Sharp gives Foothill the edge it needs to beat Edison

Foothill's Sydney Sharp is fouled by Edison's Ashley Niemand on her way to the basket during the Knights' 78-66 victory in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.
Foothill's Cecelia Bain shoots under pressure from Edison's Ryane Bradbury, left, and Jackie Bento during the Knights' 78-66 victory in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.
Foothill's Sydney Sharp shoots a 3-pointer over Edison's Jasmyn Winters during the Knights' 78-66 playoff win.
Foothill's Maggie Healy, left, and Chanel Pyburn pressure Edison's Ashley Niemand during the Knights' 78-66 victory in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.
Foothill's Cameron Mallory is fouled by Edison's Ashley Niemand on her way to the basket during the Knights' 78-66 victory in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.
Foothill's Cassidy Stevens drives to the basket past Edison's Ashley Niemand during the Knights' 78-66 victory in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.
Edison's Justine Modde is trapped Thursday by Foothill's Michelle Manous, left, and Maggie Healy.
Foothill's Chanel Pyburn hits a three-pointer over Edison's Jennie Kwok during the Knights' 78-66 victory in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.
Foothill's Sydney Sharp shoots over the Edison defense during the Knights' 78-66 victory in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.
Foothill's Jordan Smith scores past Gianna Luna during the Knights' 78-66 victory in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.
Foothill head coach Vince Namba gestures on the sidelines during the Knights' 78-66 victory over Edison in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.
Edison head coach Sara Brown directs traffic from the sidelines during the Chargers' 78-66 loss to Foothill in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.
Foothill cheerleaders support their girls basketball team during the Knights' 78-66 victory over Edison in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.
Foothill cheerleaders support their girls basketball team during the Knights' 78-66 victory over Edison in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.
Andrew Waibel, 4, son of Foothill activities director Dave Waibel, shoots a basket during halftime of the Knights' 78-66 victory in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs Thursday at Foothill High.

By Kenny Connolly | kconnolly@scng.com | Orange County Register

February 18, 2016 at 10:39 p.m.

There was a stretch of play, during late December and early January, that saw Foothill senior Sydney Sharp score 30 or more points on a regular basis and play some of the best basketball in Orange County.

Edison had a front-row seat to one of those outings. And as it turned out, a repeat performance Thursday night by Sharp officially ended the Chargers’ season.

After accounting for the Knights’ first 15 points, Sharp continued to dazzle and shot her way to 43 points in Foothill’s 78-66 win over Edison in a CIF-SS Division 2AA first round game at Foothill.

By draining 12 3-pointers as a team, the sixth-seeded Knights (20-7) secured their spot in Saturday night’s second round where it will host Newbury Park. The Panthers (19-10) notched a 55-45 win over Segerstrom on Thursday.

“We’ve kind of lived by the 3 and died by the three all year,” Knights coach Vince Namba said. “Fortunately when it’s going good, we look pretty good.”

Foothill sank 10 3-pointers in the first half, five coming from Sharp. The Knights used the lights-out shooting to take a 45-30 lead into halftime, and maintained an 11-point edge headed into the fourth quarter.

Edison (13-14) finished with four scorers in double figures and cut Foothill’s lead to 70-66 with 1:20 remaining after a pair of Jackie Bento baskets.

Sharp went on to score the game’s final eight points on the next four possessions. The county’s leading scorer was 6-for-6 from the line in the last 80 seconds, and added a baseline layup. It was her second 40-plus point outing of the season.

Also in Division 2AA:

Woodbridge 68, Saugus 39: Senior point guard Sierra Vaglica tallied 21 points and was one of four Warriors players to reach double figures in an opening-round win.

In Division 1A:

Huntington Beach 56, Walnut 49: Frankie Wade-Sanchez scored a season-high 27 points for the second-seeded Oilers, who fended off a pesky Mustangs club in the first round.

Cypress 56, Dana Hills 47 (OT): The Centurions overcame a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime, and rode that momentum to a win over the visiting Dolphins. Cypress held Dana Hills to a combined nine points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Huda Trablci (14) and Emma Austria (13) paced the Centurions offense, while Aggie Manu chipped in with 20 rebounds.

Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com