EDWARDSVILLE – Tuesday night's Southwestern Conference girls basketball game between Edwardsville and O'Fallon at Lucco-Jackson Gym was a very special one for the Tigers, especially for four members of the Tigers.
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After all, it was Senior Night, where Aaliyah Box, Annie Ellis, Kayla Johnson and Emma Daech were all honored in a pre-game ceremony for their contributions to the program for the past four years.
And in the game that followed, the Tigers overcame a bit of a slow start to defeat the Panthers going away, EHS clinching the SWC title with a 55-29 win to go to 12-1 in the league with one game left (at Alton Thursday night) and 25-1 overall with the IHSA Class 4A playoffs getting under way next week.
"We boarded well,” said Tiger coach Lori Blade, “I thought; we kept them off the offensive boards pretty good and we shared the basketball really well. It was just one of those games back-and-forth early, we got a little separation.
“We know each other so well, both teams, and hopefully we'll see each other again next week (in the IHSA regionals), but we'll see. I was proud of the kids with their effort to win the conference tonight.”
Though the Tigers clinched the SWC crown, Panther coach Ryan Massey believes the Panthers still have something to play for; the Panthers fell to 16-10 overall and 9-4 in the league, in second place behind Edwardsville, and have their Senior Night coming up Thursday against Belleville West.
“It's pretty easy,” Massey said. “We've got Senior Night coming up on Thursday night and a chance to finish second in the conference. My girls will; they're resilient, they'll bounce back.”
Some missed shots early on kept things close between the two teams; the Panthers even having a very small lead on the Tigers in the opening term, but the Tigers kept battling and managed to grab a small lead at quarter time, Edwardsville up 9-6, before getting on a roll in the second term to extend the lead out to 30-17 and keeping things going to lead 45-25 at three-quarter time to take firm control of the contest.
Mackenzie Silvey led the way for Edwardsville with at 15-point night, with Crist'eon Waters also scoring 15. Seniors Box and Daech also scored for Edwardsville, with all four seniors getting starts. Marta Durk had 13 points to lead the Panthers on the night for her team.
The Tigers close out the regular season with a game at Alton Thursday night, then take on either Collinsville or East St. Louis in the semifinals of the IHSA Class 4A Belleville West Regional at 6 p.m. Feb. 16; that regional final is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 18, with the winner of that regional moving into the Alton Sectional beginning Feb. 22.
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