NORMAL- The U-High Pioneers(4-0) used a big second half to pull away from the Bloomington Purple Raiders  by the final score of 59 to 45 to win the Intercity basketball title.

The Pioneers who trailed by 6 at halftime held Bloomington to 13 second half points to get the win in front of a big Shirk Center crowd. Keita Bates-Diop had a quiet first 3 quarters but ended up being U-High's leading scorer with 16 points. Bates-Diop the Ohio State recruit did most of his damage from the free throw line in the 4th quarter finishing 10 of 13 from the line.

U-High finished the game making 21 of 36 attempts but only 1 of 6 from outside the arch. The Pioneers did a much better job from the free throw line finishing 16 of 27 from the charity stripe. Head coach Bob Fitzgerald had 2 other players in double figures as Nich Schroeder had 11 points on 5 of 10 shooting while Kane Wildermuth added 10 points making 5 of 7 shots from the field.

Bloomington couldn't get the shots to fall in second half ending the game making only 19 of 50 shots from the field while going 3 of 8 on 3-pointers. Izayah Donnelly led the way for the Purple Raiders scoring 12 points making 5 of the 12 shots he took.

U-High starts the season undefeated and comes away with the intercity trophy while Bloomington returns to action on Monday night when it faces off against Normal Communtity.