ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Girls’ Roundup : Lynwood Plays the Numbers and Beats Edison, 56-51

The girls’ basketball teams of Edison and Lynwood high schools met Tuesday night in what turned out to be a numbers game.

First, the obvious.

Lynwood, defending 4-A champion, defeated Edison, 56-51, at Edison.

The Knights’ (10-1) superior number came about because of their superior numbers. Lynwood played nine players.

For all practical purposes, Edison played the entire game with its five starters. That turned out to be not so practical for the Chargers (9-1) because the game’s tempo ranged from fast to frantic.

“They definitely had more depth than us,� said Dave White, Edison coach. “I think that showed in the second half.�

Edison led 14-10 after the first quarter. The Chargers out-hustled Lynwood and outplayed it inside. Edison center Kristi Smith had six points in the first quarter.

The Chargers increased the lead to 27-20 by halftime, as Smith and forwards Stacee Johnson and Claudia Morris continued to dominate inside.

But Lynwood outscored Edison, 8-0, at the start the second half, gaining a 28-27 lead on Tasha Causey’s jump shot with 5:51 left in the third quarter. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter. Reserve forward Antoinette White scored 8 of her team-high 18 points in the quarter. Lynwood held a 35-34 lead after the quarter.

As Van Girard, Lynwood coach, substituted fresh players, Lynwood went on a 8-3 run to begin the fourth quarter. Edison looked tired as it started to make several unforced errors.

“One of our strengths this season has been our depth,� Girard said. “That’s our game. We can run with people, and we can wear them down with our players.�

Which is what Lynwood did in the fourth quarter. The Knights took control of the key. Three critical Lynwood baskets in the quarter came on follows of missed shots.

Probably the most important basket came with 4:03 left. Edison had closed to 45-43, when Lynwood Candice Boyd guard missed a jump shot. But instead of getting the ball back, Edison watched Knight forward Linda Watson grab the rebound and score underneath. Edison would never get that close again.

“We thought about slowing it down,� White said. “But that’s our game, we run. They just beat us tonight. They out-hustled us in the second half.�

Edison was led by guard Denise Ogburn’s 21 points.

In other nonleague action:

Foothill 46, Los Alamitos 43--Sue Davis scored 15 points, and Ashley Selman added 14 points to lead the Knights (6-2) past the Griffins (4-2) at Foothill High School. Jennifer Ensley scored 17 points, and Dianne Sands and Mary Reis each added 11 for Los Alamitos.

In Eisenhower Tournament action:

Indio 54, Magnolia 52--The Sentinels, trailing by eight points with 25 seconds remaining, cut the deficit to two with 12 seconds left, but Dawne Borum’s last-second, 32-foot shot bounced off the front of the rim at the buzzer, as the Rajahs held on for the second-round victory at Rialto’s Eisenhower High.