Whitney Young completes undefeated season
NORMAL — Nobody doubted whether Whitney Young was the best team at Redbird Arena this weekend.
No, the Dolphins belong among the state’s best teams ever.
No. 1 and 34-0 Young cemented its place in that conversation Saturday night, becoming the first undefeated state champion since Peoria Richwoods in 2005 with a 63-51 never-in-doubt win over No. 4 Edwardsville.
“I’m sure it’s going to go down as one of the best teams in Illinois history,” said Young coach Corry Irvin, a 1998 graduate of Larkin. “It’s great for the program and great for the girls.”
Young, ranked No. 2 nationally, according to USA Today, needed four overtimes to outlast Bolingbrook in a Monday supersectional. That drama didn’t follow the Dolphins south to Normal with blowouts of Bartlett and Edwardsville. Young is just the third large-school team to go undefeated in the last 24 years, joining Richwoods and Candace Parker’s 2003 Naperville Central group.
“Not many teams have been able to go undefeated, untouched and then pull it out with a state championship,” said Young’s Kentucky-bound senior guard Janee Thompson, who scored 12 points. “I’m really proud of my team that we are one of them.”
Young, which trailed just once in two games at Redbird, led wire-to-wire Saturday, jumping out to a 16-6 lead after a quarter. It was 34-12 by halftime, and the lead bulged to 24 in the third quarter before a late Edwardsville charge.
“We just tried to stay focused and keep our intensity up,” said Young junior Linnae Harper. “We had to go out with a bang.”
Edwardsville’s junior All-Stater, Emmonnie Henderson, had a 4A finals record 20 rebounds in a Friday semifinal win, but it was Harper who was a beast on the boards Saturday. Despite standing all of 5-foot-8, the Dolphins junior guard had 14 rebounds — 11 in the first half — to go with 14 points.
“I think size-wise she’s probably the best rebounding guard in the country,” Irvin said. “She has a knack for the ball that you just can’t teach.”
Henderson scored 10 points for Edwardsville (34-2), but only 2 came in the decisive first half. Of the Tigers’ five losses the last two years, four came to eventual state champs — Montini and Bolingbrook last year, 2A champion Quincy Notre Dame and Young this season.
The Tigers might just be the ones to cut down the nets next year. Four starters are juniors — besides Henderson, guard Ashia Jones scored 18 points Saturday.