Edison’s Mimi Ault drives to the paint past the Huskies’ Maddie Sedgmer and Mikayla Pelegreen. - Andrew Grimm

They were going to do no such thing, however.

The Wildcats stormed all the way back, taking their first lead with just under two minutes to go and fended off the Huskies from there for a 48-44 victory in the opening round of the Division V, East 1 District tournament Thursday night at the Edison Fieldhouse.

“We just didn’t quit fighting,” Edison head coach Mark Smyth said. “I give a lot of credit to coach (Chace) Smith, he’s got a heck of a program and they beat us three times. My girls are really tough kids, they played really hard. They get all the credit for this. Harrison’s kids battled their butts off, too. It was just a really exciting game.

“Our girls wanted to win this one. Harrison has a great program, they beat us by five, four and three. Our girls wanted that battle again, they wanted another shot at them and they gave us everything we could handle. We’re really fortunate to come out of here with a win and move on.

CELEBRATION TIME — Edison players rush off the bench to celebrate with teammates on the court as time expires during Thursday’s Division V East District tournament opener against Harrison Central at the Edison Fieldhouse. The Wildcats won, 48-44, to move in the the tournament. - Andrew Grimm

“We talked with our seniors before the game about how this wasn’t going to be their last game … I’m just really excited for our kids.”

The Wildcats (16-6) went on a 9-1 run to pull even at 40-40 with 3:10 to go, then after the Huskies (16-7) had re-taken the lead, Sophia Henderson, who had a game-high 17 points, converted a bucket and-one with 1:57 left on the clock for a one-point Edison lead.

The Huskies could not convert at the other end and Abilgail Boka went 4 for 4 from the line for Edison in the final 10 seconds to seal the deal.

Boka’s late makes from the line gave her six points on the night, while Abby Carpenter tallied nine and Kylee Stull eight.

For the Huskies, who held a 21-15 lead at halftime and led by nine multiple times, Lauren Doane tallied 11 points, Kelsey Powers netted 10, Kara Blackburn nine and Maddie Sedgmer eight.

Harrison Cetral’s Kelsey Powers controls the ball in from of Edison’s Abby Boka during Thursday’s game. - Andrew Grimm

The Wildcats out-scored the Huskies 20-9 in the fourth quarter to pull off the comeback.

Edison will take on No. 6 seed West Muskingum on Wednesday at a site to be announced.

OHSAA East District Tournament

Division V First Round

No. 4 Edison 48, No. 5 Harrison Central 44

HC 12-9-14-9 – 44

E 8-7-13-20 – 48

HARRISON CENTRAL (16-7): Sedgmer 4 0-0 8; Doane 3 5-10 11; Dunlap 0 0-0 0; Blackburn 2 4-8 9; Pelegreen 2 1-6 6; Smith 0 0-0 0; Powers 5 0-0 10. TOTALS: 16, 10-24; 44.

EDISON (16-6): Boka 1 4-4 6; Stull 2 3-3 8; Carpenter 3 2-4 9; Henderson 5 7-11 17; Ault 2 2-2 6; Pelley 1 0-0 2; Koehnlein 0 0-0 0; Cline 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14, 18-24; 48.

3-POINTERS: Harrison Central 2 (Blackburn, Pelegreen); Edison 2 (Stull, Carpenter).