In the most crucial of basketball games, many times the free throws are what matter most. 

Such was the case Friday night in a Class 2A regional final between Cahokia Conference rivals Columbia and Wesclin. There wasn’t a seat to be found in the Columbia High School gym for the highly anticipated showdown.

In the end, Wesclin prevailed by the count of 53-49 after converting a three-point play in the final seconds.

The Eagles went just 3-for-10 from the free throw line in the contest. Leading scorer Sam Donald, who finished with 24 points on the night, was just 1-for-4 from the line. He was a 78 percent free throw shooter for the season. 

“We were 3-for-10 from the foul line, which ultimately was our doomsday,” Columbia head coach Mark Sandstrom said. “You just can’t go 30 percent from the charity stripe and expect to win a game like that.”

Outside of those missed points, Sandstrom said his team played pretty well against a formidable opponent.

“It was just a really good game between two talented teams,” he said. “Both teams gave it their best and made runs a couple of different times during the game.”

Columbia led 22-19 at halftime in a contest that saw multiple early lead changes. 

The Eagles grew their lead to eight points at one point in the second half before Wesclin gained momentum. 

“I thought we did a really good job of containing Seth Macke (Wesclin’s center), but Wesclin made some really tough perimeter shots throughout the game,” Sandstrom said. “I thought we played really well for most of the game except about 1.5 minutes of the fourth quarter when we had three defensive meltdowns in a row to allow Wesclin to get back in it.”

Wesclin grew its lead to seven points with just under two minutes remaining in regulation, but the Eagles rallied to take a 48-47 lead with just 13 seconds on the clock. 

Warriors freshman Gavin Rahm tossed up a one-handed prayer under the basket while being fouled, and his prayer was answered. Rahm converted the old-fashioned three-point play to give Wesclin the two-point edge with 8.5 seconds left.

Still, the Eagles had chances from the free throw line to tie the game but missed.

The loss ended Columbia’s season at 24-9.

The Eagles advanced to the regional final with a 58-42 victory last Wednesday at home over Althoff. 

Donald poured in 29 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Hayes van Breusegen added 13 points and seven rebounds. Brody Landgraf contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds. 

“Our regional was a really tough draw with three top 20 ranked teams, but that says a lot about the quality of 2A basketball in the area,” Sandstrom assessed. 

The silver lining for the Eagles – who won 12 straight games from Dec. 19 through Jan. 20 – is that nearly every player from this year’s roster returns for the 2024-25 campaign. 

That includes 6-foot-8 junior Donald (20.9 points per game, 8.4 rebounds per game) and 6-foot-5 sophomore Landgraf (11 points per game, six rebounds per game).

Playing in a high-stakes playoff game such as Friday’s certainly prepares players for the next time they are in the same situation. Sandstrom certainly expects his squad to be in the mix next postseason.

“Our junior class has now won 75 games in their three-year careers here at CHS, but they are hungry for their senior year when expectations will be really high,” he said. “We look forward to an offseason of individual skill and shooting improvements in order to have a stellar 2024-25 season.”