Photo by Bill Roseberry
Photo by Bill Roseberry
Photo by Bill Roseberry
BELLEVILLE — Entering Tuesday the Alton Redbirds and Belleville West Maroons had split a pair of regular season meetings with a total of 2 points separating the Southwestern Conference foes.
That precedence was sure to make Tuesday’s Class 4A Belleville East Regional quarterfinal contest a tight one. Unfortunately for the Birds it didn’t go their way. West bested Alton 40-36 to advance to the regional semifinals and slam the door on the Redbirds’ season.
Alton closed the 2017-18 campaign with a 9-17 record. The Maroons now advance to face Edwardsville — the top seed in the regional and No. 1 team in the state — at 6 p.m. Wednesday at East in the regional semifinal.
AHS charged out of the gates on Tuesday, racing to a 10-2 lead to start the game. Sophomore Ivoree Lacey netted the first 6 points for the Birds, followed by jumpers from Laila McNeal and Diarra Smith. They led 10-2 at the 3:54 mark of the first quarter.
Alton took a blow at the 2:51 mark of the opening frame though when Lacey picked up her second foul and went to the bench. West scored the next 4 points of the stanza and cut the AHS lead to 10-6 at quarter’s end. Lacey didn’t return until the second half.
McNeal opened the second quarter with a pair of jump shots to expand the Alton lead to 14-6 at the 6:04 mark, but that’s when the Maroons got marching. West turned up its press on defense and got the offense flowing, motoring on a 13-0 run to close out the half.
The scoring spree lasted nearly the final 5 minutes of the second quarter and allowed the Maroons to carry a 19-14 advantage into the break. Brittany Walker’s 3-pointer with 23 seconds to go in the half was the exclamation point of the run.
That series turned out to be the difference in the game because the Birds returned from the break playing better. Unfortunately they were never able to regain a lead.
Jayla Fox and Rayn Tally scored to open the third quarter to dwindle West’s lead to 19-18 at the 7:08 mark. McNeal added a field goal a little later to keep Alton within 21-20 at the 6:27 mark, but a 6-0 spurt by the Maroons extended it to 27-20 with 3:48 left in the third.
When AHS’ A’llurah Bowens scored with 11.3 seconds remaining in the frame, it was back to a one possession game at 29-26, but West’s TyKiaza Jones answered by racing down the court and drawing a foul. She hit the backend of 2 free throws to push the Maroons’ lead to 30-26 entering the final frame.
Shaniah Nunn netted the first basket of the fourth quarter to grow West’s lead to 32-26. The 6-foot-1 Nunn gave the Redbirds fits, especially in the second half when she scored 12 of her game-high 16 points. She also had 13 rebounds.
Alton made a push late, scoring 5 straight points in the final minute to get it back to a one possession game with 14.3 seconds left at 39-36. Fox hit a free throw and McNeal and Bowens added baskets, but it wa little too late.
The Redbirds allowed too many seconds to tick off the clock before fouling on the inbounds play and West’s Mikayla Chapman hit the front end of her 2 free throws to produce the final score.
The loss ran Alton’s streak to 4 consecutive seasons without a postseason victory. The last AHS playoff win was a 49-30 win over Granite City on Feb. 19, 2014.
The Redbirds were led by McNeal with 11 points and Lacey with 10 on Tuesday. Other scorers for the Birds were, Tally and Bowens with 4 each, Fox with 3 and Smith and Deija Carter with 2 apiece. Alton now says goodbye to Smith and Denise Swain, who were the only 2 seniors on the young roster.
Nunn was the only double-digit scorer for the Maroons. Chapman was second on the team with 8 points in the win.
The other quarterfinal game on Tuesday saw Collinsville defeat Granite City 73-15. The Kahoks meet Belleville East at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday following the conclusion of the game between Edwardsville and West.