COLLINSVILLE – Alton coach Eric Smith chuckled at a question leaving any doubt to the Redbirds’ preseason status as a noncontender in the Southwestern Conference.

Or the Redbirds’ postseason status as a noncontender.

“It’s not that I didn’t think people picked us,” Smith said, putting an emphasis on think. “Nobody did.”

Nobody outside Alton Redbirds boys basketball inner circle, perhaps.

Even last summer, when the Redbirds began the challenge of replacing seven graduated seniors from an eight-player rotation that produced a 27-5 season and sectional title berth, Smith was optimistic.

“We’re going to be pretty undersized,” he said last year. “But ever since I’ve been here, one thing we keep talking about is we have athletes. We’ve got kids that can get up and down the floor, run and jump and pressure people. The idea is that we’ll be able to continue to do those things. … We’ll give it a run.”

And the Redbirds saved their best run for the postseason. A home-court loss to Belleville West on senior night offered no hint of the surge the Redbirds were about to mount. Dramatic Alton Class 4A Regional victories over Chatham Glenwood and Quincy were decided in the final minute, with the Glenwood victory coming in the final second and the Quincy win coming by scoring the game’s final 13 points.

That set the stage for a 63-59 triumph over Edwardsville— a matchup that usually builds drama before the opening tip — in the semifinals of the Collinsville Class 4A Sectional. The season ended three days later with Friday’s 50-48 sectional title defeat to East Moline United.

Nothing short of a state championship would have saved Alton from falling short of a 20-win season. But 16-11, Smith believes, will not be history’s headline.

“Ten years from now, nobody’s going to really care a whole lot about what the record was,” Smith said after Friday’s loss. “They’re going to say, hey, do you remember when we went to Collinsville and played that game? So we’re really happy with what the kids accomplished this year. They battled and competed.

“Tonight was no different. They put a lot of time and effort in, those five seniors over the course of four years. We ask a lot of our kids and they’ve always been there, it’s never been a battle to get them to show up to work out and do the things they need to do during the summer in June when we go play. That core group of kids has always been there.”

Like last year, the Redbirds again settled on an eight-player rotation heavy on seniors. But none of those seniors – Marcus Latham, Tre Smith, Paul Harris, Jordan Golley and Kenneth Burnett – were a factor at the varsity level as a junior.

Their ability to step forward was the key in a season that ended with a 16-11 record, including a runner-up finish at 9-5 in the SWC. Through Eric Smith’s four seasons as coach, Alton is 78-40. Of the 31 coaches in 116 seasons of Redbirds boys basketball, only Lee Bennett had more wins (100) than Smith after four years.

Season No. 5 for Smith will require more contributions from players untested in varsity play. Latham played sparingly as a junior. But he broke through as a double-digits scorer and one of the league’s top 3-point threats while earning first-team All-SWC accolades as a senior.

Tre Smith came on to be a third-team All-SWC pick. Harris emerged as playmaker in the post in the second half of the season and Golley and Burnett were consistent contributors from the start.

But the leading producer for the Redbirds was an expected source in 6-foot-1 junior Maurice Edwards, a returning starter who averaged 20 points a game in the postseason.

“He’s been real engaged in what’s going on,” Smith said. “He’s made play after play for us for four games now.”

Smith, a first team All-SWC selection, joins sophomore Kevin Caldwell Jr. as starters returning next season. Junior Ty’ohn Trimble figures to step in as a starter to again give Alton one of the SWC’s most talented backcourts.

Trimble was one of the best postseason stories for the Redbirds, breaking out for 13 points to help take down SWC champ Edwardsville in the sectional. The 5-6 Trimble made 4 of 5 shots from the field and went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final 48 seconds.

“He can do that every game, honestly,” Edwards said after that win over the Tigers. “I tell him to shoot the ball more all the time. He doesn’t shoot it, I don’t know why. I’m proud of him. That’s like my little brother, I love him so much. This is great for him.”

Trimble, who had four points against East Moline, hopes to build on that sectional performance.

“I’ve got to have more confidence on the floor,” he said. “It’s all about confidence. Mo (Edwards) gives me a lot of confidence. He always tells me to shoot. I’ve just got to start believing in myself.”

Edwards also seeks to build on his postseason that featured repeated clutch plays in the second half of all four games.

“I had to come out and lead my team because I’m the one that gets them going,” Edwards said. “Being a leader, that’s all it is. Leading my team, being confident and being positive and not worrying about all the negative stuff that’s going on.”

March brought a lovefest for the Redbirds and their fans, but it was not a season free of adversity. After a 6-1 start, Alton endured a 3-10 stretch that left them just one game over .500 at 9-8.

The Redbirds rebounded with successive victories over Belleville East, East St. Louis and Collinsville. Then came a tragic reminder of the irrelevance of victory or defeat with the death of former Redbird and 2015 Alton graduate Demonte Wigfall in an automobile crash in Northern Illinois.

“It’s just been so hard for us, all the ups and downs,” Edwards said. “We lost our brother. I feel like at the end of the year, we came together and played hard and that’s when it really matters.”

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