Relentless defense leads Collinsville past Belleville West in SWC contest
The top player in Southern Illinois, Collinsville senior Ray’Sean Taylor took his game to another level again Saturday in a Southwestern Conference contest against Belleville West.
Taylor energized his team and a large hometown crowd with a one-handed dunk midway through the second quarter to key a 10-0 scoring run and help Collinsville roll to an easy 63-39 win.
West (8-8., 2-4) trailed the undefeated Kahoks 13-10 after one quarter. But with junior guard Tommie Williams scoring on a short jumper before adding a 3-point basket, the Maroons scored the first six points of the second period to take the lead.
But it didn’t last long. On the Kahoks next possession, the 6-1 Taylor drove the lane and soared over the Maroons defenders before his slam dunk.
Taylor then followed his slam with another big play as, on the Kahoks next trip down the court, he lofted a perfect alley-oop pass to junior forward Nate Hall for another dunk as the Kahoks took a 17-16 lead.
Tied with 2019 state tournament runner-up Evanston for the No. 2 spot in the Associated Press Class 4A state poll, Collinsville (18-0, 6-0) would never trail again.
“That was an energizer,” Taylor said of his dunk. “Then the next play to (Nate Hall), the alley-oop, that was a big play as well. But the difference tonight was our defense. It was outstanding all night.”
Cawhan Smith added a basket and a pair of free throws and Hall scored again to finish the 10-0 run as Collinsville’s lead grew to 29-21 at halftime.
What hopes the Maroons had of a comeback quickly evaporated early in the second half. With Taylor and Keydrian Jones leading the way on offense, the Kahoks opened the third quarter with a 17-0 run to extend the lead to 46-21.
West went nearly the first seven minutes of the second half without a point and trailed 50-25 after three quarters.
“Ray’s dunk and then the pass for the alley-oop got us going. The thing is that you don’t know when those type of plays are going to happen,” Collinsville coach Darin Lee said. “We played very well. On defense we were able to use our diamond press and not give any easy baskets by getting beat down the floor.”
Collinsville entered the contest Saturday as the top defensive team in the SWC, allowing just 43 points per game. Amid the 17-0 third quarter run, Taylor went past the legendary Bogie Redmon into the No. 6 spot on the Kahoks all-time scoring list.
Taylor led Collinsville with 23 points while Smith and Jones added 12 points each. Williams paced the Maroons with 21 points.
Next up
Both teams resume action this week at the Chick-fil-A Classic at Belleville East, as Collinsville faces Althoff at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Belleville West battles Trinity at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22.
This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 1:00 AM.
