COLLINSVILLE – Edwardsville senior guard A.J. Robertson scored 11 points on Friday evening in the Tigers’ 57-49 loss to East St. Louis in the fifth and sixth place semifinals of the 35th Prairie Farms Collinsville Holiday Classic at Vergil Fletcher Gym. The Tigers led at halftime 30-20, but the Flyers, led by Jashawn Anderson’s 20 points, took control in the second half to go on to the win.
The Tigers executed their game plan and played well defensively, and some of the shots Edwardsville had hit in the first half didn’t drop in the second.
“Yeah, I think we did a lot of things good, though, despite East Side coming out with it,” Robertson said in a postgame interview. “I think we did a lot of things good defensively, and I think that was what kept us in the game, was our defense. And the new way we’re playing, it’s showing other teams that we can hang with them. And I think it’s a good thing for us. I think we’re going to keep trying to win every game we play.”
The Tigers revamped their offensive style to find open shots quicker and more aggressively, and it’s already paying dividends for the team.
“It is paying dividends,” Robertson said of the new offensive look. “We’ve been practicing that every since winter break started, we’ve been practicing, practicing, practicing. That right there, I think, is what I think helped us come close to winning this game right here.”
Still, it was a very nice bounce back for the Tigers, who lost to Springfield Southeast in the quarterfinals earlier in the morning 85-36.
And as the calendar gets ready to change over to 2019, Robertson has some simple goals and hopes for the Tigers in the new year.
“Hoping for good practices, and a lot of wins,” Robertson said, “that’s what we’re going for.”
