02/07/2026
BY JACK BULLOCK
WOOD RIVER - After last season's successful postseason run which resulted in the program's first regional championship in 16-years and, with tons of talent returning, the Staunton Bulldogs and head coach Ty Laux set out to put together a strong schedule for 2025-26.

One of the additions was to play at the East Alton-Wood River Shootout against Cahokia Conference power Columbia.

With a couple of tough luck losses last week to 4A Edwardsville in overtime and a shootout loss in OT to Bloomington Central Catholic after coughing up an 17-point halftime lead, Coach Laux was looking for a better performance against the Eagles Saturday afternoon.

The defense stepped up, holding Columbia to well below its scoring average and breaking away with a 17-8 third quarter, Staunton picked up a 'feather in the cap' win 44-36 in the premiere game of the fourth annual event.

Staunton, currently the eighth ranked team in the weekly Associated Press poll of sportswriters and fifth in the 2A ABV rankings, responded from their most recent two-game skid by shutting down Columbia after a 9-2 scoring run gave the Bulldogs back the lead to open the third quarter.

Staunton held the Eagles' offense 22-points under their season scoring average while handing the ABV third ranked club its fifth loss on the season (21-5).

Most eyes, when the Bulldogs play, are glued to 6-1 junior guard Isiah Laux.

The coaches' son netted 17-points to lead his club to the victory, nine of which came during the decisive third quarter push that turned an 18-16 halftime deficit into a 33-26 lead heading to the final quarter.

“He can fill it up. Teams do a lot of things to try to take him away but it seems like every week, every day, he gets a little bit better at doing things to get himself open and the team is doing a better job at getting him shots when we need him to,” said Coach Laux about Isiah. “He doesn't force shots and the guys do a good job finding him.”

The Bulldogs not only played well defensively, they also out-rebounded Columbia 25-21 and committed just five turnovers, only one in the final 16-minutes, to improve to 22-3 on the season.

The only senior in the starting lineup, 6-3 Bryce Coalson, added nine-points for Staunton and junior guard Jeremiah Graham contributed to the totals with seven.

Columbia got a game-best 22-points from 6-5 senior forward Brody Landgraf.

But he got little help as no other Eagles' player scored double-digits.

Senior guard/forward Eddie Smajic was next on the list scoring seven-points.

Another factor in the verdict on Saturday was the quickness of the smaller Bulldogs, as their half-court offense produced a bunch of easy looks around the basket.

Eleven of the Staunton made field goals came inside the lane, with back door cuts to the basket and transition scores adding up to a successful trip to Memorial Gymnasium.

Columbia took an 8-6 first quarter lead with consecutive baskets inside by Landgraf and a 3-pointer from the right corner by sophomore Ayden Sepich.

There were four lead changes and a pair of even scores in the second quarter.

Laux first successful 3-pointer gave Staunton a 13-11 lead before Smajic and Landgraf got shots to fall inside.

Staunton reserve freshman guard Austin Spickerman canned a 3-pointers before two Smajic free throws made it a two-point lead for Columbia at the break.

Laux hit his first shot of the second half, a 3-pointer from the left wing, to give Staunton back the lead they wouldn't relinquish.

A steal and fast break score by Graham and a lay up by Coalson, on a back door cut from an assist from junior guard Lucas Dillon, pushed the lead to 23-18 with 5:17 left in the third quarter.

Laux added three more scores, all by getting to the rim.

All three of the baskets came in the lane and his final one made it 33-24, which was the Bulldogs' largest lead.

Landgraf helped keep his team in contention with six of his points in the quarter, which ended with a baseline drive to cut the margin to 33-26 heading to the fourth.

Columbia got to within four points twice in the final minutes, but each time Staunton answered.

A 3-pointer from Smajic and a inside score on a lob pass on an inbounds play to Landgraf got the Eagles back to 37-33.

But Laux answered with his final points of the night, a 3-pointer from the left corner to push the lead back to seven.

The final points from Columbia was another 3-pointer by Smajic before the Bulldogs closed out the contest with a fast break lay up by junior Luke Moore, who scored beating the Eagles' full-court press, and two free throws in the final seconds by Coalson ended the scoring and the victory.

Columbia hit just 4-of-13 shots in the fourth quarter when they were trying to cut into the Staunton advantage.

The Eagles ended up just 14-of-41 from the field and 3-of-19 on long range shots.

Staunton finished up slightly better in the defensive battle, connecting on 16-of-41.

The Bulldogs hit just 5-of-21 from the 3-point arc.

However they hit 7-of-11 shots in the turning point third quarter.

“In the first half I thought we were getting good looks. It was just a matter of time before we started making some of those,” said Coach Laux. “When you make some shots and get that momentum going it makes it a little bit easier to play defense.”

