Edison Girls Win With Defense Again

The shots haven’t been falling as consistently as the Edison girls’ basketball team might like, but the Charger defense has been tough, and it showed in a 47-35 nonleague victory over host Laguna Hills Wednesday night.

The 10th-ranked Chargers (4-3) held the Hawks to 12 first-half points in taking a nine-point halftime lead. The Charger offense went cold, though, and Laguna Hills clawed back to cut a 33-18 third-quarter deficit to 33-32 with 4:48 left in the fourth.

A jumper by Racheal Ziemann and a three-pointer by Ashleigh Noda gave Edison a 42-33 edge with 1:56 to go.

“Sometimes we loosen up and we don’t play four hard quarters,” said Charger guard Bianca Ziemann, who finished with nine points and six rebounds. “Then they just got pumped up and caught us.”

The Hawks (5-2) struggled against the Charger defense, which threw combinations of man-to-man and zones all night, often forcing Laguna Hills to take risky shots just to beat the shot clock.

Free-throw shooting kept the Hawks in the game, as they made 16 of 19.

Megan Aaker (13 points) and Shannon Owens (nine points) had off nights from the field for the Hawks, but combined to go 15 of 16 from the line.

Michelle Zylstra finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Chargers.