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"path": "/high-school-basketball/2026/03/13/marist-basketball-ihsa-state-finals-york",
"publishedAt": "2026-03-14T00:51:02.886Z",
"site": "https://chicago.suntimes.com",
"textContent": "<p>CHAMPAIGN—Marist is built to run. Charles Barnes, Stephen Brown and Kendall Meyers are long and athletic. TJ Tate and Adoni Vassilakis are speedy ballhandlers who make quick decisions.</p><p>York wanted to stop all that on <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/high-school-basketball/scores/2026/03/09/ihsa-boys-basketball-state-finals-scores-illinois\" >Friday</a> in the Class 4A semifinals at State Farm Center. The Dukes are the Cinderella team at the IHSA state finals. They used strength and size and a punishing zone defense as their weapon to pull off several upsets the past few weeks.</p><p>The RedHawks didn’t let that happen, overwhelming York in the first quarter on the way to a 55-38 victory. Marist will face conference foe Benet in the 4A state championship game on Saturday.</p><p>Myers had five steals and played a large part in the first quarter when the RedHawks forced York into nine turnovers. The Dukes had 17 turnovers in the game.</p><p>“They exploited our weaknesses,” York coach Mike Dunn said. “We sometimes struggle with some pressure and turned the ball over in the first quarter and just never recovered from that.”</p><p>The game was even after the first quarter, but the damage was done.</p><p>“That was our game plan,” Marist coach Brian Hynes said. “They were bigger than us, but we had better athletes to get up and pressure them.”</p><p>Meyers led the RedHawks (32-5) with 15 points and Barnes scored 14.</p><div class=\"Enhancement\" data-align-center> <div class=\"Enhancement-item\" data-crop=\"\"> <figure class=\"Figure\"><a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"image-340000\" name=\"image-340000\"></a> <picture data-crop=\"medium\"> <source type=\"image/webp\" width=\"490\" height=\"275\" data-srcset=\"https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/56f62dd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3220x1807+0+0/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F59%2F64%2F135cc34540a49ddc6948f41bf7d6%2Fob-cst-031426-105.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/97d1ada/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3220x1807+0+0/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F59%2F64%2F135cc34540a49ddc6948f41bf7d6%2Fob-cst-031426-105.jpg 2x\" data-lazy-load=\"true\" srcset=\"data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=\" /> <source width=\"490\" height=\"275\" data-srcset=\"https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0fee3cb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3220x1807+0+0/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F59%2F64%2F135cc34540a49ddc6948f41bf7d6%2Fob-cst-031426-105.jpg\" data-lazy-load=\"true\" srcset=\"data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=\" /> <img class=\"Image\" alt=\"Marist's Adoni Vassilakis (0) celebrates with Kendall Meyers (20) during the 4A semifinal game against York at State Farm Center.\" srcset=\"https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0fee3cb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3220x1807+0+0/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F59%2F64%2F135cc34540a49ddc6948f41bf7d6%2Fob-cst-031426-105.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/68c7738/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3220x1807+0+0/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F59%2F64%2F135cc34540a49ddc6948f41bf7d6%2Fob-cst-031426-105.jpg 2x\" width=\"490\" height=\"275\" data-src=\"https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0fee3cb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3220x1807+0+0/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F59%2F64%2F135cc34540a49ddc6948f41bf7d6%2Fob-cst-031426-105.jpg\" data-lazy-load=\"true\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=\" > </picture> <div class=\"Figure-content\"><figcaption class=\"Figure-caption\"><p>Marist’s Adoni Vassilakis (0) celebrates with Kendall Meyers (20) during the 4A semifinal game against York at State Farm Center.</p></figcaption><span class=\"line\"></span><div class=\"Figure-credit\"><p>Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>“Before the season started [Myers] had Division I [scholarship] offers and I had to tell him he would be the sixth man,” Hynes said. “It is that type of character that showed on the court tonight. Relentless effort and being a family.”</p><p>Marist assisted on 12 of its 21 field goals and had 13 steals. The larger college court seems tailor-made for the RedHawks.</p><p>“It definitely helped us deal with their zone, to space them out,” Barnes said. “They are bigger but a little slower than us.”</p><p>Hunter Stepanich led York (32-5) with 10 points and seven rebounds. The Princeton football recruit had a phenomenal high school career. He also played in a state football and a state volleyball championship game.</p><p>“I’m so proud of these guys,” Dunn said. To get to where we are at at 32-5 with no expectations at the beginning of the season. They just kept getting better and better.</p><p>“Obviously I’m disappointed by the outcome and the performance. But it doesn’t take away from what these kids have done.”</p><p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/high-school-basketball/2026/02/17/benet-basketball-marist\" >Marist lost to Benet 77-68</a> in Chicago on Feb. 17. This is the first trip to state for the RedHawks and will be their first title game appearance.</p><p>“I don’t think it has really hit me,” Hynes said. “The last couple of weeks have been unbelievable. I see these kids every day so I am not surprised. It is great for Marist, great for our community. There has been a lot of talk that [the Benet vs. DePaul Prep semifinal] is the state championship. That got us pretty fired up.”</p>",
"title": "Marist speeds past York into the 4A state championship game",
"updatedAt": "2026-03-14T01:59:51.385Z"
}