ALTON – Alton High School boys basketball head coach Dylan Dudley would go to bat and say that his Redbirds play one of the toughest, not just non-conference, but all-around schedules in the state.
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“It’s brutal. It’s by far the hardest,” Dudley said.
“I would probably venture to say that at the end of the season; it’s probably going to be the top two or three hardest [schedules] in the state of Illinois in our class. And sometimes you look at it, and you’re like, ‘Man, I wish it were easier.’ But this program is built on trying to be the best in February.”
He said all of this after a 68-58 loss at De Smet Jesuit, a traditional St. Louis powerhouse in most sports, back on Tuesday, December 9.
“If you handle it the right way, and we can figure out some ways to come out on top in some of these tough games, it can just do a lot for our kids' confidence,” Dudley said.
Looking at Alton’s non-conference schedule, it has several neutral-site games, taking part in a variety of shootouts all across the state. Most of those games are on Saturdays off the back of a huge Friday night Southwestern Conference games.
The Redbirds are scheduled to do that five times this season.
One of those back-to-backs is already in the books. Alton went to Collinsville and won on Friday, December 5, before hitting the road to Mount Vernon the next day, losing 64-49.
The Redbirds just won a road game at Edwardsville last Friday, 73-44. They were scheduled to travel to Sullivan, Ill., to take on Decatur Eisenhower the next day, but that shootout was cancelled due to the weather.
Alton will later host Collinsville on Friday, January 16, and then turn around and play Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School (MICDS) the next day.
The Redbirds do that twice more in February, hosting Edwardsville on Friday, February 6, and then taking part in the Bank of O’Fallon Shootout on Saturday. The following week, Alton hosts East St. Louis on Friday and then takes on Normal Community at Teutopolis the following day.
It's a tough ask.
But does Dudley like it?
“Yes and no. I like it for our kids. And our kids like it,” he said.
And that’s all that really matters.
“I think our program is very respectable; people appreciate the way we do things here,” Dudley said. “I think they want us to be a part of those events. I think we put a good product on the floor. That’s a credit to our kids.”
“Do I wish we could just play Tuesdays and Fridays, and get some time off? Sure, I do. But we owe it to our kids, and we owe it to our program to play in those games,” Dudley said.
Other non-conference opponents include Althoff, Sumner, Sacred Heart-Griffin, Metro-East Lutheran, and another neutral site game against Rock Island at Illinois College.
Alton also takes part in the Centralia Holiday Tournament, where it's set to play Chicago Julian in the opening round on Monday, December 29.
The Redbirds won 11 of their last 13 games last season, finishing an applaudable 26-7 with a regional championship, the program’s first since 2019.
Alton graduated 12 seniors, four of whom were starters. The program owes it to those guys to take part in these shootouts.
“They have damn sure earned their right to be in those gyms,” Dudley said. “They’ve earned their right to play in big games, in big environments, in big events. And I’m thankful for that. I hope our fans, our school, our community can appreciate the opportunities our kids are given.”
