CREVE COUER, Mo. – Tuesday was the third game of a five-game road trip for the Alton High School boys basketball team.
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The Redbirds went across the ‘Mighty Mississippi’ to take on the De Smet Jesuit Spartans. It was a back-and-forth game that was decided in the fourth quarter, as Alton fell 68-58 and dropped to 3-2 on the season.
It was De Smet’s home-opener as it improved to 2-0.
“I think this was a big game,” Alton head coach Dylan Dudley said. “I think people have been talking about this game more than any other non-conference game we’ve had in our four years here. But I’m proud of our kids' effort.”
Alton opened the game on an 8-3 run thanks to three-pointers from Semaj Stampley and Tysean Jones, as well as a basket from Ryan Howard.
From there, the Spartans answered with a 12-1 run to make it 14-9, but Alton closed the gap with two more triples, one from Jamarion Green and the other from Stampley, to close the gap to 16-15 after the first quarter.
Stampley opened the second quarter with a basket to regain the lead before the Spartans scored three straight in transition, forcing Alton into a quick timeout with 5:37 left in the half.
Out of the timeout, De Smet’s Braden Butler traded threes with Stampley before the Spartans went on a short 6-2 run, widening the lead to 31-22. They’d keep that nine-point lead at halftime, 35-26.
The contest that had five ties and seven lead changes was far from over.
Alton opened the second half on a 12-2 run, erasing the deficit and taking the lead at 38-37. De Smet grabbed that lead right back with straight baskets from Will Foulk and Nick Harper. Green tied the game at 41 apiece after a pull-up three-pointer and one free throw from Jones gave the Redbirds the lead again.
That proved to be their final lead. Alton trailed by a point after three, 46-45.
The Spartans outscored the Redbirds 22-13 in the final frame to get the win.
“We swung, and they swung. They just swung one more time than we did,” Dudley said. “We’ve just got to be tougher in those situations, mentally tough enough to do what we’re supposed to do all the time."
“Do I think we took a step in the right direction today? Sure, we did,” Dudley continued. “They just made a couple more plays than us, and they were tougher the last three or four minutes of the game.”
The Spartans got 17 points apiece from Butler, Foulk, and Harper. Jordan Boyd added nine.
Alton was led by Howard with 15 points and Stampley with 14. Jones scored seven, and O’Bryant Brown scored six.
The Redbirds have a few days to prepare for another grueling Southwestern Conference road game at Edwardsville on Friday, December 12, at 7:30 p.m.
The two teams split their regular-season meetings last season. They met again in a thrilling regional championship game that the Redbirds won 55-47.
The Tigers enter Friday’s game with a 4-2 record (1-1 SWC) and off the back of a come-from-behind, 46-41 win over Belleville West.
