Boys Basketball: Metamora pulls away in 3rd quarter, ends St. Francis’ postseason run

OTTAWA – Tears welled as hugs and fist bumps were passed down the St. Francis bench for one final time.

Metamora junior Ethan Kizer soared for his final alley-oop dunk for good measure. The program’s first trip to the IHSA state finals was minutes away from being officially realized.

The St. Francis duo of Brennan Yarusso and Sebastian Miller were among the last along the line.

[ Photos: St. Francis vs. Metamora boys basketball ]

“We’re a brotherhood,” Miller said after Metamora’s 60-44 victory in the Class 3A Ottawa Supersectional on March 7. “I think, even from the outside, you can tell when we’re playing that we love each other. We’re always huddling up, and we really made a statement.”

St. Francis (27-9), vying for its first state bid since 1989, had just won its first sectional title since 2013 days before.

“I think we set a standard of how we’re supposed to play at Francis,” Yarusso said. “It starts on defense; play together, love each other. Like Sebastian said, a brotherhood.”

The Spartans and Metamora were deadlocked at 21 to close the first half, while Kizer, a 6-foot-6 forward, battled foul trouble.

St. Francis’ offense went cold, shooting 35% from the field in the second half. The Spartans were outscored 14-5 in the third quarter to spark Metamora toward a date with Simeon in Friday’s 11:30 a.m. state semifinal in Champaign.

“In the first half, we were up by seven [and] I was thinking [with] Kizer in foul trouble, ‘Let’s see if we can stretch this a little bit,’ ” Spartans coach Erin Dwyer said. “Then they had some guys step up and make some shots, which they’ve had all year. Every time they’ve had a game where they haven’t had somebody play well, or one of their top guys play well, someone else steps up for them and they shoot with some confidence.”

At the final buzzer, fans of Metamora (29-6) spilled out onto the court with Queen’s “We are the Champions” blaring over a sea of students and other fans.

“Tremendous,” Metamora coach Danny Grieves said. “Kids did a tremendous job. I’ll tell you what: My hat’s off to St. Francis. They’re a well-coached, really good team. We just tried to take away what they did best, and our defense was the key. We held them to 44 points. We scored 60. That’s a win every time.”

“It means everything,” Kizer said about the historic season after his nine-point, six-rebound effort. “I love this team. We have a great team and it’s a great group of guys.”

The Redbirds were paced by Tyler Swanson’s 18 points, three rebounds and three assists. Zack Schroeder had 14 points, four rebounds and one block.

St. Francis was led by Sean Killian’s eight points, three rebounds and one block. Yarusso had eight points, six rebounds and three assists. Miller and Jack Brennan each had seven points.

“As a coach, when you have kids who absolutely love playing the game, and then playing for each other and putting in the work [means a lot] … during COVID, anytime they had a chance to go play somewhere, they found a place to play,” Dwyer said. “They played.

“They’ve raised the standard of the program dramatically.”