METAMORA — Last March, Tyler Mason reached the proverbial high school basketball mountaintop.

The Metamora senior had just guided the Redbirds to the 2023 Class 3A state championship. A big-time celebration that night followed the overtime victory over Chicago Simeon with Mason making the most of the moment.

“I got no sleep at all,” the reigning Journal Star boys basketball player of the year said with a smile. “None.”

Now, Mason is nearly a year removed from that prep career-defining achievement and is on a mission to repeat that success. Although the "one-game-at-a-time" mentality is deeply rooted within the 6-foot-2 guard, he says the end of his junior season to now has been a whirlwind.

Mason led that historic 34-2 team in every statistical category, then a few months later made his college decision.

Metamora basketball: Every story from Metamora's run to the Class 3A basketball championship

“It’s been crazy 10 months,” he said, “but I won’t change it for the world. … Winning state was one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life. The memories will last forever.”

Wild would be a great way to describe fourth-ranked Metamora’s 72-69 win over previously unbeaten No. 5 Mt. Zion on Friday night. The game saw 12 lead changes and four ties in a matchup of two of the state’s top-5 3A teams.

Then, on Tuesday night, Metamora topped No. 8 Morton 67-48 to avenge its only Mid-Illini Conference loss of the season. Mason scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the final half of the marquee game. He shot 6-for-13 from the field and 9-of-11 from the charity stripe while grabbing five rebounds.

How Metamora beat Mount Zion

Metamora used a 7-0 run late in the fourth quarter to erase a one-point Mt. Zion lead for a 68-62 advantage. Out of a Braves timeout, Mason stole the inbounds, then made two free throws to all but seal the victory.

“Since we’ve been in those situations before,” said Mason, who finished with 16 points, “we practice them all the time, those situations being down, being up with a certain amount of time left.

“It all comes down to the gameplan and practice and us being able to pull it out in the end.”

But it was Cooper Koch who came up big during crunch time. He scored 15 of his team-high 24 points in the second half. The Iowa recruit, who went 9-for-13 from the field, went to work in the post, on the drive and from behind the 3-point line during the final 16 minutes.

“We went right to him,” Metamora coach Danny Grieves said. “We knew we had the mismatch. What a load. I’d hate to guard him for the whole game.”

Koch’s baseline floater came with a foul for an old-fashioned three-point play early in the final period.

“If I’m just sitting out on the perimeter,” the McDonald’s All-American nominee said, “teams can kind of scout for that and just keep me out there, but I don’t think they realize how much of an inside game I actually have.”

“(Mt. Zion) has a lot of guts coming down here … We knew we had to defend home court and that’s what we do.”

Early in the first quarter, Mason, Koch and Matthew Zobrist (18 points) turned a six-point deficit into a five-point lead in just 2:02. Zobrist converted on a drive with Mason scoring the next six points including a four-point play. Koch’s 3-pointer capped the run.

Tyler Mason grows into his roles

Over the last three seasons, Mason has seen his role go from being a defensive stopper as a sophomore to taking on a do-it-all role last season to transition over to being one of the primary ballhandlers.

“I’m more of a facilitator than I was last year,” he said, “but I still got to score for my teammates to help us win.”

Added Grieves, “He’s still a defender. He’s still more times than not, (guarding) the best, quickest guard on the other team.”

And that doesn’t mean Mason hasn’t stopped filling it up. He dropped a career-high 41 points against Limestone in December and last week hit 1,000 career points. After Metamora became the first downstate team to win the Jack Tosh Tournament, Mason was named tournament MVP, while averaging 19 points and 6.2 rebounds.

“He’s really a competitor,” Koch said. “Hates to lose. He’ll do whatever it takes. You see him taking it to the basket, trying to dunk on people. Not every point guard is trying to do that.”

A college commitment to Winona State in August settled Mason’s future at the Division-II program based in Winona, Minn. He’ll team with former Peoria Notre Dame standouts Connor and Decan Dillon, who will be seniors when Mason joins the team.

Washington grad and WSU alum Devin Whitelow is an assistant on the coaching staff.

“Going to Winona State, I’m sure it will be one of the best decisions of my life,” Mason said.

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: Metamora basketball star Tyler Mason thrives in new role for state champs