COLLINSVILLE – Senior point guard Que Love led Edwardsville with 15 points and forward Katelynne Roberts added 10 as the Tigers came back from being down by as much as 12 points in the first half to win the IHSA Class 4A Collinsville regional title over the host Kahoks 50-40 Friday night at Vergil Fletcher Gym.
The Tigers trailed in the second quarter 23-11 before rallying back to within five at halftime, but fell behind by 11 early in the third quarter, rallying again to tie the game at the end of the third quarter, then scoring the first six points in the fourth quarter and building their lead throughout to win the regional and advance to next week’s sectional.
The Tigers kept chipping away at the Kahoks’ lead before taking control of the game in the final quarter.
“They did,” said Edwardsville head coach Lori Blade. “We got it to four the one time, then I thought the key play then was we let Faith (Liljegren) just go to the basket uncontested for that lay-up, and next thing you know, it’s back to nine. So kudos to them. They played hard, I wouldn’t have expected anything different in their own gym, with the seniors that they’ve got, and the grit that they play with. Coach (Lori) Billy had them very prepared. But Katelynne had some big plays, Kylie (Burg) hit some big shots. It took everybody for us tonight, and I’m just, like I said, really proud of their effort. We hit some big shots at big times, and that’s what made the difference, and we really rebounded hard the second half.”
The Tigers were able to come back in the second quarter and cut the deficit to five by doing some simple things on defense.
“I thought the second quarter, we actually found kids,” Blade said. “First quarter, I didn’t think we found kids in our man, and they were hitting the threes, and everybody was putting them up. So we were like scrambling. Second quarter, I thought we settled in, and we did go to a zone a little bit, but they cooled off, too. And then we settled in a little bit better. And then in the third quarter, same thing, we just did more of the same thing. But second half, I thought we boarded really hard, took care of the ball for the most part, and forced some turnovers that led to a little bit of transition.”
It’s Edwardsville’s 17th straight regional title, and to Blade, winning the regional never gets old.
“It doesn’t get old, because it’s different kids,” Blade said. “But you love to see them celebrate, and I’m proud of their effort, because they definitely earned this one tonight.”
The Kahoks came out and kept battling throughout the entire game, but Collinsville missed some shots in the second half that they had made in the first half, and it spelled a difference.
“I felt like in the first half, we hit some shots that I don’t think they expected us to hit,” Billy said, “and that we’ve been working on, trying to get the ball outside and get our three-point shooters kind of lit up, and that’s what they did tonight. Second quarter, they got into a zone, and we struggled a little bit, but I felt like we just, defensively, really gave them a hard time, and they struggled with us. Then second half, we missed some shots, the shots we were making, we were missing.”
The Kahoks had a great effort throughout, and Billy felt her players gave it all the had for the entire game.
“Oh, absolutely,” Billy said. “That’s what I told my girls. I said ‘you know, you left it all on the floor, you gave it everything you had, and you have nothing but to be proud of what you’ve done and the effort you gave.’ I’m just so proud of them; they’re just amazing kids.”
Although the Kahoks finished the season 16-14, the team gave a great effort and worked hard all season, and that’s what Billy will take away from their campaign.
“Oh my gosh, just these kids,” Billy said, “just their work ethic and just being with them, and they’re just amazing people. And I’m so honored to be a part of their lives. I’ll always keep that in my heart.”
The Kahoks took an early 5-2 lead to start the game before Astacia Bush and Caite Knutson hit back-to-back threes to up the Collinsville lead to 11-4, causing Edwardsville to call time out. After an exchange of points, Love drove the lane to score and make it 13-8 before Bush hit a long two and Knutson hit another three to make the score 18-8 after the first quarter.
After a free throw at the start of the second quarter from Kristyn Mitchell, the two sides traded threes to make it 22-11, and a Knutson free throw gave Collinsville its biggest lead at 23-11. The Tigers then went on a 7-0 run, with a pair of free throws from Roberts, a three by Elle Evans and a driving lay-in by Sydney Harris that cut the Kahok lead to 23-18. Edwardsville missed a pair of threes before the buzzer to keep the score 23-18 at halftime.
Collinsville came out at the start of the second half and got a three from Mitchell and a three-point play from Liljegren to put the lead back up to 29-18. The Tigers then scored the next five points on a pair of free throws and basket from Maria Smith and a free throw from Love to make it 29-23 before another lay-in from Liljegren made it 31-23 for Collinsville. Back-to-back threes from Evans and Love brought the Tigers to within 31-29, and with 1:33 left in the third, Love stole the ball and scored to tie the game 31-31. The teams exchanged free throws before the end of the quarter, making it a 33-33 game.
The Tigers took charge early, getting a three from Harris and a big three-point play from Roberts to take a 39-33 lead at the start of the period. Mitchell’s three halved the lead to 39-36, but the Tigers hit five-of-six from the free-throw line, including clutch one-and-one conversions from both Burg and Roberts, to go-ahead 44-36. After a pair of Liljegren free throws, Love drained a three from the top of the key to make it 47-38, and after a Mitchell basket inside make it 47-40, an Evans free throw and a steal and score from Love in the final minute made the final score 50-40 Edwardsville.
Love had four steals in the game to take over the number one spot on the Tigers’ all-time steal list, which pleased Blade very much.
“Sweet! Sweet!,” a very proud Blade said. “You know what, that is a record I thought I wasn’t sure I would see get touched. So, a very deserving young lady to get that record, and with the job that she does, not only on the ball, but her anticipation and reading things. But really proud, and she has to be proud of that record, because like I just said, that’s quite an achievement because that one was set pretty high.”
The Tigers improve their record to 27-1 and face a rematch against O’Fallon in the semifinals of the Pekin Sectional at Belleville West High School Monday night in a 7 p.m. tip-off. At the same site on Feb. 19 of last year, a Harris three before the buzzer gave the Tigers a dramatic 48-46 win.
“It is Monday,” Blade said. “It is a quick turnaround. They got the extra day, but you know what? At this point, we’re just glad to be moving on. And hopefully, we’re healthy enough to do that, because this one was pretty physical and pretty hard-fought.”
The Tigers and Panthers are familiar with each other, having played in the Southwestern Conference regularly, and Blade knows her team will be ready to go.
“It’s not like you don’t know each other,” Blade said. So it’s going to be more about, you know, hopefully, Que’s OK, and a couple other nicks and things like that. We’ll be prepared, and we’ll give it everything that we’ve got. It’s been two battles with them both times, and I would expect the same thing come Monday night.”
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
