Alton plans to come right at EJ and punch West in the mouth, figuratively, of course.
Donovan Clay scored nine points, added 7 rebounds and 2 blocks to go with stellar defense on Ohio State recruit E.J. Liddell. He contained Liddell to 1-of-9 shooting and just 4 points in the first half.
“The way I played on E.J. was just discipline,” Clay said. “I knew I couldn’t foul him and ended up fouling him later, but I did what I could.”
Alton head coach Eric Smith added of Clay, “Donovan is athletic, he’s got length and he’s tenacious. He sits down and competes.
He’s not going to lay down for him.”
Alton Coach Eric Smith and Clay admitted limiting Liddell is a key ingredient to a recipe for success against the Maroons and that will be the goal on Friday.
“(Liddell) is strong and physical, he’s going to put it on the floor,” Smith said. “It’s hard to stop a train when it’s going down the tracks. In that situation you’re going to have make a basketball play to win the game and maybe it’s going to take someone stepping up and taking a charge to do it for us.”
“I’m ready,” Clay said. “We’re definitely going to watch some film, see some things we did wrong and fix them. We definitely need to go downhill. We shot too many threes as a team. We need to get E.J. Liddell in foul trouble, too.”
That game is Friday.
Vashon is on Saturday.
Springfield SE was pushed to 1/26, I think.