Edwardsville too tall for Loyola

NORMAL Emmonnie Henderson struck quite a hulking pose, standing next to Loyola's smallish lineup.

She took full advantage.

Henderson, Edwardsville's burly 6-foot-2 All-State junior, grabbed a Class 4A finals record 20 rebounds to go with 15 points, powering the Tigers past Loyola 51-34 in the second Class 4A girls basketball semifinal on Friday at Redbird Arena.

"It's a natural, God-given talent," Henderson said. "I try to use it to the best of my ability."

No. 4 Edwardsville (34-1), which won its first state tournament game after three quarterfinal losses, advances to play No. 1 Whitney Young in Saturday night's championship game. Edwardsville, whose only loss this season is to Class 2A champ Quincy Notre Dame, played its second game against a team north of Interstate 80 Friday but Henderson knows the Young kids well from AAU.

"Sometimes it comes down to the draw," said Tigers coach Lori Blade, who won two state titles at Carrollton, of grabbing the elusive win at Redbird. "I know we have a tough task ahead."

Loyola (26-8) came in with one starter taller than 5-10, Edwardsville with four starters 5-11 or taller and that size disparity played out on the court. Edwardsville, which never trailed, outrebounded Loyola 51-25 with 26 offensive rebounds turning into 23 second-chance points.

"They're a very physical team," Loyola coach Jeremy Schoenecker said. "Our objective was to keep them off the glass, and obviously we didn't do that tonight."

An 8-1 Edwardsville run to start the second quarter made it 22-13, and the Tigers held Loyola scoreless the first seven minutes of the third quarter to open a 34-14 lead.

"We did a good job of contesting their shots," Blade said, "and rushing their shots."

Kortney Dunbar scored 11 points off the bench for Edwardsville. Lauren Kriz and Anna Schueler each scored 9 points for Loyola, making its first state tournament appearance since 1999.