Photos by By Joseph Gelman/OSA
Story by Mike Clark
Most of Phillips’ players will have another chance to make some postseason magic.
But not Elijah Harris, one of just three seniors on the Wildcats’ roster. And after missing time during the program’s deepest playoff run in decades, he wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.
Harris played big minutes off the bench when junior standout EJ Horton was sitting in foul trouble. Harris contributed nine points and four rebounds as the Wildcats beat Benton 54-47 Saturday afternoon in the IHSA Class 2A title game at State Farm Center.
Horton and fellow junior Phoenix Childs led the balanced Wildcats (25-9) with 13 points each, one more than Amari Edwards, yet another junior. And 6-6 sophomore Claude Mpouma contributed seven points and six rebounds.
Isaac Billington scored a game-high 19 points for Benton (32-4) on 8-for-12 shooting and Evan Munoz added 11.
Harris appreciates how the younger Wildcats kept the season going while he was watching and waiting to come back.
“These guys are my brothers,” he said. “They held me down. Without them, it’d be nothing. We wouldn’t even be here so I love them for that.”
Harris had a steal and fast-break basket at the halftime buzzer to give the Wildcats a 27-24 lead. He had another big bucket early in the fourth quarter, putting in his own miss for a 43-36 lead with 5:33 left.
“I (saw) that we (were) in a drought,” he said. “We didn’t have (any) rhythm. … I had to step up.”
Horton loved to see it.
“It meant a lot,” he said of Harris’ big plays. “I told him we (were) going to need him. I was in foul trouble and the next person had to step up. He stepped up, played hard, played poised and just made great plays.”
Horton also had some of his own, including a resounding dunk after missing one early and drawing a technical for hanging on the rim.
Childs rated the made dunk as Horton’s fourth-best of the season. Or upon further consideration, maybe higher given the situation:
“I would say it’s the biggest moment because of (being on) the U. of I. court and the state championship.”
Phillips, which led for almost 27 minutes, was up 49-38 after Childs’ layup with 3:22 remaining. But Benton, playing in its first state title game, wasn’t done.
Munoz’s layup with 57 seconds left cut the deficit to 52-47, and he had a shot with 29 seconds left to pull the Rangers within three but missed.
Phillips just had to run out the clock after that to win the program’s first title since the Wildcats won in Class AA in 1975. This also was Phillips’ first time downstate since 1977.
“I inherited all these guys from coaches and programs that … didn’t believe in their talents and skill sets,” Wildcats coach Paris Martin said. “So I did my best to bring them all together and make them band as a family. And hey, we got us a state title.”
Horton started his high school career in Bartow (Fla.) and Edwards transferred from St. Rita. But now they’re state champs at Phillips.
That’s after some on the outside might have figured the Wildcats were a year away, given their youth and their 5-6 start this season.
But Martin told them the future was now. They lost just twice in 2024: 70-69 to host TF North in the Bob Hambric Shootout on Jan. 14 and 71-62 to Kenwood in the Public League semifinals on Feb. 8.
“I told them if they all believed in each other we could win a state title this year.”
