Comeback for the ages: Macomb rallies in fourth quarter to upset title favorite Peoria Manual

CANTON, Ill. — The Macomb boys basketball team authored a comeback and an upset Wednesday night that will remain part of Bombers’ lore for decades to come.

That’s what never losing faith will do.

“There’s a little basketball karma that came our way tonight,” Macomb coach Jerremy Anderson said.

Down as many as 18 points in the second half against state-ranked Peoria Manual, which had been the odds-on favorite to win the Class 2A state championship, the Bombers simply chiseled away until narrowing the gap to single digits with four minutes to play in the Class 2A Canton Sectional semifinal.

Then came the closing kick. Back-to-back buckets by Malachi Conley and Braden Holthaus drew the Bombers within three, and Dion Doyle sank four straight free throws in the final 22.5 seconds, including a pair with 6 seconds to play that gave Macomb a 41-40 victory at Alice Ingersoll Gymnasium.

It was the only time the entire game the Bombers led.

“Everyone is just so excited,” Anderson said. “So happy to see such a big student section there. So happy to see so many younger guys there who will be playing for us as the next generation. Maybe they’ll remember that and want to work really hard to get back to that point.”

Macomb (24-5) will face Rockridge (24-6) at 7 p.m. Friday in the sectional championship game. The Rockets beat the Bombers 36-33 in the championship game of Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament.

“It’ll be a madhouse,” Anderson said.

It was Wednesday night, too.

Manual scored the game’s first four points, forcing Anderson to call a timeout less than two minutes into the game, and led 8-2 before Macomb made its first field goal. The Rams extended the lead to 26-14 at halftime and pushed it to 34-16 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.

A 6-2 spurt by the Bombers to close the third quarter made a comeback doable, especially when the Rams’ offense fell silent.

“We finally got some buckets to go down,” Anderson said. “Manual just smothers you defensively and kind of breaks your will. When we finally got a couple of buckets to go down, it just boosted our confidence on both ends of the floor to go out and make those plays.”

Manual went 2 of 6 from the field in the fourth quarter, scoring just four points. The Rams turned the ball over three times and missed four free throws in the final stanza as well.

“The guys did a great job of sticking to the plan,” Anderson said. “We felt we could guard them in the halfcourt. We just couldn’t guard them in transition or in live-ball turnovers. We tried to focus on keeping the ball in front of us, not turning it over and being able to rebound. We did a pretty good job of that.”

After forcing Manual into a five-second violation with 1:48 to play, Holthaus buried a 3-pointer to make it 40-37. The Bombers proceeded to foul three times on the Rams’ next possession, reaching the five-foul limit to send Manual to the free-throw line.

Manual forward Dietrich Richardson missed two free throws with 40.9 seconds left. Macomb got two looks at the basket and two offensive rebounds on the ensuing possession before Doyle was fouled with 22.5 seconds left. He made both free throws to make it 40-39.

The Bombers fouled with 20.2 seconds remaining, sending the Rams’ Gerrell Trapps to the line. Trapps missed both attempts, and the Bombers rebounded, got the ball into the frontcourt despite pressure and took a timeout with 10 seconds left.

“We knew we wanted to get the ball to Dion and get him going to the basket,” Anderson said. “He did a really good job of driving it to the bucket.”

Doyle, who led the Bombers with 15 points, caught the ball at the high post, drove the right side of the lane and was fouled.

“He was ready to make a play,” Anderson said.

Doyle made both free throws with three seconds left for the 41-40 lead.

The Rams rushed the ball into the frontcourt and took a timeout with three seconds to play. They got the ball to the right wing, but a 3-point attempt was off the mark and time ran out on the rebound, sending the Bombers to the sweet 16.