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BERRIEN SPRINGS — Shelby Laubach and her Edwardsburg girls’ basketball teammates found a higher gear in Wednesday’s Division 2 district semifinals. 

Scott Rodeslier’s Lady Eddies enjoyed one of its better shooting performances of the season in a 54-18 win over Niles.  

In the other game, Buchanan (13-11) saw its season end with a heartbreaking 46-44 loss to Berrien Springs. Edwardsburg (14-9) advances to face Berrien Springs (17-4) in Friday’s championship game at 7 p.m.

Laubach, a 5-foot-7 sophomore guard, poured in a game-high 19 points for Edwardsburg and added five rebounds, four assists and six steals. 

The production didn’t stop there, however, as 5-8 senior postplayer Kourtney Zarycki added 12 points, Maddie Pobuda 10 and Ella Zache had seven for the Eddies, who were 21-of-56 (38 percent) from the floor and 5-of-8 (63 percent) at the free-throw line. 

“We played with a lot of energy and enthusiasm tonight. I felt like this was one of our most complete games of the season from start to finish,” Rodeslier said. “Shelby played really well for us and I thought Ella was a real spark defensively. Kourtney was great on the boards and had some good offensive finishes. Even though Maddie’s shot didn’t start to fall until the second half she still contributed in other ways on the floor. Kya Shier is a defensive menace when she’s out there too. Everyone contributed for us. We wanted to really pressure Niles and force at least 22 turnovers and I think we did that. March Madness is a fun time of the season. We just have to work hard to keep it going.”

Niles, which finished 7-17, was led in scoring by Jessie Thornton with seven points and Tanaya Brown added six for the Vikings, who made just six field goals and 5-of-7 free-throw attempts.  

Edwardsburg claimed a 31-16 rebounding advantage over Niles. 

Edwardsburg built itself a 14-0 advantage before Niles put its first point on the scoreboard with  a Thornton free-throw toss with just 2:16 left in the first quarter. Laubach hit a three pointer at the buzzer to give the Eddies a 17-1 advantage entering the second quarter.

Behind 11 points and three steals from Laubach in the second quarter and putbacks from Zarycki and Mya Eberlein (6-2) just before halftime, the Lady Eddies increased their lead to 30, 38-8 at the intermission. 

Any thoughts Niles might’ve had of getting itself back into the game were quickly doused as Pobuda scored eight of her points, including a triple, during a third quarter that saw Edwardsburg increase its lead to 51-13 entering the fourth quarter. 

Niles increased its win total to seven this season under second-year head coach Sarah Workman. 

The Vikings have a bright future as they lose just one senior, Kayla Kiggins to graduation. 

“Kayla improved a great deal and was a phenomenal leader for us this season,” Workman said. 

“Our program is heading in the right direction. We have some good girls coming up from our junior varsity and there will be some good eighth graders coming into the high school program.”

Berrien Springs 46, Buchanan 44

Just like in its two previous meetings with its Lakeland Conference foes, Buchanan came out on the short end of a close finish against the Shamrocks.

The Lady Bucks took a 31-26 lead after three quarters then overcame a pair of six-point deficits in the fourth to give themselves a chance at the end.

Senior Alyssa Carson drained a pressure-packed three-pointer with 35 seconds left to lessen Buchanan’s deficit to one point, 45-44. 

Buchanan missed two attempts from the floor and a pair of free throws at the end and turned the ball over once in the final 25 seconds. 

Adeline Weber hit the second of two foul shots with 14 seconds to seal the win for the Shamrocks. 

“Our girls came out a little anxious, but they were ready to play. We knew what happened the first couple times we played Berrien Springs. They beat us by one and two points before and tonight was another classic. Unfortunately we were on the wrongside of all three of those,” said Buchanan head coach Alex Austin. 

“We were able to take the lid off the basket and fought back because that’s what we’ve done all year when we’ve gotten off to slow starts. The thing about these girls is you can’t teach the grit and fight they showed tonight. I’m really proud of them.”

Buchanan got 14 points from junior Justyce Cashier and Carson, the Bucks’ 6-2 senior center, scored 10 points, while Kate Ailes and Maddie Young both contributed nine. 

Carson also had seven rebounds for Buchanan and Ailes and Young grabbed five each. 

The Bucks made 15-of-66 (23 percent) shots from the floor and 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) at the foul stripe.  

Aubrie Smith totaled 19 points to lead Berrien Springs. Addie Frakas contributed nine, Kathryn Bergan scored seven. Berrien Springs outrebounded Buchanan 33-25. Smith also had 14 rebounds for the Shamrocks. 

Berrien Springs jumped out to a double-digit lead, 14-4 after the opening period by getting good looks inside and converting some early free throws. 

Trailing 19-4 in the second quarter, Buchanan gained some momentum by finishing off the first half with an 11-0 run to pull within four, 19-15 at halftime. 

Keying the Bucks’ charge was Young with a triple, Aspen Berry’s basket, two Cailin Horvath free-throw tosses and a pair of buckets inside by Carson. 

Buchanan outscored Berrien Springs 16-7 in the third quarter to set themselves up for the exciting fourth-quarter finish. 

The game marked the end of a great four-year career for Carson, who will play women’s volleyball at Indiana University of South Bend. Also concluding their careers for Buchanan are Young, Horvath, Ailes, Evyn Pruett, Cam Carlson and Akirrah Robinson. 

“All of our seniors are incredible players and we’re going to miss each and every one of them. Our high points were the many games we clawed out way back late to win. This group really came together as a team later in the season. At the beginning we were focusing more on ourselves and once we centered on the team we started winning more games and bigger games. Once we did that we saw that passion and grit from these girls,” Austin said.