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Martin Hits Short Jumper With 4.8 Seconds Left: Dramatic Finish: Tigers Edge Redbirds In Conference Clash

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EDWARDSVILLE – Herb Martin hit a short jumper with 4.8 seconds left in regulation, and it was enough to give Edwardsville a dramatic 53-52 win over Alton in a Southwestern Conference battle Friday night at a packed Lucco-Jackson Gym.

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Martin’s winner gave him 21 points on the night, as the Tigers took first place over the Redbirds by a half-game just past the halfway point of the season. The end game was something the Tigers prepared for, and were ready.

“This is a smart group,” Edwardsville head coach Dustin Battas said, “and we actually spent time yesterday on end-game stuff. We try to do that one or two days a week, where we work on game things when we have time to do that. There are so many conference games that come down to the last possession or under 30 seconds. So, having Herb, having a point guard that’s been around the block on those late-game situations, and a lot of our guys are smart. So I thought we executed a lot of things down the stretch, and we were able to make one more basket than they did.”

Redbird coach Dylan Dudley gave Martin tremendous credit for hitting the game-winner, a tough shot indeed.

“He made a tough shot,” Dudley said. “Give the kid credit, right? He’s a good player. He made a tough shot. I think they may have run into something, maybe they wanted to set a ball screen or something. He made a tough shot, right? Give the kid credit. A turnaround jump shot from 10, 12 feet over a couple of guys. They made one more play than we did.”

Sophomore Rowan Weller also hit a key shot down the stretch in the lane to keep the Tigers in the game, as well as Martin’s game-winner. Bryce Pryor broke up the final inbounds pass with a steal that clinched the win for the Tigers, but with each play, there’s much more to them than meets the eye.

“I told them we’re good because we have guys that care about each other,” Battas said. “They all buy in to what we’re doing because they care for each other, and they all have some strength they bring to the table every night. Rowan did a great job once he moved. He doesn’t get as many shots as other guys, but guards his butt off, made a big shot, he helps handle the ball. Bryce is a competitor, he's a fighter, I know what getting that steal means, and he likes it. Miccah (Butler), those threes at the start were huge when we were struggling to make a basket; we were already slow just a little bit., but he buries those two big threes. It completely shifted the momentum,

“Devyon Hill-Lomax, Tucker (Lindsted) and Brandon (Hoffmann) kind of rotating in for (Iose’s ) Epenesa) absence, All three of those guys were bringing something different to the game,” Battas continued, “and they’re consistent in what they do well, and that’s where we had success.”

After the slow start, the Tigers took command and raised up to a 12-point lead, then the Redbirds rallied back to take the lead and had the chance to win at the end.

“(Semaj Stampley) can score so fast,” Battas said. “He did the same thing at Belleville East a couple of weeks ago. A couple of those were turnovers: when we can set our defense, we like it, we lose zero in transition, because you don’t have your matchups, or you’re not back. So we lost a couple of times against their press. They do a great job of finding (Stampley), and they made a tough shot. And then, fouled him once at a three, we fouled (Ryan Howard) on a three. Those are things you like to clean up, but that’s why they’re good. They put a lot of pressure on defense, they’re hard to guard, they’re very well-coached.”

The Tigers were able to take control of the conference race with the win, but there is still plenty of basketball left to be played.

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“It’s going to be so competitive down the stretch,” Battas said. “We had a really hard-fought one against Belleville West on Tuesday. I don’t think there’s anyone on our schedule that we just assume we’re going to beat. And so, it’s far from over, we like the position we put ourselves, we’re happy we’re getting Iose back, but we know there’s lots of work to be done, and we’re just going to take it one day at a time, and not get too high, not get too low. But we are going to work our guys.”

Dudley was also very proud of the way his team fought back from 12 points down to go ahead late.

“I knew it was going to go down to the wire,” Dudley said. “I knew they’d fight. I knew we’d have a chance to win. Humbly speaking, it didn’t surprise me at all. When you play Edwardsville, they’re always going to play some funky defense. It took us a while to figure it out, credit to their staff for making adjustments, having a good game plan. My staff did a great job of making adjustments, getting our kids into positions. And in a game like this, you’ve got to make plays. It was just a fun game, right when we were on an 8-0 run. I’ll just leave it at that.”

The Tigers did find some success holding Stampley in the first half, but he was able to get going and lead the Redbirds with 18 points.

