NORTH ROBINSON — On a night when scoring and offense came at a premium, Colonel Crawford was better on the defensive end.

The Eagles held Edison to just four points in the first period and, with the game on the line, none in the fourth period to gain a 38-25 win in the Division III sectional semifinal Thursday night.

With the win, Colonel Crawford (14-9) advances to the sectional final and will travel to Bascom to meet second-seeded Hopewell-Loudon on Saturday at 7 p.m. Edison fell to 13-9.

The fact that the Eagles shut the Chargers out in the critical fourth frame was a surprise to Colonel Crawford coach Kyle Fenner.

“Really? That’s great,” Fenner said. “That’s a great second half. We defended really well tonight. We’ve worked really hard the last few weeks in gap help and helping out and recovering. I thought we were pretty good in that tonight.”

“They played good, solid defense, they were switching a lot,” Edison coach Ryan Kurt said. “We just lost our patience there a little bit in the third and fourth quarters. We made mistakes we don’t normally make.”

The Eagles’ defense was critical in that final frame.

Crawford entered the fourth period clinging to a 28-25 lead. But the Chargers went 0-for-6 from the floor in that stretch, and the Eagles controlled the tempo of the game in the second half.

“We would have liked to play a little faster,” Kurt said. “They do a great job of running their sets and doing the things they like to do. They’re a physical team, a well-coached team.

“The first half, we worked a little bit more in our game plan but in the second half, shots weren’t falling. Things weren’t going our way,” Kurt added.

Crawford began to get the ball inside in the second half, something that pleased Fenner.

“We told our kids in the locker room we have to play inside out,” Fenner said. “We can’t stand out here and jack the first okay shot that we see. We did that better and we made some outside shots. Theresa Dzugan hit a big 3, I thought, and we made foul shots down the stretch.”

Kaylyn Risner scored five straight points to increase the Crawford lead to 33-25, before Allison Teglovic dropped a free throw, Dzugan added two free throws and Risner had a layup to end the game.

“In the second half, we calmed down and made some shots, got some good looks and we got the lead,” Fenner said. “We could dictate what we were going to do.

“We knew it was going to be a tough, physical game,” she added. “I thought the refs did a great job and let us play. It is a great win. It was a lot of fun and I’m happy for our seniors. We have five seniors who have played hard and played well and play together and just did the right things and what they needed to do for the last four years. “

Teglovic kept the Eagles in the game in the first half, scoring all six of Crawford’s points in the second period. Still, the Chargers held a 15-14 lead at the break.

Teglovic led the Eagles with 15 points and Risner added 11.

“I thought our bench came out and played well in the minutes they had,” Fenner said.

Lindsey Roberts led the Chargers with nine points and Allyah Caporini added eight.

“I thought the girls played hard; I can’t fault their effort,” Kurt said. “I thought we executed well in the first half; the second half was just a struggle.

“We’ve been a good defensive team all year. But tonight, we just couldn’t put the ball in the hole.”

Box score

Edison                         4    11     10       0 — 25

Colonel Crawford    8      6      14    10 — 38

Edison (13-9): Shots 9-36; 3-pt. shots 1 (Lindsay Roberts); Free throws 4-8; Rebounds 21; Turnovers 9. Scoring: Allyah Caporini 3 2 8, Lilli Schuster 1 0 2, Lindsay Roberts 4 0 9, Kelli Quillen 1 2 4, Jayla Medina 1 0 2.

Colonel Crawford (14-9): Shots 13-34; 3-pt. shots 1 (Theresa Dzugan); Free throws 11-15; Rebounds 23; Turnovers 10. Scoring: Mallory Plesac 1 1 3, Theresa Dzugan 1 2 5, Jenna Maddy 1 0 2, Hannah Plesac 1 0 2, Kaylyn Risner 5 1 11, Allison Teglovic 4 7 15.

Next: Colonel Crawford at Hopewell-Loudon, Saturday, 7 p.m.