Greenwood Christian’s girls basketball team hadn’t exactly faced a gauntlet lately, having won two of its three previous December games by 48 and 56 points.
Edinburgh presented much stiffer competition on Thursday night, but the Cougars passed the test with ease, keeping the visiting Lancers at arm’s length for most of their 63-50 victory.
"I think we are starting to hit our stride," Greenwood Christian coach Alan Weems said.
The Cougars (6-4) got some separation in the first half with a pair of extended runs. In the first quarter, they scored 11 consecutive points over a stretch of almost five minutes to take a 13-4 lead, and after Edinburgh cut the deficit to four with 5:02 remaining in the half, Greenwood Christian used a 9-0 burst to get its advantage back to double digits at 31-18.
A dozen second-half turnovers by the Cougars left a window open, but the Lancers were never quite able to climb through it. Edinburgh scored seven in a row at one point during the fourth quarter and got within nine, 56-47, on Destiney Ramey’s fourth 3-pointer of the game with 1:15 to go, but Greenwood Christian was able to clinch it with six straight free throws over the next minute.
Four of those came from freshman Izzy Reed, who was a perfect 8 of 8 from the line on her way to a game-high 23 points.
"It’s a good win," Reed said. "I think we moved the ball really well."
Sarah Mangan added 17 points for the Cougars, who have won the last four regular-season meetings in this budding rivalry. Alexis Mead chipped in with 12, and Grace Peters contributed six steals on the defensive end.
The shorthanded Lancers (4-6), playing without two key pieces of their rotation in Sidney Beier and Annelise Lollar, got 14 points from Ramey and 12 each from Taylor Tatlock and Trinity Tatlock in defeat.
"We’ve been fighting battles with sicknesses and everything like that, but we can’t use that as an excuse," Edinburgh coach Amy Schilling said. "We’ve got to come out and play hard.
"We’ve just got to put our actions where our mouth is. We say we want to get better and win games, but it doesn’t just go by saying it. We’ve got to show it."
