METAMORA — Things just got awfully crowded atop the Mid-Illini Conference standings.

No. 4 Metamora avenged its lone boys basketball league loss, beating eighth-ranked Morton, 67-48 on Tuesday in front of a sellout crowd at Toepke Gymnasium. These teams now each have a single Mid-Illini defeat with the Potters (20-3, 8-1) holding a half-game advantage over the reigning Class 3A state champs (19-4, 7-1).

“Obviously, we had this date circled on our calendar,” said Metamora senior Luke Hopp, whose team lost to Morton, 51-44, on Dec. 8, “Coming off that loss at their place ... we knew we had to have a big game tonight.”

Now, the conference race really heats up.

Tyler Mason: Metamora's reigning basketball player of the year has a new role. He's thriving in it

Morton ends its M-I slate by hosting Pekin and Dunlap and visiting Limestone, East Peoria and Washington. Conversely, the Redbirds hit the road for Washington, Pekin and Dunlap, but get Canton, East Peoria and Limestone at home.

“Here’s the way I look at it,” Metamora coach Danny Grieves said. “We’ve had so many games that we had to put everything on the line and get better each game or we would have gotten embarrassed. Here again, I give all the credit to our kids and our schedule.”

Hopp helped Metamora, which was playing its third game in five days, extend a four-point halftime lead to eight in just the first 49 seconds of the second half. His layup and rebound putback on consecutive possessions gave the Redbirds a nice cushion.

But the 6-foot-8 forward was far from finished.

Thanks to Morton’s eight-point run — off 3-pointers by Gus Rugaard and Wes Gudeman as well as a steal and lay-in by — the Potters ended the third quarter trailing 40-36. That’s when Hopp got back into the offense.

His steal and coast-to-coast bucket were sandwiched between a pair of Tyler Mason free throws and Cooper Koch converting on a post move.

“I knew I just had to turn it on,” said Hopp, who put a bow on his 12-point, five-rebound effort with an alley-oop from Mason to cap an 8-0 stretch to open the final stanza. “I needed to do a better job crashing the boards, so I made that my goal and brought a lot of energy.

“… I’ve been in this system for so long and my teammates did a great job getting me the ball and the shots went in.”

Metamora won its 16th out of its last 17 games by getting off to a quick start offensively. The Redbirds hit their first five shots, getting four starters — Matthew Zobrist, Nick Walker, Mason and Koch — in on the action to jump ahead 11-3.

“They’re playing at a high level,” Morton coach Abe Zeller said of Metamora, “and they hit a lot of big, good shots and we did not. Credit to them for playing really well and deserving of a big win.

“… They were ready to roll. They were the better team tonight, for sure.”

Defense and depth: New coach quickly molds Morton into elite basketball program

Wes Gudeman scored a team-high 14 points to go with seven rebounds. Gus Rugaard shook off an injury to hand early in the game to add 10 and five boards. Evan Barlow scored nine for the Potters, who shot 38.6 percent (17-for-44) from the field.

Mason tallied 14 of his game-high 23 points in the final half. He hit 3s, made layups and knocked down 7-of-8 free throws across the last 16 minutes.

The 6-foot-2 senior shot 6-for-13 from the field and 9-of-11 from the charity stripe, while grabbing five rebounds.

“When it’s coming down the stretch,” Mason said, “we always execute on our plays, especially when it’s later in the season. We have more chemistry, and we just know what to do in that situation.”

Koch grabbed nine of Metamora’s 29 rebounds and scored 21 points off, making 8 of 11 free throws. The 6-foot-8 Iowa recruit provided a big presence in the post with three blocks.

His eight fourth-quarter points were a part of 27-point final frame for the Redbirds.

“For us to be able to pull ahead in the fourth (quarter),” Koch said, “and end up winning by (almost) 20, it just shows how much we’ve grown as a team and how we’re more prepared for those stages of the game.”

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA basketball: Metamora and Morton take Mid-Illini race down to wire