Edison Girls Fight Off Yorktown for 61-53 Victory

It isn’t often that the district’s co-players of the year are featured in a head-to-head matchup.

And with each team winning once against each other in the regular season, neither Ruth Sherrill of Edison nor Mikayla Venson of Yorktown wanted to lose with a berth in the district tournament finals on the line.

It took until the final minutes for the Eagles to defeat the Patriots, 61-52, in a thrilling semifinal game.

As Yorktown struggled with its early shooting, Edison jumped out to an early 19-10 lead after one quarter and it was the role players who stole the show.

Sophomore forward and All-Rookie selection Sheila Sherrill controlled the defensive boards for the Eagles, not allowing Yorktown to get any second-chance opportunities from their missed shots.

“We beat them by a lot, then they beat us by a lot [in the first two meetings this season],” said Sherrill, “so I realized we all had to pick it up, we all had to get back on defense, and we all had to play intense. This is our game and we had to get them back.”

But with junior forward Ruth Sherrill struggling early, the Patriots were able to capitalize and dominated the second quarter with a 22-11 run to tie the game at 30 heading into halftime.

“We were able to get the ball down in the corner and get some open looks,” Patriots coach David Garrison said. “Against that type of defense, trying to take away our guard play, we got open to hit the shots from the corner when it counted.”

It was clear that both teams would do whatever it took to get the victory. They dove for loose balls, harassed each other on defense, and even forced two injury stoppages in the first half with their physical play.

“In a game like tonight, it was really mind over matter for me,” said junior forward Christine Dua, who was forced to leave the game with a bloody lip in the first half. “So as soon as I got in, I told myself I should ignore my injury and just help my team out to get the win.”

Yorktown freshman point guard Mikayla Venson did everything she could to keep her team in the game. Despite scoring 16 points, Venson was more effective breaking down Edison’s defense and using her court vision to find an open teammate.

Her play helped spark the second-quarter comeback, but Edison’s main focus was on not allowing her to get any open shots for herself.

“You can’t stop her,” Edison coach Dianne Lewis said. “She’s an excellent player, but I was really pleased with how we didn’t give her open looks. That was the plan.”

But with the Patriots leading 43-41 heading into the fourth quarter, the visitors looked poised to finally get the first win this season at Edison High.

It was a back-and-forth affair in the entire second half with neither team taking more than a four-point lead until the last minute of the game, when Edison went up 56-51.

The home team finally took charge down the stretch with Ruth Sherrill finding her touch, finishing with a game-high 20 points to lead the Eagles to another home victory against the Patriots.

This time, though, the result of the win is a chance at a district title.