Edison moves into the lead

Mike Sciacca, Independent

To win the 2000 Sunset League girls basketball championship,

somebody’s going to have to wrestle it away from the Edison Chargers.

Defending champion Edison established an early lead in the race for the

league crown Thursday by using a late 10-0 run to pull out a 56-52

victory over visiting Esperanza.

The showdown was like watching a prize fight as two of the league’s

favorites to the title went toe-to-toe, each taking control, each falling

behind, in what has become a fierce rivalry between the two schools in

recent years.

It wasn’t so much Edison’s 1-2 punch that did in Esperanza; rather, the

Chargers’ knockout came in the form of the three-point shot.

“We live by the three-point shot, and we die by the three-point shot and

personally, that’s how we were playing it in the fourth quarter,” Edison

Coach Dave White said. “We just kept fighting back, and our shots began

to fall.”

It looked as though Edison (12-7 overall, 3-0 in league) would die a slow

death when it missed four three-point shots on consecutive trips

downcourt, trying, in vain, it seemed, to overcome 49-46 deficit with

3:09 to play.

Bethany Blair, who scored 13 points, hit a jumper just inside the key to

give Esperanza (11-5, 2-1) its three-point cushion to cap an 8-0 run by

the Aztecs, which wiped out a 46-41 Edison lead. But after Edison’s

Michelle Zylstra hit a pair of free throws and Rachael Ziemann came up

with a steal by punching the ball away from the Aztecs’ Lindsay Helvey,

the Chargers held possession and were within 49-48 with 2:09 to play.

Rachael Ziemann turned that theft into the key basket of the night, as

she fed her identical twin, Bianca, in the corner, and the sophomore

guard hit a three-point shot to give Edison a lead it wouldn’t

relinquish.

Zylstra then came up a huge defensive stand by blocking Kristin Peters’

shot moments later, and the Chargers turned that into another

three-pointer by Bianca Ziemann and suddenly, Edison had a 54-49 lead

with 1:11 left.

“Obviously, those were the key shots of the ballgame,” White said. “We

were almost dead before that turning point but like a fighter, we just

didn’t give up. Michelle (Zylstra) had a really big shot that denied them

a chance to get closer, and then Bianca’s second three (point shot) was

the icing on the win.”

Helvey threw up an air ball from three-point range with 39 seconds left,

and the Aztecs, who had a four-game win streak snapped, were finished.

Edison then went to its spread offense and ran off 28 seconds before

Zylstra was fouled. She hit two more free throws to extend the Edison

lead to 56-49, the foul shots capping a 10-0 surge.

The sparring between the two teams began early. Edison grabbed a 19-10

lead after the first quarter of play, thanks to 3 of 11 shooting from the

floor by Esperanza. The Aztecs made up for that horrid start by scoring

the first eight points of the second period to pull to within a point,

and they grabbed their first lead of the game on two Peters free throws

with 40 seconds left in the half.

Esperanza led, 29-28, at the break, but Edison forged a tie at 31-31 on

Ashleigh Noda’s three-point shot a minute into the third quarter. The

Aztecs responded with their second 7-0 run to go up 39-32, but the

Chargers closed strongly, outscoring Esperanza, 8-0, over the final 3:09

of the quarter to take a 40-39 edge into the final period.

Again, three-point shots by Zylstra and Bianca Ziemann, brought the

Chargers back from the abyss.

“We were running out of gas at that point,” White said. “These two teams

are about as even as you can get. “It was another great game between the

teams, with each taking runs and knocking the other down. This is a big,

big win, but one game doesn’t make the league race. There’s plenty more

(games) to be played.”

But for now, White will enjoy the spoils of his team’s fifth consecutive

victory and more importantly, all but made up for a 20-point loss the

Chargers suffered against Esperanza three weeks ago in the semifinals of

the Santa Barbara Tournament.

“It’s like night and day, those two games,” he said. “I think we were

able to make up such a great difference from that game by becoming more

consistent in our play. Plus, our defensive play has really picked up.

That, and Esperanza shot the lights out (67-percent).”

Bianca Ziemann, who also hit the winning basket last Saturday in a two

overtime victory over Mater Dei, led Edison with 18 points. Zylstra

finished with 12, Rachael Ziemann had 11, and Noda, who hit three

three-point shots, also scored 11 points.

Peters, Esperanza’s lone senior, led the Aztecs with 14 points.