4th quarter rallies highlighted Edgewood girls basketball sectional
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A trio of epic comebacks determined the outcome of the Class 3A Edgewood girls basketball sectional.
Northview, the champion, had two of them to bounce Owen Valley and Edgewood from the tournament.
The Mustangs awaited Cascade in the semifinal and found themselves in a slow-down game and building pressure with each missed shot in the first half to trail 13-7 in an eventual 31-24 win.
"The ball would not go in the basket for us," Edgewood coach Noah Stuckey said. "Cascade slowed it down quite a bit and that put pressure on us. Every look had to go in and we really didn't handle that well the first two quarters.
"Then we got the defense going. We turned them over quite a bit in the fourth quarter. That eight points felt like 100."
Edgewood hit a couple buckets in a row and put the pressure back on the Cadets, who ended up not scoring in the fourth quarter.
"We have 10 seniors," Stuckey said. "Our backs were against the wall and we knew we had to go make plays. Ally (Bland) hits a layup and Macey (Crider) hit a 3. The crowd got going and we fed off that."
Later that night Northview trailed Owen Valley 40-38 in a foul fest and made the most of their 16 trips to the line in the fourth quarter, hitting 13 in a 54-47 win. Carlee Schrader had 31 points for the Knights while Reagan White went 8-of-9 from the line in the final period.
Similarly, Edgewood also kept Northview at arm's length the entire first three quarters, up 23-18 at half and 28-22 going to the fourth. But a 20-7 finish sent Northview onward.
"Our defense was really, really good," Stuckey said. "Ava LaRoche shut down Schraeder, who averaged like 17 a game. I felt like everything they did they tried to get the ball through her and Ava was awesome stopping it and Macey was also helpful when they tried to get her inside.
"Our zone slowed down their penetration quite a bit. We were collapsing and making them turn it over or contesting shots and not allowing offensive rebounds."
But it takes four quarters and Northview won the last with the man defense, eschewing the zone from the earlier meeting.
"They turned up the pressure defensively," Stuckey said. "And we made some mistakes against it. (Rekell) Terrell is defensively all over the place. She goes 100 miles an hour. They slowed our transition.
"And then defensively, we didn't get out on a couple of 3s, which hurt us as well."
Lighthouse makes history
Lighthouse Christian began it's IHSAA Era in 2020 and the sectional breakthroughs have been coming.
The boys basketball team was the first in 2023, winning twice to make the title game. Then the volleyball team under Brian Brown accomplished the same feat. This fall, LCA sent its first girls cross country runner to regional.
And finally, last Tuesday, Brown's girls basketball team got in on the fun with a 65-32 win over Dugger Union in their Class 1A bracket at Clay City, despite missing starter Aleah Winders to a severe late-season knee injury.
"It was real exciting to finally get that first win," Brown said. "We played very well. I was kind of concerned because it's tough to beat a team twice in one season, but they didn't have Sage Stahl and we didn't have Aleah. But we played really well."
After a strong first half, the Lions pushed the lead to nearly 30.
"Then it hit me, we're going to win our first sectional game," Brown said. "It was hitting the players, too, but they stayed focused.
"Afterward, we celebrated a lot on the court and in the locker room. This is for all the Lighthouse Christian girls who tried and didn't get to that point. They've left their mark at Lighthouse."
The semifinal vs. eventual champ White River Valley showed the Lions there's still another big step to take to move closer to being a contender. Brown and the players appreciated the extra practice time, but the Wolverines were relentless defensively early, forcing turnovers to jump up 16-2.
Aleah's presence was missed more than they realized, Brown noted, from her ballhandling to her leadership.
"Man, they were just so tough," Brown said. "We could not handle the pressure. They went full-court the whole game and double-teamed (leading scorer) Ellie Mae (Winders) and the rest of the team couldn't handle their pressure.
"We got behind the 8-ball, but we stayed within 12 going to the third quarter, but we couldn't hit anything. I think we shot under 20%. WRV put it to us at the end."
And the Wolverines, who lose just one senior, are not going anywhere.
"Hopefully, next year, we can play them in the championship game," Brown said.
HBCA All-District
Bloomington South's Julia Lashley, Violet Hall and Audrey Craft and Edgewood's Crider and Ally Bland were named to the All-District 1 Team by the Hoosier Basketball Coaches Association, which covers the southern part of the state.
Those five will be in the running to be chosen for the coach's all-star game. There are four All-District Teams.
Tatum DeVries was named to the Underclass All-District 1 Team.
Scouting Floyd Central
Floyd Central also had two players named HBCA All-District in Elise Coleman (6-0, Sr.) and Brinley Clark (5-10, Sr.).
Floyd Central lost 11 sectional games in a row before their breakthrough last year that led to a loss to Gibson Southern at regional.
The Highlanders' only regional crown came in 2010, when they won their first sectional since the single class days in 1993. FC is giving up just 35 points a game, with Jeffersonville the only in-state team to reach 50 against it. The schedule also includes a 55-45 win over 3A No. 2 Silver Creek.
South beat the three Hoosier Hills Conference foes on its slate, Bedford North Lawrence, New Albany and Seymour, by similar scores as did Floyd Central.
Boys time change
Due to the girls regional, South is moving its boys basketball game at Southport up to Thursday with the usual 6/7:30 p.m. start times.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: 4th quarter rallies featured in Edgewood girls basketball sectional
