by Rocky River, Ohio – For the first time since 1995, the Lutheran West Longhorns are on to the district championship with a 71-69 win over Edgewood in the OHSAA Division IV, Northeast 4 district semifinals.
Edgewood jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks to early baskets from Faith Vencill, Carly Kray, and Annie-Mae Johnson. But the Longhorns would respond, thanks to a pair of early baskets from senior Aliciana Medina. Medina came into Tuesday’s game looking for her 1000th career point. She would sink a pair of free throws to get to that mark with 1:29 left in the first quarter.
Edgewood would lead 17-13 after the first quarter. After an Ava Carter triple cut the deficit to 17-16, the Warriors went on an 8-0 run to increase the lead to 24-16. They would lead by as much as 33-23 thanks to a Faith Vencill basket. The Longhorns responded with an 8-0 run to trim their deficit to 33-31 going into the halftime break.
Despite first-half foul trouble, timely long-range buckets kept the Longhorns within reach. Chloe Campbell gave the Longhorns their first lead of the game with a triple a minute into the third quarter. Aliciana Medina, who had a triple to close out a strong first half, went eight of nine at the charity stripe, helping Lutheran West pad their lead to 54-46 at the end of three.
But Edgewood responded with a rally of their own.
Despite foul trouble of their own, seniors Carly Kray and Faith Vencill each hit big baskets to keep the Warriors in it. Kray had a steal and a layup to knot the score at 60. A few minutes later, freshman Hailey Rhodes drew contact for a basket to give Edgewood a 66-65 lead with 1:34 to play.
On the ensuing possession, Aliciana Medina drew contact and headed to the line looking to give the Longhorns the lead. She sank both free throws, giving Lutheran West a 67-66 lead. After a stop on defense, Ava Carter was fouled with 35 seconds to play. She sank a pair of free throws to increase the lead to 69-66. Lutheran West got one more defensive stop and Aliciana Medina sank two more free throws.
A Faith Vencill layup plus free throw provided the final margin.
Aliciana Medina finished with 32 points, going 16-17 from the charity stripe en route to the win. Maddie Kandrach overcame foul trouble to score 11 points, nine in the fourth quarter. The Longhorns also got important contributions from Ella Heisner and Ava Carter, who finished with nine and eight points, respectively.
Edgewood had three players finish in double figures, led by junior Faith Vencill with 28 points. Senior Carly Kray finished with 27, and Annie Mae Johnston added ten.
Lutheran West advances to the district final where they will face top-seeded Laurel at North Ridgeville on Saturday, March 28th at 4:00pm.
Extended highlights below:
