Edgewood High School’s girls basketball team didn’t exactly surge to the top of the Southwest Ohio Conference on Saturday afternoon, but the Cougars got there nonetheless.
A 12-point lead nearly melted away in the fourth quarter, but Edgewood held on for a 33-31 victory over visiting Little Miami at Ron Kash Court.
The Panthers, looking to clinch at least a share of the title, fell to 13-7 overall and 9-2 in the SWOC. The Cougars are 11-9, 9-2, and Northwest moved to 13-6, 9-2, with Saturday’s 43-21 win over Talawanda.
All three teams have one conference contest remaining next week, and all are home games. Little Miami faces Ross on Wednesday, while Edgewood meets Mount Healthy and Northwest plays Harrison on Saturday.
Freshman forward Callie Hunt led the Cougars in Saturday’s triumph, collecting 13 points and 11 rebounds. Zoe Stephen added 7 points, 5 in the last period.
Edgewood was 7 of 17 at the foul line, 3 of 9 in the fourth quarter. Three of those misses were front ends of the one-and-one.
Cierra Lipps ended a string of six straight EHS misfires at the stripe with 5.7 seconds left. Little Miami’s Mariah Clemons missed a driving runner at the other end as time expired.
Ally Grake had 8 points and Sydney Kuritar chipped in 7 for the Panthers. Clemons, who suffered an ankle injury on the last play, added 6 points and 8 rebounds.
Little Miami 6-6-3-16—31
Edgewood 6-8-11-8—33
LITTLE MIAMI (13-7, 9-2 SWOC): Marian Clemons 2 2 6, Karrah Wind 1 0 2, Sydney Kuritar 2 2 7, Kaitlyn Simpkins 2 0 5, Ally Grake 3 0 8, Emily Nugen 1 0 3. Totals: 11-4-31
EDGEWOOD (11-9, 9-2 SWOC): Zoe Stephen 3 0 7, Cierra Lipps 1 3 5, Emma Allen 3 0 6, Callie Hunt 4 4 13, Avery Stahlheber 1 0 2. Totals: 12-7-33
3-pointers: L 5 (Grake 2, Nugen, Kuritar, Simpkins), E 2 (Stephen, Hunt)
