Seth Slayden Overpowers Shells Boys Squad With 26-Point Outburst, Oilers Top Backyard Rival Roxana 55-44

Colin Feeney, Contributing Sports Writer

Dec 20, 2021 2:47 PM

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ROXANA - Seth Slayden led East Alton-Wood River with 26 points, to go along with six rebounds, and used good defense to help gain a Cahokia Conference Mississippi Division win over backyard rival Roxana 55-44 Friday night at Larry Milazzo Memorial Gym in Roxana.

It was the Oilers' first game in just over two weeks after the team was forced to shutdown after a COVID-19 outbreak went through the program, and the team's defense was a big key in their win.

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"We were able to change the momentum with our defense," said EAWR head coach Steve Flowers. We forced a lot of turnovers, which allowed Seth to get to the open floor. Seth is a tough kid to stop on the open floor. We played some great defense throughout. We knew it would be slopping after not playing for 16 days, but we didn't panic and kept our composure, and allowed our defense to set the tone for us. It was a great win for us."

Roxana did lead after the first quarter 10-8, but the Oilers took control in the second quarter to take a 22-13 lead at halftime, then extended the lead out to 41-29, and with the Shells taking the fourth quarter 15-14 with EAWR coming out on top.

Besides Slayden's 26 points, the Oilers got six points each from Jacob Gerber and Zach Lybarger, five points from Brayden St. Peters, four points apiece from Lucas Moore and Miguel Romero and two points each from both Tyler Robinson and Malyk Spiller.

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Roxana was led by Cade Smay, who had 13 points, while Aiden Briggs had 12 points, Evan Wells scored eight points, Andrew Ellis had five points, Chris Walleck had three points and Matthew Taylor had a single point.

EAWR is now 2-4 in their return after the shutdown, and play at Father McGivney Catholic on Tuesday, then play their first home game against Salem on Wednesday, with both games tipping off at 7:30 p.m. EAWR plays in the Carlinville Holiday Tournament Dec. 27-30, starting off Dec. 27 against Staunton in a 1:30 p.m. tip.

The Shells go to 1-5 on the year and next play at Columbia on Tuesday in a 7:30 p.m. start, then play host Pinckneyville in the Duster Thomas Holiday Classic Dec. 27 in a 6:30 p.m. start.