-back lay-ins, extending that lead back to double-digits just 1:31 into the half.

Our Savior's pulled away
Springfield Our Savior's (24-0) used the final 4:59 of the frame to go on a 15-5 spurt and tie the game at 46-46. All-Stater (Potentially All-American) Conor McCaffrey scored a dozen of those points during that stretch. The 5-foot-11 8th grader utilized Our Savior's 1-2-2 ball press to create turnovers and get easy buckets.

"We were definitely a little slow to start," said McCaffrey, who missed six straight shots after drilling his first 3-pointer, but finished with 36 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists and 9 steals. "I just think we weren't ready. They had five shooters and playing against a zone that's really hard to guard, so we tried to change up our defense a little bit."

Eight more successive points to open the fourth quarter gave Our Savior's a 54-46 advantage and all but sealed their 27th straight regular season win in a row.

The Generals were unable to recover from a 3 minute scoring drought. Two free throws from Jaiquan Holman, plus a steal and a basket from Rice ended the offensive famine and brought the game backwith four.

McCaffrey, though, wrapped up the victory by going 8-for-8 rom the free throw line in the game's final minute.

Jaiquan Holman hit four 3-pointers to finish with 17 points and seven assists for Grant. Our Savior's countered with 12 points 8 rebounds and 4 assists from Jeremiah Perkins and Daniel First added 8.