EAST ST. LOUIS – Tensions ran high Friday night on the campus of East St. Louis High School as the Flyers hosted the Alton Redbirds in a pivotal Southwestern Conference matchup.
East Side got off to a quick start, but Alton climbed out of the hole and came back to win convincingly 69-50. A much more lopsided game than the first time the two played in Alton back on Dec. 10. The Redbirds narrowly won that contest 52-49.
So, heading on the road, and into arguably the most intimidating gym in the SWC, the Redbirds knew they were in for it.
And they got punched early on.
The Flyers opened the game on a 9-2 run with two baskets from Alex Johnson, a three-pointer from Devrice Johnson Jr., and another basket from Tyrik Barnes. Alton’s only score came from Semaj Stampley.
Alton came back to tie it at nine after a basket from Jamarion Green and a three from Stampley, but the Flyers led 15-12 after the first quarter.
“Yeah, I knew they’d come out aggressive and full of energy,” Alton head coach Dylan Dudley said on the Flyers. “That’s kind of their mantra for every game you watch. They’ve got a good crowd, a good environment; it’s hard to win a game down here.”
“But I thought our guys did a really good job of taking the first punch,” he continued. “We talk about it all the time, you’ve got to punch first, but if you get punched, you have to get up and get back to the middle of the ring and I thought our guys did a good job of staying in there.”
Arlandis Brown, who in a rare instance came off the bench Friday night, opened the second quarter with a three to make it 18-12. Green and Johnson traded baskets to make it 20-14.
From there, Alton closed the first half on a 17-2 run. Stampley was responsible for 13 of those points.
He sparked the run with back-to-back baskets followed by a basket from Green to tie the game at 20. Stampley scored again to take the lead followed by Ryan Howard’s basket and two free throws from Stampley to make it 26-20 Alton.
Montreal Slacker scored in transition for East Side before another basket from Stampley and a three-point play to close out the half and give Alton a 31-22 lead.
“That was the game,” Dudley said. “I thought that was the difference. I think they only scored seven points in the second quarter, so we settled in defensively and understood what we had to do. And then the basket kind of opened up a little bit. We understood that if you make three or four passes against these guys, you’re going to get a layup or a kick-out three. It’s just how they play.”
The Flyers only got within six points at 39-33 for the rest of the game. Alton led 49-34 after three quarters.
Before much basketball was even played in the fourth, an altercation in the stands disrupted the action on the court. After some sort of fight, multiple fans came onto the court causing the game to be delayed.
All of this chaos, happening quite close to the Alton bench, prompted Dudley to send his team to the locker room while it all got sorted out to ensure his players didn’t get mixed up in the mess.
After about 10 minutes and multiple people escorted out of the building, play resumed.
A disruption like that oftentimes does affect the action on the court, but it didn’t seem to bother Alton.
“I credit JaQauil (Townser), I credit (John) Stean-o, and I credit Monte (Lowe). I stood out here,” Dudley said about the altercation. “But I just told them in there, that’s what makes us the most proud is just how they handle situations. They went in there; we gave them their space.”
“That could have been a momentum killer,” Dudley added. “Fortunately for us, it wasn’t. It was more a momentum killer for them.”
That and the foul trouble the Flyers found themselves in. Alton capitalized and went 10-for-12 from the foul line down the stretch to ensure the win.
The Redbirds improved to 17-5 on the season and, more importantly, 6-2 in the SWC. East Side fell to 11-14 and 3-4 in the conference.
The conference at the moment is a bit of a two-horse race between the Redbirds and Edwardsville. The two split their conference meetings and Alton’s other SWC loss was a stinging overtime loss to Collinsville.
The Tigers control their destiny in the conference with a 6-1 record. Win out, and it’s theirs. But of course, that’s a whole lot easier said than done.
In two other SWC matchups Friday night, the Tigers beat O’Fallon 71-44 and Collinsville beat Belleville West 58-55.
Darrin Lee, head coach of the Kahoks, believes that a 9-3 team in the conference has a shot at winning it. He said that after Collinsville’s OT win at Alton on Jan. 14.
Lee could be correct, but the 10-2 mark seems to be the number.
The Tigers still have five SWC games remaining – home and away against Collinsville, home against Belleville East and West, and on the road at East St. Louis, not in that order.
The Redbirds have four remaining conference games – on the road at O’Fallon, home against Belleville East and West, and on the road at Collinsville to close the regular season.
The conference could very well be decided on the final day of the regular season, which is just around the corner on Feb. 21.
“I think the biggest thing is, can you give yourself a chance the last two weeks of the season,” Dudley asked. “Can you put yourself in a position to have a chance to win it? Whatever that [number] is. But I’d almost go one step further and say, anytime you win in this league, just take it and move on, right?”
