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ALTON - Pick your poison.
Donovan Clay or Malik Smith will almost certainly cause problems for opposing defenses.
The Alton Redbirds dynamic duo was at it again against the Glenwood Titans on Friday night. They combined for 41 points as the Redbirds knocked off the Titans 53-40 in a non-conference at Alton High School.
“I love playing hard-nosed games. I just want to have fun and play hard,” Clay said. “My team was giving me open looks. The plays were working. They ran plays for me, and we executed.”
Alton improves to 6-4-1.
Clay finished with 24, and Smith added 17. Moory Woods chipped in eight points.
“Most nights they’re going to be two of the top players that are on the floor. That’s a nice luxury to have,” Alton head coach Eric Smith said. “Those two have been playing together for a long time, so they know how to play off each other. We’ve had nights where Malik may have 20 and Donovan has 12 and vice-versa. They do a nice job of understanding who’s doing well at that point in time.”
Glenwood falls to 6-3.
Junior guard Luke Lehnen, who is also an all-state quarterback had a team-high 17 points that included four triples. Bradyn Kilby added eight while Tyler Burris and Jason Hansbrough tallied six apiece.
The first half was the Malik Smith show.
He knocked down three shots from beyond the arc and got the basket finish with ease while adding in some jump shots. Smith and Alton’s solid defense helped give them an 18-point lead.
Down 23-5, Glenwood didn’t panic and caught fire.
Kilby started it off with an open layup, and then Lehnen knocked down two straight treys followed by a Hansbrough layup and Kilby three-pointer. Lehnen nailed another triple in the quarter after the Titans went on a 14-0 run to cut the deficit to 23-19.
“They’re going to put it on the floor and be pretty patient and get paint touches and have you rely on helping too much and shoot it. That’s how they play. ” Smith said of Glenwood’s offensive scheme. “The run was a little bit our fault. We took some bad shots on four straight trips, and they all led out to points. We left what we were doing that was successful, and it cost us a little bit.”
Alton was able to stop the bleeding and built their lead back up to eight at 30-22 going into halftime.
Then Donovan Clay stepped up to the plate.
The 6-foot-7 forward was nearly un-guardable at times with his long frame and Glenwood’s physical inability to get a hand in his face while shooting. Clay knocked down ten field goals, including three triples and scored 18 second-half points.
Still, Glenwood chipped into Alton’s lead during a back-and-forth third quarter and trailed 40-33 heading into the final frame. They would get the lead down to five at one point, but the Redbirds would let them get no further.
With time running out, Clay put the nail in the coffin in style with a two-handed dunk.
Steven Spencer also contributed to this story.
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