CHAMPAIGN, IL-Yorkville Christian didn’t exist ten years ago. Three years ago it was a curiosity, the school no one had heard of where Jaden Schutt, the kid with one of the prettiest looking jumpers anyone had ever seen, played.
Now the Mustangs are state champions.
Yorkville Christian began the season as the overwhelming favorite to win the title. Coach Aaron Sovern scheduled a gauntlet of challenging games. The Mustangs won some and lost some, but the highs were exceptional. Yorkville Christian beat Kenwood, a Class 4A power, last month.
Yorkville Christian rolled through the state tournament, beating opponents by an average margin of 44 points. The Mustangs were somehow an even bigger favorite when the title game began than when the season began.
Liberty, a village of 489 people near Quincy, rose to the occasion on Saturday and gave Yorkville Christian a real challenge. In almost any other season, the Eagles would be state champions. There has never been a Duke recruit in Class 1A before and it is unlikely to happen ever again.
Liberty led at halftime, but the Mustangs took control in the fourth quarter to win the title game 54-41.
Schutt, the Duke recruit, didn’t have a monster game. He scored 12 points and was 1 of 6 from three-point range.
But the team that grew and improved around Schutt all season stepped up in the title game. Senior KJ Vasser scored 15, Tyler Burrows added 13 and most importantly the Mustangs (25-13) outrebounded Liberty 32-27.
Cannen Wolf finished with 15 for the Eagles (30-6) and Devin Clauser, a 6-6 senior, added 13 and 5 rebounds.
More to come…