Tiger seniors heading back to state tournament

BLOOMINGTON – The goal for Edwardsville's girls basketball team this year – especially the team's three key seniors – was a simple one: Find a way to get back to the IHSA Class 4A Girls Basketball Championship's state tournament.

The Tigers accomplished their goal Monday night, getting out to a 14-0 lead early and going on to post a 59-43 win over Chicago Mother McAuley in Monday night's Class 4A Super-Sectional at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center.

Lombard Montini now awaits the Tigers at 5:30 p.m Friday in the state semifinals at Illinois State's Redbird Arena in Normal – a rematch of a semifinal contest from last year's tournament.

“We were ready to battle,” said the Tigers Kate Martin, who led EHS with a 23-point performance in the game. “I think that showed how badly we wanted to win this game; they pressured us and did a great job, but we handled the ball well.”

Last year's experience in reaching the final and falling to Geneva on a last-second shot proved valuable for the Tigers, felt Myriah Noodel-Hayward, who contributed nine points in the win. “We've got to go hard in practice,” Noodel-Hayward said of one of the lessons learned from last year. “We were ready to battle.”

The 14-0 start the Tigers had was an important factor for the Tigers, felt Rachel Pranger, who had a 16-point night for EHS; equally important was a run the Tigers had in the third quarter when the Mighty Macs were making a move on Edwardsville. “We had to keep our energy up and work hard as a team, keep the team defense aspect of the game; we were able to do that,” Pranger said.

Friday's other semifinal game has defending champion Geneva – who defeated the Tigers in last year's final – going up against Des Plaines Maine West at 7:15 p.m. Friday; the championship game is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Saturday, following the third-place game at 5:30 p.m. This weekend's games will be available on a live-stream from NBC Sports Chicago, the IHSA's television outlet, on the NFHS Network via ihsa.tv for a small fee.

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