After four quarters and one overtime, Rock Island and Centralia were deadlocked in their Class 3A championship game Saturday afternoon in Peoria.
Then, it wasn't close.
A 10-0 run by Rock Island (30-3) in the second extra period broke the game open behind seven free throws by Royce Muskeyvalley resulting in a 50-40 final score. Centralia (30-5) was held scoreless in the second overtime.
Leading the scoring for Rock Island was Chasson Randle with 13 points. He also had seven rebounds. Randle averaged 22.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game entering Saturday's action.
Denzel McCauley came up big on the boards with 17 rebounds to go along with his nine points. Romal Davis nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds in the win.
Centralia was led by R.J. Kwiatkowski with 15 points, close to his 16.7 points per game average.
Bryan Betts contributed 13 points and six rebounds in the losing effort.
For Rock Island, a school about 100 miles northwest of Peoria, the championship appearance was the school's first since 1910 and first state title in school history.
Centralia's last trip to state was in 2002. Centralia, a school about 90 minutes east of St. Louis, is one of only two boys high school basketball programs in the United States with over 2,000 wins.
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