Edison half way there

Mike Sciacca, Independent

If you were to tell Edison High girls basketball coach Dave White

three weeks ago that his Chargers would hold sole possession of first

place at the midway point of the 2000 Sunset League race, he might not

believe it.

As of today, that’s exactly where Edison resides.

The Chargers ended the first half of league play 5-0, gaining victory No.

5 Thursday night by pulling away from visiting Huntington Beach, 54-39.

Using 9-0 runs in both the third and fourth quarters, Edison was able to

fend off a determined Oiler squad that didn’t go easily.

The win was the seventh straight for the Chargers, who improved to 14-7

overall.

Before league play began, White was wondering where his team, at 7-7,

would fit into the league picture.

“Our goal was to try to go 5-0 the first half of league play, and we

accomplished that,” White said. “But if you were to tell me that we’d get

there after going 7-7 in nonleague play, then I think you’re nuts. I

guess our killer (nonleague) schedule, which had us playing in three big

tournaments, has begun to pay off.”

White’s team also has a goal every time it takes the court, and that is

to hold the opposition to 40 points or less. The Chargers held Huntington

(10-9, 2-3) to 39, and made Oiler sophomore sensation Amy Sanders work

hard for all of her team-high 17 points.

“She’s a great player, but I thought we did a nice job of defending her,”

White said of Sanders. “I thought Huntington played well and not to take

anything away from them, but I really thought we shot the ball poorly,

and yet we still were able to score 54 points.”

It didn’t appear that Edison would score more than 50 points in the game,

not after having held a slim 21-17 halftime lead. The Chargers actually

fell behind, 24-23, when Oiler guard Michelle Ito hit a three-point shot

with 6:46 to play in the third quarter. But that was the last lead of the

ballgame for Huntington, which was outscored, 9-0, over the next 3:16.

Edison’s run began with Katy Monteleone’s go-ahead basket just 11 seconds

after Ito’s score, then Ashleigh Noda nailed a three-point shot to give

the Chargers a 28-24 cushion.

One key to Edison’s success was that the Chargers held Sanders scoreless

in the period until the forward scored on a short jumper with 3:52 left

in the third.

That score also would be Sanders’ last basket over the next eight

minutes. By that time, Edison had a 43-34 lead with 4:35 to play, and the

Oilers could get no closer the rest of the way.

Edison center Michelle Zylstra led all scorers with 19 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. Guard Bianca Ziemann added 14.

In addition to Sanders’ 17, Christine Kimoto scored eight points and Ito

finished with seven to lead Huntington Beach.

Both school’s begin round two of league play next Thursday, and both will

play on the road: Edison faces a stiff test at Marina, while Huntington

will travel to Fountain Valley.

“I thought it was important for us to come out of the block strong in

league play, because our tougher games (Marina, Esperanza, Huntington

Beach) in the second round will be played on the road,” White added.

“Hey, 5-0 - we’ll take it.”