Edwardsville's Rachel Pranger pulls to the basket as Alton's Jewel Wagner defends in Thursday night's game at Edwardsville.

Any time Alton and Edwardsville’s girls get together for a basketball game it seems the close-town rivalry comes out.

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Edwardsville won the contest this time 49-37 Thursday night at Edwardsville, but Alton was scrappy throughout, never letting the Lady Tigers completely slip away.

Both coaches were not pleased with the turnovers in the game and neither coach appeared ecstatic at the overall play of their girls.

Edwardsville coach Lori Blade said she was pleased with the overall outcome as her girls moved to 16-0 overall and 8-0 in the Southwestern Conference.

Edwardsville’s Rachel Pranger and Alton’s Lajarvia Brown led all scorers in the game with 17 points each.

Alton’s coach Bobby Rickman said his girls knew how good a team Edwardsville has and this game is always important for his team.

“Our girls always look forward to it,” he said of playing Alton. “We have a lot of people in new roles and we are gradually coming together. I am really proud of the steps we are making. We did have too many turnovers.”

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Edwardsville’s Lori Blade said she wants to see her girls play with more consistency. She added she hopes her girls snap back in place at next week’s Salem Tournament.

“We are not fluid in our offense right now,” Blade said. “We have had some sickness. It is a long season and we are having a good season. We will have four games next week and that will be a test in itself. We are 16-0, but we can’t rest on that.”

Rickmann praised Brown and described her as one of the best players in the Southwestern Conference

“She is an unbelievable athlete,” he said of Brown.

Edwardsville led 18-10 at the end of the first quarter; 29-16 at halftime and 41-25 at the end of three quarters.

Makenzie Silvey added 11 points and Criste’on Waters had eight points for Edwardsville. Megan Paulda contributed seven points for Alton.

 

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