CENTRALIA – The Raleigh-Egypt Pharoahs made the 292-mile trip from Memphis to compete in the Centralia Holiday Tournament.

Somehow, their uniforms did not.

Their hosts outfitted the Pharoahs in red junior-varsity uniforms with ‘Centralia’ on the chest, but Centralia’s boys basketball tradition and talent – or Orphans defense – was not included with the jerseys.

The Alton Redbirds opened the game with a 16-0 run, tacked on another early run of 22-0 and crushed Raleigh-Egypt 76-40 Monday morning in the first of eight games on the opening day 73rd annual tourney.

Alton improves to 7-2 and will play a quarterfinal game against 11-2 Arlington, Tenn., at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Pharoahs lost their ninth straight and fell to 1-9.

The Redbirds spent Sunday night in a Mount Vernon hotel to shorten the travel time before Monday’s 8:30 a.m. start. But after missing an uncontested layup in the opening seconds and three uninspired possessions, Alton coach Eric Smith called timeout just 90 seconds in.

Smith’s message to his Redbirds was ended with three loud claps before a louder order to “wake up” that could be heard by all 100-plus in the gym.

“The first three trips, we screwed up our sets and our inbounds play, so we called timeout and just told them to wake up,” Smith said. “And they responded, they really did. We kind of came out and blitzed them right after that.”

Maurice Edwards immediately produced a steal and dunk and the Redbirds extended their 3-0 pre-timeout lead to 16-0 with three minutes left in the first quarter. Alton led 26-5 after one quarter and at the end of a 22-0 Redbirds run, the Pharoahs were buried 40-5.

“It’s the same thing we always tell them,” Smith said of his team. “Whether we’re playing the worst team in the state or the best team in the state or somebody in between, you’re energy’s got to be there. That’s kind of what we’ve struggled with in the games we’ve lost, not having any energy.”

Alton’s lead hit 40 points at 47-7 on Marcus Latham’s steal and dunk with 56 seconds left in the first half. The Redbirds, who made 20 of 29 shots in the first half, finished at 57 percent (30 of 52) from the field and outrebounded the Pharoahs 44-22.

Tre Smith and Jordan Golley each scored 12 points, with Latham and Edwards at 11 points apiece for Alton. The Redbirds took a 47-10 lead to the half and the final two quarters were spent killing 16 minutes of a game already decided.

Raleigh-Egypt’s Chris Joyner scored 18 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, while Alton’s chief concern was retaining some loyalty to their system rather than five Redbirds going freelance.

“We had a couple plays with kids trying to do some things that were out of character for them,” said Smith, whose team had 11 players score. “It may not necessarily be acceptable, but it’s understandable. … With that being said, I was really pleased with the way our kids did things.”

ALTON 76, RALEIGH-EGYPT 40

Raleigh-Egypt 5 5 13 17 — 40

Alton 26 21 18 11 — 76

Raleigh-Egypt (1-9) – Joyner 22, Williams 5, Andrew Johnson 5, Andre Johnson 3, Miller 2, Isom 3. FG-14 3FG-6 FT-6.

Alton (7-2) – Smith 12, Edwards 11, Golley 12, Caldwell 7, Latham 11, Trimble 8, Reid 4, Adams 4, Springman 3, Terrell 2, Meyer 2. FG-30 3FG-2 FT-14.

Greg Shashack may be reached at 618-798-1486 or on Twitter @gregshashack