Leo senior Michael Lewis' fantastic year: 'America's Got Talent' and the IHSA basketball state finals

CHAMPAIGN—Leo’s young basketball team held its own with heavily-favored East St. Louis for three quarters on Friday at State Farm Center, but the Flyers eventually pulled away for a 59-40 win in the Class 3A semifinals.

The Champaign experienced topped off an incredible senior year for Leo’s Michael Lewis, who is a member of the all-boys school’s famous choir.

Lewis traveled to California multiple times to perform on “America’s Got Talent.” The Leo choir finished fourth in the country in the televised competition. Then in January Lewis drained a 40-foot buzzer-beater game-winner to beat Yorkville Christian.

But Lewis said the trip to Champaign and the experience playing at State Farm Center beats it all.

“AGT was amazing but in all my four years of high school [basketball] I had never been anywhere past the regional finals, so this is an amazing experience for me,” Lewis said. “I will cherish this more than America’s Got Talent.”

Lewis played three minutes off the bench for the Lions (27-7). Junior Brian Kizer led Leo with 11 points. His feelings about the day are similar to Lewis’s.

“It is an absolutely wonderful feeling,” Kizer said. “I am very grateful for this moment. It didn’t turn out how we wanted to but I’m grateful.”

East St. Louis (32-4), led by 6-8 Penn State recruit Jamison White, has been the best team in Class 3A all season. White finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Alex Johnson added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Flyers.

A three-pointer by 6-8 freshman Elon Henderson pulled Leo within 37-31 at the end of the third quarter. East St. Louis ripped off a 14-2 run to open the fourth quarter and put the game away.

“Obviously it wasn’t the outcome we planned for,” Lions coach Jimalle Ridley said. “We really had our sights set on leaving here with the first-place trophy. The energy and effort they put into this is unbelievable. The improvements we’ve made just shows the character of these guys.”

Henderson had eight points and four rebounds in 13 minutes of play. He was 2-for-4 from three-point range.

“I trust everyone on the team to look for me and when they find me, I have to make my moment,” Henderson said.

“[Henderson’s] grade level is freshman but mentally he’s older,” Ridley said “He’s going to be one of the top players in the country one day. He’s about to have a heck of a summer. He’s playing for Bradley Beal Elite.”

Leo starts five juniors and has two freshmen and a junior in its rotation.

“We got fatigued,” Ridley said. We got tired with that big floor and battling with a guy like [White]. And our depth is not our greatest asset. But we are a very young team. I know we are going to be a pretty tough team to beat in the future.”