Eastland got off to a slow start and couldn’t keep up with a dynamic and athletic Chicago Marshall team in Thursday’s Class 1A state semifinals at State Farm Center in Champaign.
The Raiders shot 51 percent from the field and defeated the Cougars 66-38 to advance to the state championship game Saturday against Goreville at 10 a.m. Eastland will play Lawrenceville for third place Thursday at 7 p.m.
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Eastland (32-7) struggled with its shooting, and Marshall (23-9) seemed to miss very little in the second half after taking a 24-8 halftime lead. Eastland recorded a season low and gave up a season high in the loss.
“Today’s game didn’t go the way we wanted it to go in any way,” Eastland coach Tyler Zumdahl said. “We have to try to find a way to flush it, and we [still] A chance to win a game at state today. “
Eastland never led in the game as the Cougars struggled to find momentum. Marshall’s Quinton Gipson scored 20 points and Rayvon Myers scored 14 points. Even after halftime, the Raiders took their first few drives.
Zumdahl said the message at halftime was just to try to adapt and take possession one possession at a time. Marshall continued to get stronger as the game went on, against a team that played a great defense.
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“We’ve seen all year that we’re a team that can make some big strides and things happen quickly,” Zumdahl said.
The Thursday afternoon run never came.
Eastland shot just 13 of 45 (29%), with Wyatt Carroll and Brayden Anderson each scoring 11 points. Zy Haverland scored nine points, Parker Krogman had seven points and no other Cougars scored.
“It’s Marshall’s speed, quickness and toughness on defense,” Zumdahl said. “We never settled. We were accelerating with or without the ball. We just couldn’t settle.”
“Obviously, when you start flipping it, it just snowballs and we took some average shots.”
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The Marshall Raiders’ offensive performance is one to watch! #IHSA Basketball = American original #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/13QQbjg2Hu
— Illinois High School Association #IHSA (@IHSA_IL) March 12, 2026
The Raiders improved their field goal percentage in each quarter, hitting 19 of 28 shots (68%) in the second half.
Zumdahl said it was an unusual start as his team had only scored two goals in 17 first-half possessions.
“It’s unfortunate to play this kind of game on this kind of stage,” he said. “You have to give Marshall a lot of credit for that. It’s tough to see guys miss some shots that they would normally make.”
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Zumdahl said it’s difficult to prepare for a team that’s so fast, which is rare. The Raiders’ pass rush also led to 18 assists.
“Once you go against that speed and athleticism across the board,” Zumdahl said, “things change pretty quickly.”
Eastland came into the game averaging only 40.1 points per game but scoring 52.5 points per game. Krogman finished nine points below his season average.
“Obviously, I was in shorts the whole game,” Krogman said. “Not to say it doesn’t happen, but I don’t think I handled it well enough.”
Marshall scored 20 points off the bench and outrebounded Eastland 36-24.
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“I thought we rebounded well. Quinton had a great game defensively as well. We held their best player to seven points,” Marshall coach Darin Leyer said. “I can’t say enough about how these guys fit in defensively. We turned those team steals into uncontested layups.”
The Raiders, like the Cougars, have emphasized defense all year long. This gives them a chance to win their fourth state championship and first since 2008.
“One thing we don’t want to do in this tournament is make it easy for anyone to get involved in their offense,” Leyer said.
