COLLINSVILLE – Ray’Sean Taylor led the way with 25 points, and Marshall Harrison added 14 and Keydrian Jones had 12 as Collinsville defeated Alton 75-61 Friday night at Vergil Fletcher Gym.
A Harrison three at the third quarter buzzer sparked a 9-2 run into the first part of the fourth quarter that ultimately decided the game as the Kahoks won for the first time over the Redbirds in 14 games.
Collinsville also was able to dominate the boards, a key part of the game that helped spell the difference.
“We couldn’t find a way to maybe be tough enough to get a rebound,” said Alton coach Eric Smith. “I thought that was the biggest thing. They kind of just bullied us in the paint tonight.”
The Redbirds did what they wanted to do on the defensive side, but couldn’t finish off the defensive possession by getting the rebound, and also tried to do too much offensively.
“I think defensively, we got kind of what we wanted out of them,” Smith said. “We got exactly what we were talking about all week long in our plan of what we wanted, but we just couldn’t finish out a possession by getting a rebound. Offensively, I think it was the fact it was probably a big game, our kids, they just tried to do way too much getting a certain play together.”
The Redbirds also had 17 turnovers, which Smith thought was an indication that his team tried to do too much.
“Yeah, I think that’s them trying to do too much,” Smith said. “They tried to drive through three guys instead of doing kind of what we have survived on most of the year.”
Smith also thought that the Harrison three at the third quarter buzzer was part of the flow of the game.
“We made a run to get right back,” Smith said. “Ebb and flow of the game, it’s no different than a three that Ray’Sean made in the first half. I mean, it is what it is.”
Both teams had some misses on contested shots from close in, which also came back to haunt the Redbirds.
“I mean, that’s kind of what, with the rebounding,” Smith said. “We talked to our kids. I mean, if you’re going go in, and you expect contact, you’ve got to play on two feet. We tried to be a little bit too fancy tonight.”
The Kahoks win over the Redbirds was the first since 2013. Kahok coach Darin Lee felt the three by Harrison at the third quarter buzzer definitely was the game’s biggest play.
“Definitely,” Lee said. “Big shot by Marshall, big pass by Ray. Big bucket and we kind of went from there and got some big buckets to start the fourth quarter.”
It was a very entertaining game where neither team gave up and played hard all the way through.
“Two good teams. Two very good teams,” Lee said. “And they’re a good team, they’re really good.”
Lee felt his team played a very good game and defended well against the Redbirds’ top player, Donovan Clay, who led Alton with 17 points.
“I thought it was very good,” Lee said. “We did a lot of things, we’ve been awfully good at home. I felt we got some buckets out of bigs; they’re important. Our bigs went to work in there, (Aaron) Molten and (Keydrian Jones). Marshall had a big game for us, he did a pretty nice job trying to guard Clay, who’s an excellent player. And Malik Smith’s a really good player. So we did a really good job defending on those guys.”
After an exchange of baskets to open the game, Taylor hit a three and Molton hit inside to give Collinsville an early 7-2 lead. It stayed to within four to five until a three from Andrew Jones cut the Kahok lead to 12-10, but a Jones basket and another three from Taylor restored a 17-10 lead. A Moory Woods half-court shot at the buzzer hit off the rim, leaving the score 19-14 Kahoks after one.
At the start of the second, baskets from Cawhan Smith and Taylor extended the Collinsville lead to 23-14, then the teams exchanged baskets before a three from Josh Rivers and a three-point play from Clay cut the lead down to 25-22. Near the end of the period, a Smith basket made the halftime score 30-26 for Collinsville.
Taylor sank a three to start the second half, and after an exchange of baskets, a Lorent Dzeladini basket off a rebound made the score 37-29. Undaunted, the Redbirds came right back, getting baskets from Smith and Clay, and Rivers hit on a three to cut the Kahok lead to 37-36. Taylor scored on a lay-up, Clay got a breakaway dunk and hit a pair of free throws to give the Redbirds the lead for the first time at 40-39. Baskets from Smith and Harrison gave the Kahoks the lead back at 43-40, but a three from Rivers tied the game before Harrison hit the three at the buzzer that made it 46-43 after the third.
Harrison and Clay exchanged baskets to start the fourth quarter, but then Harrison scored, Zane Baker hit a three from the baseline, and Smith hit a floater to give the Kahoks a 55-45 lead. Woods connected on a three to make it 55-48, but Collinsville started connecting from the free throw line, hitting on six straight to extend its lead, ending up in the 75-61 win for the Kahoks.
In addition to Clay’s 17 points, Rivers chipped in with 15 points and Jones scored 14 for the Redbirds.
The Redbirds are now 17-9 on the year, and the loss ended an Alton 13-game winning streak against Collinsville.
“Yeah, I mean maybe this way, people won’t say too much about it, about how hard it is to beat a team three times in succession,” Smith said with a smile and laugh. “So, I mean, it is what it is. Their kids played pretty well tonight, and they got some nice contributions from some guys. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board.”
The Kahoks improved to 24-3, and Lee likes his team’s chances with the postseason coming in two weeks.
“We think we’ve got a shot,” Lee said. “We like our chances, and we’ve led everyone in the fourth quarter.”
Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.
