BELLEVILLE – On a cold Tuesday night inside Belleville West High School, the Maroons hosted the Alton Redbirds as the two teams tried to shake off the rust from the New Year holiday and a 10-day break.
Both teams hadn’t played since Saturday, Dec. 28, the final day of the 81st Annual Centralia Holiday Tournament, one in which the Redbirds took fifth place.
West and Alton met in a Southwestern Conference showdown in front of a smaller-than-usual crowd due to the six-to-eight inches of snow on the ground, and after a slow start, the Redbirds rallied to win 57-48.
“It looked like both teams hadn’t played for 10 days, and it also looked like we hadn’t practiced the two days prior to this game,” Alton head coach Dylan Dudley said. “Everyone in the league had to go through the same thing. [Belleville West] had to go through the same thing, the other teams had to go through the same thing. That’s why practice is important. It’s no one’s fault, it is what it is, the weather, but this game should have been played tomorrow in my opinion.”
This was one of three SWC games scheduled for Tuesday night. O’Fallon hosted Belleville East, and Edwardsville hosted East St. Louis. Both of those games went on as scheduled.
“It’s up to the administration,” Dudley said. “They had to make the best call, which is fine. There’s no good way to do it. It’s hard for us, it’s hard for them.”
He agreed that getting the game in is better than trying to reschedule. So the game went on, but Alton showed up a bit late.
After a nearly three-minute scoring drought to start the game, West took off on a 9-2 run, forcing Alton into a timeout with just under two minutes left in the first quarter. Out of the timeout, the deficit remained the same. West led 14-7 after one quarter of play.
The Redbirds woke up for the second quarter and opened on a seven-point run to tie the game up. Semaj Stampley started with a couple of free throws, Kobe Taylor scored a basket, and then Stampley struck again with a triple. That all forced the Maroons into a timeout with 5:24 remaining in the first half.
Another basket from Stampley out of the timeout took the lead for Alton. Hassani Elliot’s score increased the lead to 18-14. From there the Redbirds never trailed again, leading 25-18 at halftime and 38-31 after three quarters.
Dudley was happy his team got the result but knew his team had the wrong mindset coming in.
“The effort is one thing, but our mentality was not good,” he said. “We thought we were just going to show up because ‘we think we’re good and we don’t think they’re very good,’ and that’s not okay. Like I told them at halftime, the basketball gods are not going to reward you for doing stuff half-heartedly with no effort. You do things right the whole time to get rewarded.”
“I’m glad we won a game,” Dudley said. “It’s always hard on the road. But we’ve got to be way better.”
Stampley and Taylor combined for 40 points. Stampley led all scorers with 26 and Taylor had 14.
“They’re just special dudes. They’re all-league guys,” Dudley said of the pair. “They’re two of the five best players in this league, just like any team, we count on them. We’re thankful they’re on our team.”
Elliot added seven points for Alton. Ryan Howard had four, Trai’Sean Smith had three, Ka’Nye Lacey had two, and Alex Macias had one.
For West, Nicholas Hankins Jr. led with 14 points and Julias Edwards Jr. had 11. The Maroons fall to 8-5 on the season and 2-2 in the SWC.
Meanwhile, Alton improves to 14-2 and 5-0 in the SWC. The Redbirds beat Edwardsville, East St. Louis, and O’Fallon in Alton. They then won on the road at Belleville East and now Belleville West.
“Road games are hard, especially in this league,” Dudley said. “We’re grateful for every win. But we’ll keep things in perspective. We’ll continue to get better.”
Looking around the league, Edwardsville beat East St. Louis 53-45 Tuesday night to improve to 13-1 on the season and 3-1 in the conference. Alton’s anticipated rematch against the Tigers will be on Friday, Jan. 17 in Edwardsville.
Dudley continued on the long time off between games.
“Ten days off is a blessing and a curse,” he said. “I think we had some fresh legs, but we were also out of shape cardiovascular-wise. So, tomorrow, whether we have school or not, it will be an important day for us to have a good, hard practice and get ready for another tough opponent on Friday.”
That tough opponent will be Althoff Catholic. The Crusaders head into that game with a 13-3 record and ranked No. 3 in IHSA Class 2A in the latest Max Preps rankings. They’re ranked 21st in the state.
Meanwhile, Alton is ranked No. 8 in Class 4A and 10th in the state.
The Redbirds haven’t played a home game since Dec. 13, a 47-41 win over O’Fallon. Dudley’s ready to be back home.
“Ready to see Redbird Nation,” he said. “Our fans, our boys are ready. We’re looking forward to being back at home Friday for sure.”
