CHAMPAIGN—Every summer, all over the state, there are major transfers that change the high school basketball hopes and expectations of schools and towns.

It happened in Joliet, when Jeremy Fears Jr. transferred back home to Joliet West. In Chicago, Kenwood and Simeon added future college basketball players.

In Moline, it was the arrival of 6-10 Iowa recruit Owen Freeman that changed everything.

Freeman left Bradley-Bourbonnais and joined fellow Iowa recruit Brock Harding, his club basketball teammate, in Moline.

From then on, the state title was the goal.

The Maroons have a tortured history at the state tournament. Moline is a proud basketball town, but it has never won a title and had not appeared in a state championship game since 1951.

Until Saturday.

The Maroons shook off the disappointment of fourth place finishes in 1934, 1935, 1945, a third place finish in 1940 and that runner-up in 1951.

Harding started hot and stayed aggressive and Moline led most of the way to a win victory against Benet in the Class 4A state championship game at State Farm Center.

Benet basically played without leading scorer and rebounder Brady Kunka, who injured his ankle early in Friday’s semifinal win against Downers Grove North. He checked in briefly late in the game with the Redwings trailing by 20.

Benet has never won a state title, this is its third loss in the 4A championship game in the last decade, coming after second place finishes in 2014 and 2016.