Rachel Pranger eyes the rest of the floor in Tuesday's sectional game at Granite City. She led all scorers with 19 points.Freshman Rachel Pranger rarely resembles a first-year high school player on the court and Tuesday night she exploded for 19 points to guide Edwardsville's Tigers to a 48-41 victory over Belleville West in a sectional game at Granite City.

Pranger also had eight rebounds in the contest. The Tigers had an all-around balanced team scoring effort with multiple players scoring eight points or above.

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Edwardsville coach Lori Blade said Pranger has good range and continues to show it.

Pranger said she was excited to capture another win against Belleville West, a difficult opponent, and said she couldn't wait to face Rock Island on Thursday.

Edwardsville's girls (29-0) play in the Pekin Sectional championship against Rock Island (25-7) at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Blade said Belleville West was a senior-laden team which made it tough, but that her kids stepped up at different times during the game. The coach said her team came out strong with the early lead.

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"We sure didn't put them away," she said after the start.

She said she expects another tough contest on Thursday night.

"Rock Island is good," she said. "We have a day to prepare. We have to play to win and we can't get stressed out."

Edwardsville slipped to a 9-0 lead on Tuesday and was ahead 10-2 after the first period. The Tigers led 20-14 at the half and 32-28 at the end of three quarters. Belleville West crept to within two points with less than 50 seconds remaining (43-41), but some clutch free throw shooting in the final minutes made the difference for the Tigers.

Criste'on Waters controlled the boards with 13 rebounds; she added eight points. Makenzie Silvey also contributed eight points. Amayha Dycus had nine points with several clutch free throws. Dycus had two free throws to make it 45-41 late in the game. Aaliyah Box had two points but had some key defensive plays and Kate Martin had two points for Edwardsville.

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