Phillips holds off Williamsville to win Illinois Class 2A boys basketball semifinal

Lawrence Horton has 13 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists in win

CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS – Phillips Academy coach Paris Martin had high praise for EJ Horton on Thursday.

After the versatile junior guard led the Wildcats to a 60-56 win over Williamsville in the Illinois Class 2A boys basketball semifinals, the coach called Horton the best player in the state of Illinois in the Class of 2025.

“He does everything,” Martin said. “For us, as a team, as a whole, he does everything. He’s a playmaker. He’s a vocal leader. He’s an athlete, of course, a student-athlete, of course. He’s relentless. He won’t take no for an answer. Whatever he’s not good at, he wants to learn it. He’s dedicated to it.”

“He has a high ceiling,” the coach added. “He does everything. He’s averaging 25 points per game this season.”

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Horton certainly stated his case on Thursday.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound junior standout put up 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to lead Phillips (24-9) past Williamsville (26-10) and into Saturday’s 2A title game against either Benton (31-3) or Byron (30-2).

Phillips is back in the championship game for the first time since winning the Illinois AA championship back in 1975. 

Horton punctuated the victory with a breakaway dunk in the final seconds as the Wildcats, who led by 12 points with 6:27 remaining, had a heart-stopping finish.

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Martin said it took “a little bit of resilience from the boys” to secure the win.

“We’ve had these type of endings at the beginning of the season and we lost those games,” Martin said. “So they’ve already been through the fire and knew exactly what to do. They never panicked, never wavered. They believe in one another, trust in each others’ instincts.”

Phoenix Childs, another junior guard, scored a team-high 21 points and Claude Mpouma, a 6-foot-6 sophomore forward, added 12 points.

Junior guard Brayden Saling led Williamsville (26-10) with 21 points on nine-of-20 shooting. Carson Kohler, a senior forward, had 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Brecken Thomas, a senior guard, added 11 points.

Illinois Class 2A semifinal: Phillips Academy - Williamsville

Photos by Nate Latsch

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveIL