Eastland takes home state runner-up trophy

CHAMPAIGN — Eastland simply did not have an answer for Chicago Hope Academy junior Tyjuan Hunter.

The shortest player on the court had the biggest game on Saturday afternoon for the private school Eagles, scoring 26 points with a Class 1A title game record 11 assists in a 71-38 win at State Farm Center.

Despite the loss, the Cougars (34-5) still had their best finish at state in program history.

Eastland got off to a slow start but trailed just 27-21 at halftime. But Eagles (28-7) led wire-to-wire and pulled away as Hunter caught fire.

It was a glaring difference compared to Eastland’s home shootout win over the Eagles in early December.

“You’ve got to give all the credit to Chicago Hope,” Eastland coach Tyler Zumdahl said. “They came out absolutely ready to go. We’ve been so good defensively all year.

“We didn’t do a good job controlling [Hunter], which is obviously hard to do. But we let him do kind of whatever he wanted to do.”

That included him going 10 of 15 from the field 3 of 4 from deep in between dishing assists and lobs for dunks. Malik Meridy, who did not play in the last matchup, had 11 points. Jaiden Simmons (5 of 6 FGs) added 12 points as the Eagles shot 28 of 50 from the field and 8 of 19 from 3. They had 18 assists and eight fast breaks.

Hunter scored 14 of his points in Hope’s 19-9 third-quarter advantage. A 25-8 fourth quarter run clinched coach Ronnie Fields and Hope’s first state trophy.

“The game’s too close,” Hunter said of his third-quarter outburst. “I felt like we needed a bigger lead than six, and I changed my mode.”

Eastland was also out-rebounded 34-18 in the loss. The Cougars shot 12 of 42, including 5 of 20 from deep.

Parker Krogman (17 points) and Adam Awender (15) helped keep Eastland in it for stretches, but things snowballed in Hope’s favor once Eastland struggled to make stops or hit shots.

Awender hit three straight 3s to help help get Eastland some momentum early on.

“I don’t think we’re ever out of the game,” Awender said. “We’ve proven in the past that we can come back. It just didn’t happen tonight.”

Eastland tried different looks against Hunter defensively. But he continued to dictate the game in multiple aspects after only four points in the first half.

“That was just kind of the disappointing part. We’ve done such a good job at guarding a lot of different guys and a lot of different styles throughout the year,” Zumdahl said. “We just could never get settled in and really make it hard on him.

“A lot of things that we’ve done really well all year, we didn’t today. And again, you’ve got to give credit to Hunter and Chicago Hope for that.”

Fields said he watched the previous game against Eastland for the first time on Friday night. He said it was frustrating to see how many mistakes his team made.

Saturday was different. Hope never gave up its lead and won the turnover battle with seven to Eastland’s 12.

“We didn’t need to change us much,” Fields said, “but we wanted to key in on certain things.

Fields played at Farragut Academy and was an All American. The Chicago native with teammate Kevin Garnett fell short in the state semifinals. Now as a coach, Fields finished the job.

“These games can change in the blink of an eye,” he said. “To be able to get this win and bring it back to Hope means a lot.”

Eastland also raised the bar after getting to this point.

“It’s been an amazing journey with these guys and they’ve been amazing kids off the court,” said Zumdahl, a 2009 Eastland graduate. “They’ve represented the community to the highest level. They’ve been a dream to coach in terms of basketball, their effort and buy-in and commitment ever since the season ended last year. I couldn’t ask for any more out of these guys.”

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Eastland's Peyton Spears (left) and Chicago Hope Academy's Noah Jones go after a loose ball during their IHSA Class 1A state championship game Saturday, March 15, 2025, in the State Farm Center at the University of Illinois in Champaign. (Mark Busch)