EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville's basketball team celebrated the contributions of its senior class Friday night as the Tigers held its Senior Night against Southwestern Conference rival Alton at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
Three of those seniors – A.J. Epenesa, Mark Smith and Oliver Stephen – showed exactly why their contributions will be long remembered by Tiger fans.
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Epenesa had a 29-point night, with Smith scoring 15 and Stephen 12 as EHS defeated the Redbirds 76-61 to go to 24-1 on the year, 11-1 in the Southwestern Conference; Alton fell to 13-10 overall, 6-6 in the league.
Also honored on the night were seniors Nathan Kolesa, Jackson Best and Zach Doornink, as well as senior cheerleaders and dance team members in a pre-game ceremony.
“I thought A.J. did a good job in the low post scoring and passing and I thought he did a good job passing the ball away from the basket in the second half,” said Tiger coach Mike Waldo. “Our guys did a great job of taking what the defense gave us; I thought our guys did a really good job of making the right play and the right pass; we just took what the defense gave every trip down the floor and that helped us.
“I thought we passed the ball well to get it in there and I thought A.J. made the right play once he got it, whether that was score or pass. A.J.'s worked hard; I think the low post is one of the hardest things in sports and A.J.'s worked hard to be a good low-post player. That showed tonight; he's paid the price, he's done the reps, he's done the work and then he's done a good job of using that when the game starts.”
“You got to decide what to do (defending against the Tigers),” said Redbird coach Eric Smith. “The hard part for us, I think, sometimes we can get him maybe to miss the first one, but he's sure not going to miss the second one. You have to decide what you're going to try to take away.
“OK, we doubled him, but the difference between them this year and the last couple of years is the (Jack) Marinko kid; you can't double from anywhere. You know Caleb (Strohmeier) can play and Marinko can make shots. You just have to roll the dice and pick the right thing on the right night; there's no formula, I'll tell you that.”
Epenesa's experience has helped mold the Tigers into what they are this year, Smith felt. “He's a senior that's played for three years,” Smith said. “He's a smart kid, athletic; he's going to figure all that stuff out – that's the other part. They do a nice job of protecting him.”
“We just executed what we practiced,” Epenesa said. “We had a mimatch with them, but they didn't really (use) help (on the defensive side) and didn't use double-teams, so we took advantage on the one-on-one situations just like the last game against Collinsville.
“That's what we practice; it was the same result as last game, I just scored a little more tonight. It's just the constant work I do in the low post with coach (Kyle) Stewart and coach Waldo every single day, so credit to them and all hard work we do. It shows in the game.”
Strohmeier had 13 points for the Tigers, while Marinko added seven; Dereaun Clay led Alton with 19 points, with Maurice Edwards adding 14, Ty'ohn Trimble nine and Donovan Clay and Kevin Caldwell eight each.
Edwardsville's final two regular-season games are on the road, Tuesday night at O'Fallon and Feb. 24 at Belleville East before the IHSA Class 4A Granite City Regional; the Redbirds close out the season at home Tuesday against Belleville West and Feb. 24 against O'Fallon.
