By Ken Severson
For The Republic
EDINBURGH — Playing a slow, deliberate and patient game paid off for West Washington.
The Senators played methodically on offense and, when they needed to, aggressively on defense, taking advantage of numerous Edinburgh turnovers to pull out a 43-40 win over the host Lancers in Class A first-round game Tuesday night.
Having a senior leader also helped the Senators tremendously. Guard Lexi Griffitts scored 16 second-half points on the way to a game-high 22.
West Washington (7-14) now advances to the sectional semifinals for the second consecutive season and will take on Crothersville (6-11) on Friday evening.
“West Washington played hard and they deserved to win,” Edinburgh coach Amy Schilling said. “They outhustled us, went after loose balls and were patient and we just couldn’t get into a flow.”
Coming into the sectional, both teams were riding modest highs. West Washington had a two-game winning streak, and Edinburgh had just nipped Indianapolis Lutheran by a point in a thriller. Schilling made it a point with the Lancers to emphasize that they can win the close one, especially after dropping three earlier this season.
“You hate to have an off night, and that’s what happened to us,” Schilling said. “We have come close in a lot of games this season but we had our troubles in the second half.”
The Senators were selective with their shots all night, sometimes making six, seven or even eight passes before taking a shot. Yet they missed seven layups in the first half that might have ended the game early.
Edinburgh’s struggles, meanwhile, were easy to diagnose. The biggest problem was holding on to the ball. The Lancers committed 20 turnovers on the night in different varieties — errant throws, traveling, getting the ball stripped.
One thing going for them, though, was their outside shooting. The Lancers (7-12) hit five 3-point shots, but couldn’t get those going in the second half. The home side scored just four points in the third quarter, and when they did start scoring, it was a bit too late.
“Our rotation wasn’t good all night,” Schilling said.
Edinburgh was led by junior Callie Hancock with 19 points. Annelise Lollar, playing in her final game as a Lancer, added 10.
As this turbulent season comes to an end, Edinburgh will have something to look forward to next season. The Lancers lose one starter in Lollar and four players overall, but have some experienced underclassmen returning.
