The Mount Vernon Rams captured second place in the 70th annual Salem Invitational Tournament Saturday night following a loss to the East Saint Louis Flyers in the championship game. While the Flyers were simply the better team in the 59-41 bout, with an obvious size advantage and superior speed, the Rams did not just roll over. As shown by the final, the Rams stayed within striking distance the whole game, but they were unable to stage a run big enough to successfully come back. 

The Flyer controlled the game from the tip, playing their game, which is a fast-paced, drive-based offense, as well as utilizing a press paired with a half-court trap defense, none of which the Rams deal with well. 

The Rams were clearly outmatched both in size and speed. The Mount Vernon squad has struggled this whole year from the charity stripe, and though it wasn’t a game-defining flaw as it has been in other games such as Vashon, they still only shot 5 for 11. 

The Rams were led in scoring by NJ Benson with 16, a testament to the Flyers defense holding one of Southern Illinois’ most dynamic players under 20, followed by Cooper Hemby and Calan Kujawa with 8 each, as well as Colin McClure and Navontae Nesbit Jr. with three apiece. Deshaunsae King finished with 2 and Jackson Swan with a free throw. 

The Rams did not get the open looks from three they have grown accustomed to due to defenses stacking the middle to try and control the duo of Benson and King, as East St. Louis had the speed to cover both the wings and the paint. 

It was not the Rams’ best performance even when they did get those open shots, shooting 4 for 15, a measly 26.7%. 

The Rams were athletically outmatched by the quicker Flyers, leading to low scoring numbers and high turnovers, 12, which is bad against a team like East Saint that is so good in transition. The Rams’ slow first half certainly did not help, although the second half proved much more productive. 

Ram guard Cooper Hemby said, “I felt like we had a slow start to the game offensively. East Side is a very talented and athletic team, and our slow first half put us in a hole. In the second half, the team started playing well on both ends of the court, but due to our slow first half we came up short.” 

The Flyers were led in scoring by Macaleab Rich with 16, followed by Christian Jones with 15. Jaden Hale had 9, Daevion Hawkins delivered 6, while Howard Cansler, Terell Scott, and Jalen Watson all had 2, and Lintez Simmons finished with 1. East St. Louis captured first place through their use of speed and athleticism to force steals and blocks to get into transition, where they excel. They had 6 steals and 4 blocks, which is quite a performance against a very good Rams squad. The Flyers had many second-chance shot opportunities. 

“I thought we could’ve boxed out and rebounded better on the defensive end,” said Rams Jackson Swan. 

The Rams were played with a time-limited Jackson Swan, due to a nagging knee injury, whose energy serves as a great equalizer in games against quick teams like this. 

With a healthy Swan and if the Mt. Vernon squad had done a few more of the little things right, like boxing out to allow fewer second-chance shots, the Rams certainly could have won. They stayed in a position where it was reachable the whole game. 

“We played hard and stuck together throughout the game. East Saint Louis made some tough shots during the game, but we kept fighting and stayed with the process. We came up short in the championship but we had a great tournament as a team,” said Rams guard Colin McClure. 

The Rams had a very productive tournament taking two of the three games, beating Madison and Thornton Fractional North. They had three players on the all-tournament team, Dashaunsae King and Colin McClure on second team, and NJ Benson taking first team.

The Rams feel they could have taken the championship. Brock Holloway stated, “While we are proud we made it to the championship, we feel we still could have won. That being said, there’s nothing we can do about it now but focus on our next game.” 

The Rams’ next game is the South Seven rivalry game against the Centralia Orphans on Friday for the annual Mt. Vernon Blackout game in Changnon Gymnasium. The Junior Varsity game is slated for 6 p.m. with the varsity set to follow.