GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Iwamasa Takes Charge Early for Edison

There are fast starts, and then there is what Melanie Iwamasa did Wednesday night.

Iwamasa scored 14 points in the first four minutes to lead the Edison girls’ basketball team to a 68-36 victory over Century in a Southern Section Division I-A qualifying game at Century.

The Chargers (13-10) advanced to the first round at Arroyo Saturday night.

Iwamasa, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, made four of four three-point attempts and a layup by the time the game reached the 4-minute 2-second mark of the first quarter. During Iwamasa’s outburst, Edison went from a 2-2 tie to a 16-7 lead and never looked back.

“Melanie’s usually so unselfish, but tonight she took the attitude that she was going to be an offensive threat,” Edison Coach Phil Abraham said. “She’s a senior captain and this is her last shot at CIF, so she came out ready to go.”

The rest of the Chargers followed Iwamasa’s lead. Edison led, 23-11, at the end of the first quarter and then put the game away before halftime. Iwamasa went to the bench with two fouls late in the first quarter, but guard Joan Paje picked up where her teammate left off.

Paje made three three-pointers in the second quarter as Edison quickly extended its lead. Paje’s first three-pointer of the quarter made it 30-11 and her second made it 39-15 with 2:55 left.

In between Paje’s outside attack, Leila Ryan scored six points off steals to widen the gap.

Edison led, 42-17, at halftime, which slightly surprised Abraham.

“We came in expecting to win, but I didn’t think we’d make eight three-pointers in the first half,” he said. “I was happy to see us keep our intensity the rest of the way after we got going so quickly.”

Century (14-10) played hard, but couldn’t match up with the Chargers. The Centurions stayed with a 3-2 zone throughout the first half, despite Edison’s success from the perimeter.

“I was surprised they stayed with the zone so long, but (Century Coach Jeff Watts) said he thought they’d have even more problems going man (to man) against us,” Abraham said. “We just kept swinging the ball from side to side and kept getting open shots.”

By the time Century changed defenses in the second half, Edison had a 30-point lead.

Iwamasa finished with 22 points, including five three-pointers, and Paje added 15 for the Chargers. Ryan finished with 12 points and five steals and Katie Colclough had a game-high 13 rebounds.

Lucy Guerero led Century with nine points.