INA, Ill. (March 1, 2025) — Freshman Nevontae Nesbit led the Warriors with 31 points in Rend Lake's 82-78 win over the Shawnee Saints, Saturday at the Banterra Sports Complex. It was The Lake's final home stand as the Warriors improved to 8-8 in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference and celebrated sophomores Rolen Adams (Mt. Vernon), Greg Cole (Louisville) and Brady Moore (Breese) for their final game at Waugh Gym. Video
RLC Head Coach Tim Wills was absent due to illness. Assistant Coach Nick Boone took over head coaching duties and added his first career win with Assistant Coach Brad Wills.
"Our three sophomores have done such a great job of leading our program this year," Tim Wills texted in after the game. "They deserve a lot of credit for sticking with us through a late coaching change and I greatly appreciate them giving me the chance to coach them this season. We could not have had nearly as much success this season without Brady, Greg and Rolen. Today's win was a huge one for us. I hated to miss it but just couldn't make it. Nick and Brad did a great job coaching our guys and the players really came up big! This win got us to .500 in the GRAC and ensures we will finish above .500 for the season. Those are great accomplishments considering the difficulty of our schedule."
Adams came out firing on all cylinders, scoring the Warriors' first eight points of the game with a bucket and two threes. The two teams traded small runs before RLC went into the break down four (45-41) and found themselves trailing 61-56 at the 10-minute mark. Nesbitt led a gritty attack down the stretch that was capped by a soaring block at the rim from RLC's 6-9 center Zeke Wilson (Tulsa, Okla.) to stop a critical Saints posession. Nesbit scored 20 of his game-high 31 in the second half and hit six of his perfect (10-for-10) free-throws in the final 10 minutes of the game. Scoring from guards Equinton Millsap (Mt. Vernon) and Aiden Hinton (Carterville) complemented Nesbit's performance down the stretch, along with buckets from big men Moore and Elijah Edosa (Scarborough, Ont.).
Rend Lake Warriors Scoring
| Player | FG Made | FT Made/Attempted | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millsap | 3 | 1/2 | 6 |
| Cole | 3 | 3/3 | 10 |
| Nesbit | 9 | 10/10 | 31 |
| Treat | 2 | 0/0 | 6 |
| Edosa | 4 | 1/2 | 9 |
| Moore | 1 | 0/0 | 3 |
| Hinton | 1 | 0/0 | 2 |
| Adams | 3 | 1/2 | 9 |
| Bigham | 0 | 0/1 | 0 |
| Wilson | 2 | 0/2 | 6 |
Shawnee Saints Scoring
| Player | FG Made | FT Made/Attempted | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 8 | 4/4 | 24 |
| Bell | 4 | 1/2 | 10 |
| Deloach | 2 | 1/2 | 5 |
| White | 3 | 1/1 | 7 |
| Hosman | 1 | 0/0 | 3 |
| Anderson | 9 | 6/6 | 29 |
On the defensive end, RLC's second-half adjustments stifled Shawnee sophomore forward Johnny Anderson, who led the Saints with 21 first-half points. Anderson was limited to only eight in the second half and was the victim of Wilson's aforementioned big block.
It's on to the postseason tournament for the Warriors who finish at 16-14 overall and 8-8 in the GRAC. The Lake will host Lewis & Clark at 7 p.m. Tuesday night, March 4, in the opening round of the NJCAA district/regional tournament. The remainder of the tournament will be held at Spoon River in Canton, Ill. the men's Tuesday night regional opener will nightcap the Lady Warriors' final home game against Olney Central that tips off at 5 p.m.
