Alton's Maurice Edwards led all scorers on Friday night with 22 points. (Photo by Dan Brannan)ALTON - Alton's boys basketball team seems to hitting its stride late in the season, just prior to the start of IHSA postseason play.

The Redbirds handled an improving Collinsville squad 58-49 at home Friday night.

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The Redbirds bolted out to an 11-9 lead at the end of one quarter, then jumped in front 27-14 at the half. Collinsville had an excellent fourth quarter, outscoring Alton 27-11 for the final tally of 58-49.

Redbirds coach Eric Smith said his team did some “pretty good things for two-a-half quarters, but obviously didn’t finish well in the fourth quarter.

“For the most part, the kids played pretty well tonight,” Smith said. “Dereaun Clay stood out all-around for us and scored with the basketball and was more active on defense. He also rebounded well and did a good job defensively.”

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Edwards has missed several games due to an ankle injury, but had one of his best games of the season on Friday night, exploding for 22 points.

“He is a first-team returning All-Conference kid,” Smith said. “We have missed him, but some of our kids have played well in his absence. Edwards is a strong, athletic kid and when he decides to be a little more aggressive going to the basket he got some easier opportunities.”

Alton is now 13-9 overall, 6-5 in the Southwestern Conference, while Collinsville falls to 9-16 overall, 2-8 in the SWC.

Dereaun Clay and Donovan Clay tossed in 12 and 10 points respectively for the Redbirds. Braeden Lemp and Ray’Sean Taylor had 11 points apiece to lead the Kahoks.