SuperFan Shootout: Edwardsville pulls away from QND in fourth quarter in showdown of two girls basketball dynasties

QUINCY — Sydney Harris said she and her Edwardsville girls basketball teammates tend to struggle following a long bus ride.

That haul from Madison County to Quincy, however, proved to be little or no problem when the Tigers outlasted Quincy Notre Dame 66-54 in Saturday night’s marquee matchup in the SuperFan Shootout at The Pit.

Harris and the rest of the Tigers (23-4) lived up to the pregame hype surrounding them. They are ranked No. 4 in the state among Class 4A programs.

And for that matter, so did QND (22-2), which entered No. 1 in Class 2A.

Harris, the 6-foot-1 senior wunderkind bound for Central Michigan of the Mid-American Conference, demonstrated why she’s one of the state’s premier talents.

So did QND’s Abbey Schreacke.

Harris scored 29 points and reeled in eight rebounds to help a deep and talented Edwardsville roster win its 13th straight. QND received 33 points and seven boards from Schreacke, a 5-10 junior.

Harris said the Tigers were well aware of Notre Dame’s prowess, and the individual abilities of Schreacke.

“We were not looking past QND, not at all, and we all knew what kind of player Abbey is,” assured Harris, who notched her 20th game of the season with at least 20 points. 

Edwardsville coach Caty Happe agreed with her star player.

“We know all about Notre Dame’s tradition,” Happe said.

The final margin of victory was a bit misleading. Although Edwardsville controlled the scoreboard for the majority of the contest, the Tigers were unable to break the game open until a 13-2 run midway through the fourth quarter. That outburst moved Edwardsville from a scant 51-49 advantage to a 64-52 armlock.

Harris fueled her club’s fourth-quarter surge by scoring the first five points of that pullaway.

“My teammates do a good job of finding me,” Harris said. “We were also able to break QND’s (defensive) pressure.”

Notre Dame coach Eric Orne praised Edwardsville’s effort against QND’s defense.

“We tried to create tempo,” Orne said. “Edwardsville executed well against our pressure — that’s what great teams do. Give Edwardsville credit.”

Edwardsville is rarely intimidated. The Tigers have built one of the state’s most impressive girls basketball dynasties, winning 13 consecutive titles in the rugged Southwestern Conference. The Tigers have won 174 of their last 176 conference games, dating to 2010.

Orne feels his club is in a good position as the postseason nears, despite seeing its eight-game win streak snapped.

“We showed a lot of fight, and I love where we’re at right now,” he said. “We showed a tremendous amount of heart against Edwardsville.”

Orne was also impressed with the scoring duel between Schreacke and Harris.

“They were just going back and forth,” he said.

Happe joined Orne’s appreciation.

“That Abbey is one heckuva player,” said Happe, who also had kind words for her own standout. “(Harris) always gets (our opponent’s) top defender, but she works to get open and get good looks.”

Harris is averaging 23.8 points per game, the most by a Southwestern Conference player since 1999. Earlier this month, Harris became Edwardsville’s career scoring leader and is now 42 points shy of 2,000.

Schreacke had the biggest single quarter of the night, meshing 13 points in the third, the only quarter QND outscored (20-13) the Tigers. She also ended the night with five 3-pointers, one more than Harris.

Edwardsville’s Elle Evans was the game’s only other double-figure scorer with 20 points. She scored 14 of that total in the first half when the Tigers built a 36-25 margin by halftime.

Blair Eftink (9), Lia Quintero (6) and Eryn Cornwell (6) followed Schreacke in the QND scorebook.

Saturday night was Edwardsville’s first visit to The Pit since February 2012 when QND pulled out a 48-44 victory, led by 16 points from Kassidy Gengenbacher.