Edinburgh took the floor for its Class A sectional game Friday night having won 20 games — three more than the other semifinalists combined.
As evidenced by a near-sellout crowd, the hometown Lancers were anything but the only show in town.
Coach Keith Witty’s team, ranked seventh, took care of business in the night’s second semifinal with an 81-46 victory over Crothersville. Junior Caleb Dewey just missed a double-double with 21 points and nine rebounds, followed by junior guard Jarrett Turner’s 15 points and 13 more from senior guard Riley Palmeter.
The evening began with West Washington extending its season with a 72-39 decision over Medora.
Tonight’s 7 p.m. title matchup marks the second Lancers-Senators matchup this season. Edinburgh won in dramatic fashion during the regular season, eking out a 46-45 road triumph in double overtime on Jan. 8.
“This will, I believe, be the fourth year in a row (West Washington) has been in the championship game,” Witty said. “And they’ve won it one of those (2019), so obviously, they’re going to want to get it again. Our game was really close with them. We didn’t shoot it well down there.
“Hopefully, we do a little better here at home. It’s going to be a battle.”
Neither of Friday’s winners experienced much resistance.
The Lancers owned the glass, outrebounding the Tigers, 34-15, as Landen Burton grabbed seven boards, Palmeter six and senior Travis Jones five.
Edinburgh led at halftime, 33-19, with Turner delivering two triples in the final 6.6 seconds to give the Lancers some much-needed breathing room.
His first, from the left wing, preceded a Crothersville turnover on the ensuing inbound play. Turner’s second offering, this one from the left baseline, dropped through the net at 0.3 for the 14-point spread.
Crothersville played tough most of the opening half, trailing by only three, 17-14, after a Matthew Clouse hoop at 4:09 of the second stanza. However, from that point, Edinburgh outscored the Tigers, 16-5.
Edinburgh (21-3) kept its foot on the accelerator to open the third quarter, scoring the first 10 points to essentially put the game out of reach. Burton punctuated the proceedings with a crowd-pleasing slam dunk with 4:38 left in the fourth period.
“It was hard at first, and (Crothersville) came out with a ton of emotion,” Witty said. “It was hard to get us focused there early. You never want to overlook a team, but we’re also dealing with 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds.”
In the opener, Medora (4-20) led after the first eight minutes, but West Washington dominated play the rest of the way to improve its record to 11-13.
