Alton Battles But Falls Short To National Power Incarnate Word

UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. – The date had been circled on every Redbird player, coach, and fan’s calendar, and when it finally came around, it delivered.

Alton headed across the state line to University City High School to take on national power Incarnate Word Academy, part of the Southern Illinois Classic Shootout Series.

The Redbirds gave the Red Knights everything they could handle, but costly turnovers from Alton throughout the second quarter saw them dig themselves into a hole they couldn’t get out of.

Alton lost 60-48, snapping a 24-game win streak and falling to 24-2 on the season.

Speaking of win streaks, Incarnate Word had one of their own recently snapped. The Red Knights own the longest win streak in the country when they won 141 games in a row over the course of five and a half seasons.

The record to beat was 138 games set by Central Plains (Claflin, Kansas) from 2015-2020.

But it all came to an end when Incarnate fell to another national power, Etiwanda (Calif.) on Jan. 20 in Springfield, Massachusetts by a score of 74-65. It was a game broadcasted on national television on ESPNU, part of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Hoophall Classic.

The Red Knights fell again five days later in Louisville, Kentucky.

And at points against Alton, it seemed they could lose again.

The teams opened the game going blow for blow in a first half that saw seven ties and three lead changes.

Peyton Hill scored first for Incarnate followed by a basket from Kaylea Lacey. The Red Knights made it 4-2 before an eight-point run from the Redbirds.

Talia Norman kicked it off followed by back-to-back baskets from Jarius Powers and another from Lacey to take a 10-4 lead. That run was halted by a three-pointer from Hill.

Norman put another basket down before a nine-point run from Incarnate.

Sophia Otten sank two free throws, Hill had a basket, Addi Own drilled a three, and Naveah Caffey ended the run with a basket to make it 16-12 Red Knights.

Kiyoko Proctor and Norman went back-to-back to tie the game at 16 after the first quarter.

The teams continued to go punch for punch in the second quarter, getting the game tied up at 24. But from there, Incarnate closed the half on an 11-0 run to get ahead 35-24 at halftime.

Alton’s head coach Deserea Howard said her team felt rushed in the first half, especially down the stretch.

“We knew the game was going to be about possessions,” Howard said. “In the first half, we weren’t taking smart shots. We were rushing, we were trying to get it all done in the first second instead of playing through our offense. We allowed them to rush us. We all had to settle in and kind of play that way.”

Alton showed spurts of attack in the third quarter, particularly a five-point run all from Powers to cut the deficit to 40-33. Proctor nearly put down a buzzer-beater three that would have made it a one-possession game heading into the fourth, but instead, the shot went in and out to keep the game at 42-36 Incarnate Word.

The Redbirds got within four after Lacey and Proctor drilled back-to-back threes to make it 49-44, but the Red Knights’ defense was persistent.

A five-point run proved to seal the deal late in the fourth when Peyton Olufson nailed a triple and Caffey made a basket and a single free throw to make it 58-46.

“I think they sped us up,” Howard said. “We’ve been doing a good job of staying composed and staying calm. Tonight I think we fed into it a little too much. When we were trying to come back, they just kept punching.”

But the game really came down to the 11-point run to close out the first half.

“The girls should feel like they can play with anybody and that every possession matters, and that’s what we’ve been talking about,” Howard said. “Tonight, we lost some big possessions in the second quarter that we found ourselves trying to fight out of for the rest of the game.”

“There were some times when we pulled it close where I thought we could close it. Those are all good things to see in the second half. The second quarter is one, we’ll go back and watch it,” she continued.

The loss for Alton comes around a similar time to last season. A year ago, the Redbirds suffered their second loss of the season against, at the time, the top-ranked team in IHSA Class 3A, Lincoln. The Railsplitters came in undefeated and remained that way after a 57-49 win in a shootout played at East Alton-Wood River High School.

Howard didn’t feel the two games were that comparable.

“The Wood River game, I felt like we were stuck in mud all game,” she said. “This time, we definitely had some runs, we had some moments where we were in control, forcing them to adjust to us a few times. It was that four-minute stretch there in the second quarter. It got us too down.”

But Alton will take a loss now rather than in three weeks. Everything the Redbirds do is preparation for a deep postseason run. Last season, Alton’s regular-season schedule was packed to the brim with Chicago area teams, teams they would later see in the postseason.

This year, the schedule has a lot more Missouri teams on it. The season-opener against Lutheran St. Charles, a showcase game against Pattonville, Cardinal Ritter, and now Incarnate Word.

The toughest of the bunch of course being Incarnate, who have won 14 state titles since 1995 and seven straight from 2017-2024.

A team that can definitely be compared to some of the likes in northern Illinois.

“More weapons,” Howard said on Incarnate Word. “Chicago teams have one or two, but they had three or four at times. You start to neutralize two, and you get hit by the third. So, that’s what I would say. They had more weapons in their bag than the Chicago teams.”

The biggest weapon is Neveah Caffey. The Indiana commit averages a team-high 18.4 points per game. She dropped 20 against Alton. Peyton Hill is an Eastern Michigan University commit; she scored 16 against the Redbirds.

Alton was led by Lacey with 15 points while Norman and Powers each had 12.

It wasn’t the result the Redbirds had been hoping for, but one they could grow from.

“Everything I wanted? No,” Howard said. “Was it what we needed to keep going forward at this point? Yeah.”

Alton will play three straight road games at Belleville West, Quincy Notre Dame, and Belleville East before returning home for the regular-season finale against Collinsville, where Alton’s three seniors – Proctor, Norman, and Powers – will be honored.

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