OLD WASHINGTON — The Edison girls’ basketball team took another step forward this season as the Wildcats won a sectional title for the first time in almost two decades.

Unfortunately for Edison, its season to remember came to an end against West Muskingum. The No. 6 seed Tornadoes got off to a good start and did not look back en route to defeating the No. 4 seed Wildcats, 67-30, via mercy rule in an Ohio Division V Eastern District Semifinal Wednesday night at Buckeye Trail.

“They shoot the ball well,” Edison (16-7) head coach Mark Smyth said about the Tornadoes. “They are quick. They are a good team.”

The girls from Muskingum County outscored the girls from Jefferson County in all four quarters. The Blue-and-Gold led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter before increasing their advantage to 37-18 going into the locker room at halftime.

“They trap, and they brought the pressure,” Smyth said. “What we saw on film was pretty much what we got. They are a pretty good team.”

West Muskingum then extended its advantage in the third as the Tornadoes built a 54-24 lead heading into the fourth. The Tornadoes outscored the Wildcats, 13-6, in the fourth to complete the scoring.

“Our girls played really well,” Smyth said. “The final score is not indicative of the kind of game it was. We made them work for their points. We did a lot of good things tonight.”

With the win, West Muskingum will now play No. 3 seed Tuscarawas Valley in the district final at 1 p.m. Saturday. Tuscarawas Valley advanced to the district final by defeating No. 8 seed Barnesville, 49-16, Wednesday night at Indian Valley in the other district semifinal.

“We have one girl I love who I probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her,” Smyth said. “We had a young team that battled their butts off. I really don’t have anything negative to say. People may see the score and think we got our butts kicked, but the final score is not indicative of the game. I am proud of everyone of these girls.”

The Tornadoes also defeated the Wildcats in the sectional tournament two years ago.

“They have a lot of guards,” Smyth said. “I think four kids on their team played a lot the last time we played them. They have four starters who have started since they were sophomores or freshmen. Hopefully, they will be moving on.”

The Tornadoes had multiple players score in double digits in their latest win against the Wildcats. Debra Allen tallied a game-high 20 points to lead the way offensively for West Muskingum, Teriauna Bradford collected 17 and Lyla Johnson contributed 13.

Individually or Edison, Abby Carpenter recorded a team-high 15 points, while Sophia Henderson and Kylie Stull each delivered four points.

The loss to West Muskingum was the final game for Edison’s two seniors – Mariah Hunter and Stull.

“This was Mariah’s first year playing basketball,” Smyth said. “She came to practice every day. She worked hard. She gave us some good looks against bigs. I told Mariah if she played basketball for four years, she would be unstoppable. She does a lot of things well. I was happy to have her on the team this season.

“Kylie has been a staple of the program since I got here five years ago. We have built the team around her. She deserves everything. She battles. She’s a leader. I can talk all day about Kylie Stull.”

With only two seniors on the roster, the Wildcats played a lot of younger players this season.

“We have a young team,” Smyth said. “Coaches always say they want to get better every day, and I think we have gotten better every day. f you watched us at the beginning of the season and watched us at the end of the season, the team at the end of the season would have beaten the team at the beginning of the season by 40 points.”

Edison advanced to the district semifinals thanks to defeating No. 5 seed Harrison Central, 48-44, in a sectional co-final last Thursday at home inside the Edison Fieldhouse.

“Winning the sectional title was great,” Smyth said. “We have a lot of respect for Harrison Central. I really like Coach (Chase) Smith. Our girls like their girls. They beat us three times this season by a combined 12 points. It felt great to be able to knock them off.

“We are getting better. The teams in the valley have seen us get a lot better. Now, we are looking to take that next step.”

Edison’s memorable season has come to a close, but the Wildcats have a lot to be proud of this season.

“I want to thank all the kids and my assistant coaches,” Smyth said. “I want to thank our middle school players, our middle school coaches and our youth program. We have gotten a lot better. We’re coming. We’re coming.”

West Muskingum 67, Edison 30

West Muskingum 16 21 17 13 – 67

Edison 8 10 6 6 – 30

WEST MUSKINGUM (16-7): Allen 9 0-0 20, Bradford 7 1-1 17, Huey 2 0-0 5, Smith 1 0-0 2, Johnson 6 1-2 13, Roberts 2 0-0 4, Reese 0 0-0 0, Antonetz 2 0-2 6, Peck 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 29 2-5 67.

EDISON (16-7): Boka 1 0-0 3, Pelley 0 0-0 0, Stull 0 4-6 4, Carpenter 3 9-10 15, Henderson 1 2-2 4, Koehnlein 1 0-0 2, Ault 1 0-0 2, Hunter 0 0-0 0, Cline 0 0-0 0 TOTALS: 7 15-18 30.

3-POINTERS: West Muskingum 7 (Allen 2, Bradford 2, Antonetz 2, Huey); Edison 1 (Boka)