BUCKEYE LOCAL’S Brynn McKeever (0) looks for room to dribble the ball as Edison’s Gracie Fox (23) applies pressure during Wednesday night’s game in Connorville.

CONNORVILLE — A poor first quarter put Buckeye Local behind the 8-ball Wednesday night and it just couldn’t recover.

Visiting Edison jumped out to a 12-0 lead thanks to a smothering full-court pressure defense as it forced seven turnovers on the Panthers first eight possessions en route to a 55-48 girls’ basketball victory. All told, Buckeye Local charted 12 of its 27 miscues in the opening eight minutes.

“I think we underestimated their pressure defense,” first-year Buckeye Local (0-3) head coach Tom Valuska said. “It rattled our young starters. They pressured the ball and we had a hard time figuring it out. We’ve just got to work on it moving forward.”

Edison head coach Mark Smyth was pleased with the way his team started, but no so much with how it finished.

“We got off to a great start tonight. The girls played well early on,” he said. “We played well in spurts, but we also didn’t play well in spurts. That’s the way it’s been all season so far. We have to be able to know when to push the ball (upcourt) and when to not push it.”

The Wildcats (2-2) held a 31-18 advantage at the halftime break and increased that margin to 43-23 after three quarters largely in part to their defense which forced nine more turnovers.

Displaying that never-quit-mentality, Buckeye Local kept pushing forward and outscored Edison 25-12 in the final panel to make the final score more respectable.

“We forced them into some turnovers and that allowed us to get back in the game,” Valuska said.

Gracie Fox paced a balanced Wildcats offense with 14 points, one more than Savanna Ankrom. Alyssa Fiedorczyk added nine, Olivia Huff seven and Pressly Meadows six. Huff also collared 14 rebounds as the visitors led 46-39 off the glass. Ankrom also had eight boards.

Adrianna Blazeski led the Panthers with a game-high 17 points, with 14 coming in the fourth quarter. Brynn McKeever added eight and Pam Kandrach finished with seven. Kandrach also grabbed a game-best 15 rebounds. McKeever had six.

Edison turned the ball over 30 times in the win.