ALTON – The Alton Redbirds had to work back from an early deficit but a large crowd on hand in the teams’ season opener helped them bounce back to a 49-42 win over the Waterloo Bulldogs Monday night.
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Waterloo opened the game on a 9-0 run, the first seven points being scored by 6-foot-9 senior Alex Stell. He was a problem at the rim as he racked up fouls and converted from the free-throw line in the first half.
The Redbirds got on the board when Ryan Howard connected on a three, but Alton trailed 14-4 after the first quarter.
“That was a great start, wasn’t it,” Alton head coach Dylan Dudley asked sarcastically. “That was not in the game plan. To be honest with you, I was worried about the first game. Not that we’ve had bad practices, but mentally, I just didn’t think we were there. And we learned a great lesson.”
The Bulldogs opened up a 12-point lead at 22-10 before Alton went on an 11-2 run to close the half thanks to back-to-back threes from Semaj Stampley, another triple from Howard, and a basket from Hassani Elliot. That cut the deficit down to 27-21 at halftime.
In that first half, Stell scored 15 of his 17 total points. He made five of six free throws.
“Credit to Ka’Nye [Lacey] and Trai’Sean [Sims]. Trai got those two fouls, and Ka’Nye came in. Those guys just know how to play. They’ve learned; they’ve had to guard bigger dudes in this league. I think if you asked them both, they kind of forgot how big [Stell] was. And give [Stell] credit. He’s got better touch around the basket, he’s much improved.”
Alton’s defense stepped it up in the second half and limited Stell to a single basket.
The Redbirds opened the second half on a 9-2 run and took the lead at 30-29. The lead flipped a few times but Stampley’s go-ahead three to make it 35-33 was the difference maker. Alton didn’t trail again after that make, leading 36-33 after three quarters.
Despite Max Oswald’s terrific fourth-quarter effort, the Bulldogs were still outscored 13-9 in the final frame as the Redbirds opened their season with the win. Oswald scored all nine of Waterloo’s points in the fourth. He finished the night with 12 points total. Tyler DeVilder added seven points for the Bulldogs.
“I give our kids a lot of credit, good teams find a way to win when you suck, and we were terrible,” Dudley said. “Give a lot of credit to Waterloo. They probably deserved to win that game. We didn’t deserve to win that game. I think we were pretty immature in our approach. I think we were very immature before the game, and that starts with me. We’ll do better, but we can all exhale. We got the first one out of the way and we can all move on,” Dudley said.
Stampley did all his scoring in the middle two quarters and led the team with 19 points, 12 of which came from beyond the arc. Howard and Kobe Taylor each scored eight and Sims had five. Elliot, Oliver Williams, and Alex Macias each scored three points.
Dudley was proud of his team’s veteran leadership, a big reason he believes his side won on Monday night.
“I’m proud of our kids; I’m proud of them for being seniors,” he said. “We probably don’t win that game last year. We probably panic. But I’m proud of them. We obviously have to play way better. That’s a terrible performance. It’s always better to win and learn, but I think that might be the worst we can play, no offense to Waterloo.”
Monday was the first of a five-game homestand to open the season for the Redbirds. They host the four-game round-robin BSN Sports Tip-Off Classic where they’ll take on Jennings on Wednesday, Ritenour on Friday, and Highland on Saturday. They then host Edwardsville on Dec. 6 to open up Southwestern Conference play.
It was the third straight year that Alton won its season opener.
“It’s always better to win the first one. The first one’s always the hardest,” Dudley said. “I don’t care how good of a team you have, what team you’re playing, winning the first game is hard, especially at home. We had a great crowd. We have a lot of expectations this season which our kids have earned and deserved.”
Alton looks to improve upon a 17-15 record from a season ago.