“They did a good job of face-guarding him,” Dudley said. “We knew they would. It just took him a while to get going. He’s a good player, you’re not going to hold him down. He’s a top-50 player and a top-30 player in the state of Illinois. You’re not going to hold that kid down all the time. He made plays, right? That’s what players do in games like this. It’s a hard place to play, a hard place to win. We’re obviously disappointed in the outcome, it doesn’t feel good. But our kids will walk out of here with their heads held high, I know that much. We’ll keep fighting.”

The postgame message to the Redbirds?

“It’s like we talk about all the time,” Dudley said. “It’s competition 101, right? The best thing about competition, and the hard thing about competition, is you’ve got to lay it on the line, and you may not get the result you want. Our kids laid it on the line, right? There was no secret message, there was no this or that. It’s competition 101. They laid it on the line, we laid it on the line, they made one more play, and we didn’t get what we wanted. It’s a hard pill to swallow, it’s going to bother us for a while, but knock on wood, hopefully, down the line, we’ll see ‘em again, maybe we won’t. I don’t know. But we’ll get better and it’ll be good.”

The Redbirds scored the game’s first seven points on a three by Kobe Taylor, and a pair of baskets by Hassani Elliott, while the Tigers struggled to score. Butler’s first three broke the ice to make it 7-3, and Martin’s first basket cut the lead to 7-5, but a basket by Taylor and a free throw from Elliott gave the Redbirds a 10-6 lead at quarter-time. Howard hit a three at the start of the second quarter, but was immediately called for a technical foul after the basket. Martin converted one of the free throws, and hit another one to make it 13-8, and another three from Butler made the score 15-11 for Alton. A Pryor three gave the Tigers their first lead at 16-15, and Edwardsville was able to extend the lead to 19-15. Martin then converted a three-point play with 0.7 seconds left in the half to give Edwardsville a 25-19 lead at halftime.

The Tigers, behind Martin and Lindstedt, were able to take the lead at the start of the second half to 35-23, but back came the Redbirds. As Stampley and Howard helped the Redbirds cut the lead to 39-35 at three-quarter time to set up an exciting final quarter.

Things had gotten heated for some time, so much so an Alton fan was ejected by the officials with 2:35 left in the third quarter, but the Tigers kept cool, and went up 46-39 at the start of the fourth. Again, Alton came back behind the brilliant play of Stampley and Howard to cut the Tiger lead to 41-39, but after a scramble on the floor for a loose ball, a Redbird player was called for a technical, and when Dudley protested vehemently, he was also hit with a technical. Martin hit three of the four free throws, then scored to make it 46-29. Again, the Redbirds came back, and went ahead 50-49 on an Alex Macias basket with 2:03 left.

Macias scored again to make it 52-51 with 33.7 seconds left, and Edwardsville called time out with 16.1 seconds left to set up a play. The ball eventually came to Martin, who hit his game-winner with 4.8 seconds left to give the Tigers a 53-52 lead. The Redbirds had one last shot, but Pryor broke up the final pass and got the steal with 1.7 seconds to go to clinch the win for Edwardsville 53-52.

Martin led the Tigers with 21 points, while Butler added 10 points, Pryor had eight points, Weller had seven points, and Lindstedt scored five points. Stampley led the Redbirds with 18 points, while Howard had 16 points, Taylor scored 10 points, Elliott had four points, and both Trai’Sean Sims and Macias had two points each.

The Tigers are now 16-1 overall, and play at Moline in a Shootout against the host Maroons on Saturday, time not announced, then host Decatur MacArthur on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Redbirds go to 15-4 overall, and play at Hazelwood East Tuesday, and host Lutheran St. Charles next Friday, tip-off time both being 7:30 p.m.

More like this:

Dec 6, 2024 - Alton Beats Edwardsville, Improves To 5-0 For First Time Since 2013

Jan 17, 2025 - Redbirds, Tigers Set To Meet In High-Stakes Boys Basketball Clash, With First Place In The SWC On The Line

Feb 1, 2025 - Alton Remains Calm To Top East Side After Game Disruption

Jan 7, 2025 - Stampley, Taylor Combine For 40 – Redbirds Take Down Belleville West On The Road

Jan 14, 2025 - Collinsville Hands Alton First Conference Loss After OT Thriller

 

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