EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville's girls' basketball squad lost 42-36 to a quality Quincy team in the IHSA Class 4A Granite City girls basketball regional semifinals Monday night, Feb. 17, 2025, at Granite City Memorial Gym.
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The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but a forecast of snow, plus a pending Winter Weather Advisory, caused the game to be moved up to Monday night.
The Tigers did play well, but couldn't overcome a tough Blue Devil zone defense, plus cold shooting, in being eliminated.
Edwardsville head coach Bryan Young said when asked how he was feeling after the game that his girls came out, and tried hard, played hard, but just had a tough time putting it in the basket.
He added: "That's the name of the game, you've got to put it in the basket to score. Give Quincy a lot of credit; they've improved a lot since the first time we played them, and it showed."
Quincy played good defense all the way through the game, and deserved much credit for their efforts.
"They played their zone defense, and they kind of had us flat," Young said. "They had us back on our heels the whole game, we never really got going on offense, so, that was the problem. We really never got going on offense, missed some chances. You've got to put the ball in the basket, and we didn't do that."
As mentioned, the Blue Devils were much improved since the Tigers first saw them in a 42-29 Edwardsville win on Nov. 23, 2024.
"Yes they are,' Young said. "There's a little freshman (Khloe Nicholson), she stepped up and played a lot better than the first time. I thought we had a little momentum when we got (Jade Brown) in foul trouble, but we didn't take advantage of that. They had some girls step up, make some shots, and hurt us."
Looking back at the entire season, the Edwardsville players came to practice every day and worked hard. Young was appreciative of their efforts and dedication to the team.
"I thought we had a pretty good season," Young said. "This was disappointing tonight, but it doesn't take away from all the hard work that the girls put in all year. I appreciate them coming in every day, and putting up with us as a coaching staff, putting up with me. I'm proud of them for their work all year. Just tonight was a tough night. Really, there's only one team that's going to not feel how we're feeling tonight, and that's who wins the state championship."
Cameron Byquist gave Quincy an early 2-0 lead, but the Tigers went ahead 3-2 on a Lainey McFarlin basket. The Blue Devils went back on top on a three by Nicholson, and from there, the lead went back and forth, with neither team taking more than a three-point lead. Edwardsville took a 9-8 lead after one quarter.
At the start of the second, Nicholson hit an outside shot to give Quincy a 10-9 lead, and the Blue Devils kept the lead, going up 18-11 on a three by Myley Longcor. McFarlin later hit a three to cut the lead to 18-17, and another three from Kennedy Gieseking tied the game 20-20. The Blue Devils answered with a basket from Nicholson and two free throws from Brown to take a 24-20 lead at halftime.
Byquist scored at the start of the second half to extend Quincy's lead to 26-20, and from there, the Blue Devils went on a 7-4 run to take a 33-24 lead. The Tigers tried to rally, as Gieseking hit another three, but Edwardsville trailed at three-quarter time 35-27.
Gieseking hit another three early in the fourth to make it 35-30, giving the Tigers some hope and momentum. Brown scored to make it 37-30, and a three-point play by Semith made it 37-33, with a McFarlin free throw making it 37-34. Baskets by Mia Ellefritz and Nicholson help to stop the comeback attempt, as Quincy went on to their 42-36 win to eliminate the Tigers.
Byquist led Quincy with 13 points, while Nicholson had 10 points, Brown scored seven points, Ellefritz had six points, and Longcor had four points. Mia Semith led the Tigers with 10 points, while Gieseking had nine points, Alandyn Simmons scored eight points, McFarlin had five points, and Sophie Shapiro scored four points.
Edwardsville's season ends at 19-10, while the Blue Devils are now 20-10, and move on to face Alton, who defeated the host Warriors 77-17 in the other semifinal, in the regional final Friday night at 6 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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