The second of the two 3A semifinals at the State Farm Center on Friday matched Leo up against East St. Louis. The two teams played tight for a good majority of the game which included being tied at the end of the first quarter and East St. Louis having a small 4-point lead at the half. East St. Louis got stellar performances from the trio of Alex Johnson, Phillip Jones, and Jamison White to be able to pull away in the second half. They were able to control the final the final ten minutes of play to win it 59-40 over Leo. After winning a state championship back in 2019, East St. Louis will have another opportunity on Saturday when they face off against Deerfield in the 3A title game.

Elon Henderson – 2029 – F/C – Leo

Even in limited minutes off the bench, Henderson made a big impact and showed his tremendous upside while already flashing some good abilities. In just 12 minutes of action, he scored 8 points. This was on 3-5 shooting as well to hitting his first two three-point attempts of the game. As well to being able to shoot the ball, he showed some athleticism and versatile defensive ability. He stands at 6’8” with good length and once he puts on some muscle, will be a real force. In his limited minutes he also had 4 rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Phillip Jones – 2027 – PG – East St. Louis

Jones was a huge piece of this win as he scored 17 points on 6-9 shooting while also adding in 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block. He was especially key in East St. Louis’ fourth quarter surge where he scored 9 points. This included driving baskets on back-to-back plays including an and one play to grow the lead into double digits for the first time. Jones is a quick point guard with good moves often getting into the paint making plenty of plays.

Alex Johnson – 2026 – SG – East St. Louis

Not only did Johnson lead the game in scoring with 19 points, but he also played with great energy making a ton of plays all over the court. He excelled especially in the first half where he scored 14 points. This including grabbing 10 rebounds, as the lengthy 6’3” guard would get into the paint and battle in traffic versus size to grab them, which included 7 on the offensive end. He was also extremely active defensively to collect a pair of steals and block a shot while also forcing a few other turnovers. Johnson shot the ball well which included going 2-3 from three including one from well beyond the arc in addition to hitting a mid-range pullup.

Brian Kizer – 2027 – SG – Leo

Kizer is a part of Leo’s highly talented 2027 group. He led Leo in this game scoring 11 points while showing his versatile scoring ability. He was able to score it from all three levels. Kizer hit a three as well as a pullup mid-range jumper. The junior also played well getting into the paint beating defenders with both his physicality and moves. Kizer also showed his well-rounded offensive game making a couple of nice passes including a nice drive and dump off assist plus another assist on a good find out of the post.

Jamison White – 2026 – F – East St. Louis

As well to being 6’8”, White is an athletic forward with good strength too. With his physical tools as well to his energy and physicality, he controlled the glass all game. This included 15 rebounds in the win by White. The Penn State commit went for a double-double as he also scored 12 points being very effective around the paint scoring on tight curls inside. He was also getting the Leo frontcourt in plenty of foul trouble with his aggressiveness getting to the line for 10 free throws.