ROXANA 50, ALTAMONT 34
For the second time in two years, Coach Mark Briggs and his Roxana Shells played a highly regarded 1A program at the EAWR Shootout.

Their game against Altamont turned to be very similar to last season's conquest of state ranked West Central.

The Shells dominated the Indians defensively and they got a an equally dominant performance by junior Aiden Stemm on offense.

The 6-2 guard scored a team-best 26-points as Roxana improved to 18-8 on the season.

Stemm got teammate help from junior Cohen Dugan with 15-points and senior guard Sean Maberry added seven.

Senior guard Trenton Hollaway scored two-points to round out the scoring for Roxana, which was more than enough.

Altamont didn't put up much of a resistance in the game as they fell to 16-9 on the season in their first ever trip to Memorial Gym.

“Our kids were ready today. We spent a lot of this week working on Altamont (in practice),” said Coach Briggs. “The first three quarters was about the best you could play I think. We got the ball where it belonged. Aiden Stemm is a load inside and Sean Maberry has a physical presence. Our eight losses this year are to eight good teams.”

Coach John Niebrugge, who was an assistant coach early in his career at Roxana, and his squad didn't get much going in their loss.

Only one player; sophomore Kade Milleville, scored double-digits for the Indians.

Milleville finished with 13-points but the rest of the group didn't really get going until the fourth quarter when the outcome was decided.

Altamont scored 19 of their 34 points in the final eight minutes.

Roxana jumped out to an early lead and never trailed.

Stemm scored eight of his team's 10 points in the first quarter, which ended at 10-5 Shells.

Two of his scores came on offensive rebounds.

Altamont committed 13-turnovers in the game, six of which came in the first quarter.

As he did in the first quarter, Stemm added another eight before halftime.

He followed up a Dugan transition score with one of his own to force an Altamont timeout at 18-9.

Stemm ended the half with two more inside baskets as the Shells led 24-12 at the break.

Roxana ended the drama with a 15-3 third quarter.

Dugan scored seven of the points and Stemm added a conventional three-point play for a 32-15 advantage.

This started a 7-0 run to close the quarter at 39-15.

The Indians hit just 1-of-10 from the floor and added to the mistakes with five more turnovers.

Altamont, to its credit, played much better in the final minutes but they never got closer than 14-points in the final minutes.

Roxana did their damage by getting inside, hitting 22-of-42 inside the arc.

The Shells were just 1-of-10 from long distance, 23-of-52 (44.2 percent) in the win.

The Indians were just 13-of-45, 4-of-16 from the 3-point line.

Roxana took pretty good care of the ball for three quarters but they committed seven of their 11 turnovers in the final minutes.

EAWR 78, RAMSEY 52
It as been a difficult season for first year head coach Billy Sullivan at East Alton-Wood River.

Taking over a program that has had very little success, this mentor has found that wins are hard to come by.

But on Saturday the Oilers seized their opportunity, lighting up the scoreboard late in the game to pick up a much needed victory in the finale of the eight game event.

EAWR took care of business to improve to 4-21 on the season.

Learning to win ballgames can be difficult but Coach Sullivan is looking at the future and wins like this are needed.

Eight difference EAWR players netted points as they got the offense going late with 28-points in the fourth quarter.

Junior Jordyn Spiller scored a team-high 21-points in the victory while classmate Jasiah Brown added 19.

Freshman guard Jacobi Jordan added 12-points while senior Tamarion Marshall chipped in 10-points during the rout for the Oilers.

Ramsey saw its record slip to 1-22 with 18-straight losses for Coach Jeff Babbs.

The Oilers nailed down 11 3-pointers in the victory, with Spiller hitting five of the long range shots.

EAWR connected on 32-of-61 shots overall and produced a 39-32 rebounding edge in a defense optional triumph.

The Rams were just 20-of-69, 7-of-19 from the arc.

Ramsey was paced by 21-points from junior guard Aaron Trexler and 14-points from sophomore Jacob Cox, who connected on four of the 3-pointers.

“We won this game as a team. It was a lot of guys hitting shots and we haven't had that a lot this season,” said Coach Sullivan. “Hopefully that does something for us moving forward and we can finish the season strong.”

ALTON MARQUETTE 53, ST. LOUIS (MO.) DUCHESNE 39
In the first boy's game of the day, the Explorers picked up a win over the Pioneers to improve to 19-5 on the season for head coach Steve Medford.

Marquette was topped in the scorebook by 6-5 sophomore Chase Jones with 20-points.

Six-ten senior Nolan Robinson added 12 while sophomore Cameron Jones scored eight.

Senior Drew Heischmidt led Duchesne with 20.