SOUTH HOLLAND | Seton Academy's Kamal Shasi has been on three regional championship teams, but none was more special than Friday night's 92-61 blowout of Illiana Christian in the Class 2A Seton Academy Regional final.
"This one was at home and that made it special," Shasi said. "This is our last home game and it was like our Senior Night."
Shasi and his teammates have bigger goals and their road for a return trip to Peoria continues when Seton (19-10) will face Hales Franciscan at 6 p.m. Wednesday in one semifinal of the Class 2A Illiana Christian Sectional.
Shasi hit five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points. He was not the only star as Mark Weems Jr. led the way with 17 points and Minnesota-bound Alex Foster had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Johnny Patterson added 15 points and nine boards.
"Coach told us to come out and just play hard," Shasi said. "We go pretty deep so we used a lot of players."
As for the Sting hitting nine 3-pointers, "I was just open and took the shots," Shasi said.
Illiana Christian (19-10) struggled against Seton's pressing defense and size. Not to mention the Vikings were 9-of-17 from the free-throw line in the first half.
"We left a lot out on the floor tonight," Illiana coach Tom Roozeboom said. "We couldn't buy a free throw. We got behind early and they are a very talented team and a deep team."
Illiana's Brandon Martin said his team struggled with the pressure from the Sting.
"They pressed and we had a hard time adjusting and turned the ball over," Martin said. "We didn't help ourselves by missing all those free throws.
"You have to give them credit. They are a very good team and were a better team than us tonight. Shasi was hot and he is a great player."
Martin finished with nine points. Caleb Jonkman's 17 points led the Vikings, while Elijah Lares had 13.
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