Starring on the junior-varsity team as a freshman last year, St. Ignatius guard Phoenix Gill was a late season call-up to the varsity.
He was there in the thick of it as the Wolfpack made its first state appearance, ultimately finishing third in Class 3A.
And with 3 years left in his high school career, Gill couldn’t help but look ahead.
“At the end of the season, I said I wanted to make it to state all 4 years. Just build this program up, so we could be a dynasty really,” Gill said. “State all 4 years would be great.”
Advancing to the state finals, St. Ignatius lost 50-48 to East St. Louis in the Class 3A third-place game on March 10 at the University of Illinois’ State Farm Center in Champaign.
The back-to-back state appearances are the first state trips in program history.
St. Ignatius finished the season with a 24-13 overall record.
“We’re 2 out of 4 now [making state], so I’m just hoping to get down here every year,” Gill said. “I want to play the best I can to win and help this team succeed.”
Gill led the Wolfpack with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting against East St. Louis. Seniors Owen Kyhl (8 points, 2 steals), Sean Clavadetscher (8 points, 4 rebounds), Sam Horenkamp (5 points, 3 assists, 3 steals) and Richard Barron (4 points, 2 assists) and junior Justin Scott (10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) all contributed in the third-place game.
Gill also poured in 21 points against Simeon in the semifinal matchup.
“Going downstate for a second time and being in a bigger role this year, it’s amazing,” Gill said after the supersectional win on March 6 over Grayslake Central. “I can’t really put it into words. It’s just amazing.”
For Gill, there was some added significance to the state appearance.
His dad, Kendall Gill, was a star player for the Illini (1987-90) and was a go-to player on the 1989 Flyin’ Illini squad that advanced to the Final Four. Phoenix also wears No. 13, his dad’s jersey which hangs in the rafters at State Farm Center.
“It was special knowing my Dad played here,” Gill said. “Honestly, I’m pretty mad. I thought I could have done more to help the team win [against Simeon]. The game kind of got away from us at the end. It was still a special moment, for sure.”
St. Ignatius Coach Matt Monroe said Gill played well at state.
“We’ve talked a lot about making sure he’s aggressive within the framework of the team,” Monroe said. “I thought today he played with a lot of confidence. He played within himself, but he was aggressive.”
Barron, a George Mason recruit, has been a four-year varsity player for Ignatius.
The team went through a rough patch around Christmas and New Year’s but closed strong, winning 8 of its last 10 heading into the state semifinals. St. Ignatius defeated Mt. Carmel 48-46 on Feb. 10 in a huge, momentum-shifting victory.
“It’s the story of our season,” Barron said. “We took a punch in the mouth at Christmas, but we got that big win over Mt. Carmel. That’s where the senior leadership kicked in. Ever since, I’ve been riding on that. That’s how we have to play, just no let-up.”
Monroe said he was impressed with how the team clicked late in the year.
“We started off the season kind of finding our way and building our chemistry,” Monroe said. “As the season went on, we took some lumps, but we got better and better.”
Simeon 60
St. Ignatius 42
Along with Gill’s 21 points, seniors Kyhl (6 points), Barron (5 points, 2 assists), Jackson Kotecki (4 points) and Clavadetscher (3 points) and Scott (3 points, 3 rebounds) all chipped in for the Wolfpack in the state semifinals.
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