Kiyoko Proctor had 17 points for the Redbirds on Tuesday night in the Edwardsville Regional. (Photos by Dan Brannan)EDWARDSVILLE - The Alton freshman duo of Jarius Powers and Kiyoko Proctor led the way for the Redbirds as Powers hit for 21 points and Proctor added 17, with Alyssa Lewis chipping in 16 points as Alton won its first postseason game since 2014 with a 64-48 win over Quincy in the IHSA Class 4A girls basketball regional semifinals Tuesday night at Lucco-Jackson Gym in Edwardsville.

The Redbirds last postseason win was on Feb. 19, 2014 over Granite City 49-30 in the Granite regional, and in the win over the Blue Devils, Alton was able to hit on all cylinders in going on to the win.

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"It went well," said Alton head coach Deserea Howard. "I thought we shot well, we played defense well. We had a little time where we fell asleep in the second quarter, but we had a good talk at halftime and we came out and executed in the third quarter."

The Blue Devils were able to dictate the pace in the second quarter, but after the interval were able to return to the style of play that has been so successful this season for the Redbirds.

"In the second quarter, we let Quincy dictate what we wanted to do," Howard said, "and we got back to playing our style of basketball in the third."

Powers led the way for Alton with her 21 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Proctor added her 17 points with three rebounds three steals and six assists and Lewis had 16 points along with five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

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The Redbirds are now 20-6 for the season, the first time Alton has won 20 games in over 20 years, a great accomplishment considering the Redbirds went two weeks without a game when the COVID-19 virus swept through the team.

"We had to get our feet back from after COVID," Howard said. "We were out for 14 days, and we're back to feeling good. We got back to playing the way we want to, and the timing couldn't have been any better."

The Redbirds will face the host Tigers, a 73-42 winner over Pekin in the first semifinal, Thursday night at 7 p.m., and Howard is looking forward to the game.

"I think if we play our style of basketball and shoot well, we can do great things," Howard said. "We're happy we got our 20th win tonight and we're hoping for more."

The Blue Devils were eliminated with a 12-10 record.

Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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