CENTRALIA — Alton Redbirds boys basketball coach Dylan Dudley knew his team faced a difficult challenge against the host Centralia Orphans on their home floor at the 83rd Centralia Holiday Tournament, and the Orphans proved why.
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Centralia used its physicality and defensive pressure to pull away early and handed Alton a 64-43 loss.
The Orphans jumped out to a fast start in the first quarter, building a 19-6 lead by pushing the tempo and forcing the Redbirds into uncomfortable situations. Centralia continued to control the pace in the second quarter and took a 31-20 advantage into halftime.
“Centralia is a physical team,” Dudley said. “They get a lot of notoriety for their offense — it’s crisp — but defensively, I think they’re even better. We got a little panicked, and the physicality we didn’t handle very well.”
Any hopes of a second-half comeback were quickly erased. Centralia dominated the third quarter, outscoring Alton 20-10 to extend its lead to 51-30. Both teams scored 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Orphans comfortably closed out the win.
“This is a tough environment and there are great teams at this tournament,” Dudley said. “There’s no time to hang your head. We’ll have to respond and play better tonight against Evanston.”
Alton was led by Ryan Howard with 18 points, while O’Bryant Brown added 10.
Centralia received a strong performance from Archie Goewey, who finished with 24 points. Jaxson Hancock scored 12 points, and Kenny Bratton chipped in 10.
Alton will now face Evanston tonight in the third-place game. A win would mark the Redbirds’ best finish at the Centralia Holiday Tournament since 2018, when they placed second. Alton finished fifth a year ago.
