Kaedon Phillips sets Sterling free-throw record in win over Galesburg

STERLING — Getting to the free-throw line is a key part of Sterling senior Kadeon Phillips' game.

The nimble point guard is not afraid to take on contact and has a knack for acrobatic finishes at the rim.

As the Golden Warriors played their last home game of the regular season at Musgrove Fieldhouse, Phillips set Sterling’s single-season record for made free throws in a 66-46 Western Big 6 Conference win over Galesburg.

Philips made 11 of his 19 free throws to boost his season total to 159 and counting. Kelly Preston set the previous record of 154 in 1990.

Phillips and Nico Battaglia each scored 22 points, and Maddux Osborn had 14 in the win.

Phillips is 159 of 213 from the line this season for a team-leading 74.6%.

He said it means a lot to set the school record.

“My coaches tell me to drive to the hoop to create space for my teammates,” he said. “Free throws, I mean, they’re free.

“If you can knock them down, it’s free points.”

Even when field goals aren’t falling, getting to the line is always an option. Phillips says there is an art to it.

“If you want to get to the hoop, you’ve got to drive hard. Create contact, and the refs will see it,” he said. “Sometimes I don’t get it, but every time I’m going to keep going hard.”

It can even result in jokes from teammates and frustration from opponents looking for a flopping call.

“Even today, the [other] coach was saying I was throwing my head back,” he said. “If I’m going to keep driving, I’m just going to do my thing, and that’s what I like to do — get to the hoop and score the bucket.”

Sterling has free-throw drills at the end of every practice. Phillips also stays after practice to shoot more.

The Golden Warriors (14-14, 5-7 Big 6) pulled away in the third and fourth quarters Tuesday night, outscoring Galesburg 43-29 in the second half. The Silver Streaks (8-21, 2-10) were led by Cesaire Bile’s eight points.

“We locked in after the first half. We realized it was a close game, and it shouldn’t have been,” Battaglia said. “The first half felt really slow in my opinion. We weren’t going as hard as we could have.”

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Sterling's Nico Battaglia drives the ball past Galegurg's Tobi Kivunina. Sterling Boys Basketball hosted Galesburg at Musgrove Fieldhouse on February 11, 2025. (Brian Hurley)

Battaglia said getting to the line also helped in the second half. Battaglia was 6 of 6 in the game, and Phillips got to the line 14 times in the second half.

Battaglia said Phillips is the best finisher on the team.

“Without [that] I don’t think our team would be as good as we are,” he said. “It’s been like that since I’ve played with him since we were little, so it’s good to see him do that. I’m happy for him.”

Sterling closes the regular season with road trips to United Township, Geneseo and Princeton before opening the postseason.

“We’re still being competitive, especially in practice, still working on getting better,” Battaglia said. “We’re kind of preparing for the postseason. We’re realizing what we need to do in order to win in the postseason and what’s going wrong.

“We’re fixing our mistakes and just going hard.”