BY JACK BULLOCK
VALMEYER –

The East Alton-Wood River Oilers, who began the contest with just six wins in 2015-16, jumped out to a 15-0 lead and held off every push by the host Valmeyer Pirates to pick up a 59-49 win on the road to enter the postseason on a winning note.

Head coach Kyle Duncan got a game-best 27-points from senior Blake Marks, including 12-of-16 from the foul line as the Oilers, a member of the Prairie State Conference, improved to 7-21 on the season.

Point guard Justin Englar, a sophomore, netted 11-points as the Oilers' backcourt came up big in the finale of the regular season.

For the Pirates, they fell to 6-21 on the season, despite 15-points from sophomore Oliver Miller and 10-points from junior Vaughn Larsen.

Before the Pirates knew what hit them, they were down double-digits as EA-WR forced five first quarter turnovers and turned them all into points.

Three steals off of the EA-WR pressure turned into three first period transition baskets for the Oilers.

Marks, Englar and senior guard Luke Wells each scored two drives to the goal in the onslaught of fast break lay ins.

By the time that Marks hit 2-of-3 free throw attempts after being fouled shooting a 3-pointer at the 2:48 mark, East Alton-Wood River led 15-zip.

While Valmeyer was going “Box-and-One” trying to slow down Marks in the halfcourt defense, EA-WR proved they were going to be patient on offense and it served them well for most of the night.

After the Pirates finally got on the scoreboard with a free throw by senior Quentin Bangle and a three-point play from Miller, the Oilers held the ball over a minute before Marks got to the line on a drive to the basket.

He hit 1-of-2 to give EA-WR a 17-4 lead at the end of the first.

“Defensively we weren't the best tonight but we don't normally run that sort of defense (Box-and-One) very often. It's a junk defense but sometimes you have to do what you have to do,” said Coach Crossin.

For the remainder of the half, Valmeyer tried but never got the offense going.

They managed to get to within 24-14 at the half with Miller adding four-points and Bangle adding a couple of rebound baskets.

Bangle's second chance stick-back closed the scoring in the first half as the Pirates were still in contention down just 10 at the break.

Led by Bangle, the Pirates produced a “Manic” rebounding attack, as he and his club grabbed seven first half offensive rebounds while forcing EA-WR into seven second quarter turnovers.

Still, the Oilers had a comfortable advantage heading into the second half.

Miller got the Pirates going in the thrid quarter with with a pair of scores, and his offensive rebound for a score cut the EA-WR lead to just 26-20.

However the Oilers quickly responded as they never allowed the lead to get below seven the remainder of the contest.

Wells, Marks and Englar all netted points in the quarter and when Christian Hunter buried a 3-pointer with 1:32 remaining in the third, EA-WR led 40-28.

Five-straight points from Valmeyer, two free throws by sophomore Michael Chism and trey from junior Trent Larsen, cut the Pirates' deficit to just 40-33.

As it turned out, that was the last Valmeyer run of the night as the visitors gradually pulled away for the road win.

Englar and Marks each produced in the final period, with Marks (11-points) adding a 3-pointer to his totals and 5-of-7 free throws in the frame.

Marks grabbed a long rebound and raced to the other end of the floor for a lay up and a 53-40 lead with 2:52 left.

The Oilers iced the outcome by hitting 6-of-8 from the foul line in the final 1:31.

Valmeyer couldn't overcome its poor beginning, despite holding a commanding 31-17 rebounding edge.

The Pirates and Oilers each connected on 50 percent of their two-point field goal attempts but Valmeyer wasn't very good from beyond the arc.

Coach Rick Crossin saw his club hit just 5-of-25 from downtown, 16-of-47 overall. Of the 20-missed 3's, Valmeyer missed exactly five in each quarter.

EA-WR was 18-of-36 from the floor, an even 50 percent, with 14-of-28 coming from two-point range and 4-of-8 from the arc.

Coach Duncan's club ended up with 11-turnovers but just three after intermission.

Valmeyer finished with 12-turnovers.

It was the second lost to the Oilers this year for Valmeyer, as they fell to EA-WR 59-39 at the Metro-East Lutheran Thanksgiving Tournament back in November.

“Offensively we had a bad shooting night but the upside to that is that we played them at the beginning of the year and we lost to them by 20. I thought we did a better job tonight than the last time we played them.” added Coach Crossin. “We have a sophomore (Miller) who is still a bit raw and next year he will be making those shots.”

Both teams will head into the postseason as decided underdogs in their respective regionals.

In 2A, EA-WR will play the host Dupo Tigers on Monday night. If they manage to win, they will face Alton Marquette on Tuesday.

In 1A at Lebanon, the Pirates will play Marissa-Coulterville on Monday night. Valmeyer has two wins over the Meteors this season.

The winner Monday night will get to play state-ranked and ABV number one Okawville on Tuesday night.

East Alton-Wood River (59) – Butkovich 0 0 0-0 0, Hall 1 0 0-0 2, Wilson 0 0 3-4 3, Englar 2 2 1-2 11, Hunter 0 1 0-0 3, Marks 6 1 12-16 27, Blacklock 0 0 0-2 0, Wells 4 0 0-0 8, Westbrook 0 0 0-0 0, Biesk 1 0 3-4 5. 2FG-14, 3FG-4, FT-19-28, PF-18.
Valmeyer (49) – Juelfs 0 1 0-0 3, Matecki 0 0 0-0 0, V. Larsen 1 2 2-4 10, Bangle 3 0 2-4 8, Whipple 0 0 0-0 0, T. Larsen 0 2 0-0 6, Miller 6 0 3-6 15, Chism 1 0 5-9 7, Lubbes 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-11, 3FG-5, FT-12-19, PF-21.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Hunter - East Alton-Wood River.