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WOOD RIVER - Roxana posted its sixth win of the season at a proper time 51-34 over East Alton-Wood River Monday night and advanced to a 6 p.m. match against top-seed Trenton-Wesclin on Tuesday at East Alton-Wood River High School.
Southwestern, 20-7, follows at 7:30 p.m. against 11-19 Carlyle at 7:30 p.m.
East Alton-Wood River wraps up the season 7-22.
Two Shells’ freshmen Gavin Huffman and Drew Beckman paced Roxana in scoring with 19 and 10 points respectively. Another freshman - Parris White added nine points. Jacob Golenor, only a sophomore had eight points. With such talented youth, the future looks bright for Roxana.
Darren Spruill led East Alton-Wood River with 14 points, followed by Ryan Dawson with seven points.
Roxana head coach Mark Briggs was ecstatic over the Monday night regional win over the Oilers.
"This win was a huge win for this team for a couple reasons," he said. "Our kids needed to prove how much they have improved from the first time we played East Alton-Wood River. We didn’t only avenge an earlier loss, but we earned the privilege to play in a big game against Trenton-Wesclin."
Roxana broke out to an early 15-5 lead at the end of one quarter, but the Oilers closed in the second quarter. Jake Wells nailed a three-pointer in the second period to close the gap to 21-19, but by the half, Roxana rolled out to a 25-19 lead. In the third quarter, Roxana outscored East Alton-Wood River 12-4, then again in the fourth quarter 14-11 for the final of 51-34.
