Richards holds off

PEORIA -- Advocates of class expansion in boys basketball were vindicated Saturday night at Carver Arena.

In the grand finale of the inaugural four-class state tournament, Richards and Zion-Benton more than delivered the goods.

In a pulsating final, Richards (30-4) claimed its first title in school history by outlasting Zion-Benton 67-63.

Neither team had ever reached the Elite Eight in the 35-year history of the two-class system, not to mention the single-class system in place for decades before that.

It mattered little.

Richards' Shaun Pratl carried the team on his shoulders in the climatic fourth quarter, and Tommie Thomas made the play of the game.

Pratl converted 4 critical scores for the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter, including 1 from the paint with 1:23 remaining that gave Richards a lead it would not surrender.

"I'm sure anybody who has ever played in a state-championship game has had butterflies," Pratl said. "I knew I had to bring my game and step up in the second half if we were going to win."

The junior forward ended with 16 points, 6 coming in succession as the Zee-Bees countered every Richards thrust with one of their own.

The Bulldogs received all but one of their team total from the starting five, and Thomas, who added 15 points, made the play of the game to secure the title.

Thomas' recovery of his own missed free throw with 13 seconds to play resulted in Zion fouling him again.

"I thought it was going in, then I saw that Shaun tipped it," Thomas said. "Sometime in me made me go get that ball."

The Bulldogs' tenuous one-possession lead was extended to 67-63 when he calmly sank both free throws with 11.7 seconds to play.

The largest lead for either team was the Zee-Bees' 14-8 first-quarter cushion, and the frenetic play ultimately produced five deadlocks and 13 lead changes.

Zion-Benton (32-3) led 16-13 after the first period, only to see the back-and-forth second-quarter play end with Richards holding a 29-28 lead at halftime.

Richards established its largest lead at 37-32 early in the third, but the propensity of unlikely heroes emerging was first realized when Ira Williams' consecutive 3-pointers was the catalyst of a 15-7 run to close out the third.

Markus Yarbrough capped the Zee-Bees' run with a bucket at the third-quarter buzzer to make it 47-44 in favor of Zion-Benton.

Richards' Carl Richard led all players with 19 points, and his deep 3-pointer followed a Pratl putback that quickly erased the Zee-Bees' 5-point fourth-quarter cushion.

Sixth-man Quintrell Love led Zion-Benton with 16 points, and Rodney Clinkscales added 13 points.