Edwardsville pulls away for one-sided victory over Collinsville in SWC opener

Collinsville had no answers for Edwardsville in the paint or on the perimeter Friday.

Juniors A.J. Epenesa, Oliver Stephen and Mark Smith scored 14 points apiece and sophomore Sammy Green chipped in with 12 points as the Tigers dismantled the Kahoks 61-37 in the Southwestern Conference opener for both teams.

Edwardsville (3-2, 1-0) led 17-7 after one quarter and 25-9 at halftime. Collinsville (2-2, 0-1) fell behind 37-12 in the third quarter drew no closer than 18 points in the final 16 minutes.

“We’ve been working on plays to get the ball to A.J. and then back out, and if (the defense) comes back out, we go back to A.J.,” Stephen said. “We’ve been practicing that a whole bunch in practice.”

Stephen said the Tigers weren’t satisfied going 2-2 in the season-opening Battling Bulldogs Thanksgiving Tournament last week in Waterloo, even though Edwardsville’s losses were to talented South Seven Conference teams Carbondale and Althoff.

“This was definitely a lot better,” Stephen said. “We didn’t start off too good in our last tournament in a game or two. We tried to work on starting off a lot better than last time. We worked on defense all week. We pretty much read everything (Collinsville) did. Every shot was usually contested.”

Collinsville, coming off a championship in the Pyramid Plus Tournament in Marion, got 10 points from 6-foot-3 junior Sam Webb. The Kahoks’ two leading scorers, junior Ronnie Midgett and senior Tommy Maden, were shut down as Midgett had just two points and Maden had six.

The Kahoks shot 31 percent (15-for-49) and were 5-for-21 on 3-pointers. Edwardsville, meanwhile, shot 48 percent (20-for-42) and were 8-for-20 from beyond the arc. Stephen and Green had four 3-pointers apiece.

“They’re pretty good,” Collinsville coach Darin Lee said of the Tigers. “We have trouble on the glass and getting anything around the bucket. They’re a talented team. They’re picked to win our conference. It’s hard for us to guard them. We knew that coming in.”

Fast first half

Collinsville trailed 25-9 after Webb scored with 4:28 to play in the second quarter. With the 6-6 Epenesa on the bench with two fouls and the Kahoks in a zone defense, the Tigers opted not to attack the rim from the 4:22 mark until they called timeout with 38.4 seconds to play.

During this time, Green stood a few feet inside the halfcourt line and bounced the ball with his right hand without moving from the spot. After the break, Green resumed the strategy. Edwardsville eventually missed 3-pointers by Green and Epenesa in the final 18 seconds.

Lee wasn’t pleased and said it didn’t make sense to leave their zone.

“I’m thinking they’re the most talented team in the metro-east,” Lee said. “If they want to put their best players in the corner and stand, that’s what they can do. They’ve got a lot of talent on that floor just to stand there and hold it in the second quarter.

“If that’s what they want to do, then they can play like that. That’s my thinking. With all the talent on the floor, that’s the way I feel about it. I really think the game needs a shot clock in our state. I’ve been a big proponent of that for a long time. ... They play with a shot clock at all levels. How are kids going to learn to play without a shot clock?”

Waldo said taking four-plus minutes off the clock was a good thing for the Tigers.

“We were ahead then and we had some foul trouble, so we thought that was the best course,” Waldo said.

Midgett, Maden non-factors

Midgett entered the game averaging 18 points with nine 3-pointers, while Maden was averaging 17.8 points with 15 3-pointers.

Edwardsville opted to focus its defensive attention on the Kahoks’ sharpshooters, limiting them to 3-for-14 shooting from the field.

The plan worked when no other Collinsville player could pick up the slack. Senior Zach Flora, another capable scorer, finished with seven points on 3-for-14 shooting.

“They were trying to make other guys shoot it other than Ronnie and Tommy,” Lee said. “We rushed a few (shots) early. I thought we could have got better shots for Webb and (Jake) Hall and Flora and the other three they weren’t really concentrating on. Those guys have got to make shots. They can make shots and they will.

“If they play us like that again, those guys are going to drill shots. I think they can make them.”

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Edwardsville pulls away for one-sided victory over Collinsville in SWC opener."