The Monticello Sages did not look like their usual selves early but overcame the sluggish start to dominate Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 69-28 Tuesday night in non-conference boy's basketball action from the Sievers Center at Monticello High School.

Despite looking slow and listless, the Sages led 22-10 after the first quarter and 37-14 at the intermission.

A 30-point lead to start the 4th quarter allowed for running clock the rest of the way.

Ben Cresap led all scorers with 19 points, six steals, three rebounds and two assists to zero turnovers. He received his second straight Piatt/DeWitt County ServPro Player of the Game.

Dylan Ginalick scored 11 points and Tanner Buehnerkemper grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and scored six points. 

Wyatt Hilligoss scored ten points to lead the Knights and grabbed a team-high seven boards. 

The Sages turned over the Knights 18 times for 27 points. They scored a season-high 48 points in the paint and dished out 18 assists to ten turnovers.

Monticello shot 51-percent from the floor for the game and held ALAH to 22-percent shooting and 1-for-13 from 3-point range.

The Sages dominated the glass 42-20 with 22 offensive rebounds for 12-second chance points and turned 12 steals into 22 fast break points.

ALAH drops to 4-4 overall while Monticello improves to 7-0.

The Sages head to Greenville for the Comets Quad Saturday. They start the day taking on Carlyle at 3 pm and then take on the hosts at 7:30 pm. Hear both games on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com.