EAST LIVERPOOL — They’ve earned their shot against the defending state champions.

Ninth-seeded East Liverpool’s boys’ basketball team, which had as much as a 19-point lead, held off a furious fourth-quarter rally by 11th-seeded Edison to clip the Wildcats 55-54 and win a Div. IV sectional championship at Potter Fieldhouse Friday night.

The win vaults the Potters (11-12) into a district semifinal matchup against No. 1 seed and defending Div. IV state champion Maysville (22-1) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the ECO Center. Maysville easily advanced Friday night with a 73-32 sectional title win over West Holmes.

“We get to see Maysville again, which is great,” said East Liverpool head coach Kade Reynolds. “That’s who knocked us out last year in the district semifinals and I think it will be really good for our young kids to see that kind of energy. Hopefully, we can go down there and shock the world. We’re definitely not going to back down from anybody, so hopefully with a neutral site we can make some noise.”

It marks the second year in a row the Potters and Maysville have met in district action. East Liverpool lost to Maysville 73-57 in a district semifinal last season.

But to earn its sectional crown and a spot in the district, the Potters had to hold off a determined effort by Edison on Friday evening.

Leading the Potters’ well-balanced offensive attack was Meshach Harris with 14 points, while Tyler Kirby had an outstanding overall game with 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots, Jayce Douglas finished with 10 points, Dre Brown had seven markers and Javan Dawson ended with six points.

“We just came out and tried to do our best, that’s all we could do,” said Kirby. “We just started putting everything together from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and we’ve just kind of connected it all. That’s where we’re at right now.”

“Kirby has been great all season long,” said Reynolds. “He’s been really, really good and he’s the heart and soul of us on offense and defense.”

Edison (9-14) hit nine three-pointers in the contest and was paced by Kyle Long with 14 points, while Tim DeGarmo added 13 points, including a trio of treys, Bryce Rogers scored 11 and Isaiah Filburn ended with nine markers.

“I just think that the kids stepped up,” said Edison head coach Nate Moses of his team’s second-half comeback. “They picked it up on the defensive end. It’s still a hard way to go out, but I’m really proud of the effort and the drive they had at the end of the game to get us back into it and have a chance for us at the end.”

“In the second half they (the Wildcats) adjusted and we obviously didn’t,” said Reynolds. “They took care of the ball a lot better in the second half and they capitalized off our mistakes. Edison plays extremely hard, and we knew that coming in. It’s a really good ball team.”

The Potters, who took first-half quarter-stop leads of 15-5 and 27-14, went up by as much as 19 points (33-14) following a three-pointer by guard Dre Brown with 6:42 showing in the third quarter.

“It felt like we were down by 100 at one point, but the kids never quit and I really appreciate that,” said Moses.

Edison refused to fold and outscored the Potters 17-13 in the third quarter to trail by 10 (41-31) entering the fourth stanza.

The Wildcats’ comeback continued as they outscored the Potters 23-14 in the final frame and drew within one possession at 53-51, following a trey by DeGarmo with 56.9 seconds left. But the Potters’ Jayce Douglas countered with two clutch free throws, giving the hosts a 55-51 advantage with just 12.5 seconds showing. Edison’s DeGarmo drained a three in the closing seconds, but time ran out on the Wildcats and the Potters celebrated their sectional crown.

Kirby explained that Reynolds said to keep their focus late in the game.

“He said just keep your focus and don’t rush the ball,” he stated. “Take your time with everything you do and win the game.”

The Potters’ coach said he is proud of how much his young team, which lost nine seniors from last year’s district semifinal squad to graduation, has grown throughout the season.

“It’s a great win for our young group that needed this type of confidence,” said Reynolds. “We have one senior with zero returning lettermen this year, so it’s definitely a group that’s earned it (the sectional title) for sure.”

ED: 5-9-17-23–54

EL: 15-13-13-14–55

EAST LIVERPOOL SCORING: Jayce Douglas 3-4-10, Dre Brown 2-2-7, Tyler Kirby 5-2-12, Meshach Harris 6-2-14, Ben Myers 0-0-0, D. Austin 1-0-2, Elliott Fitch 2-0-4, Javan Dawson 3-0-6, T. Long 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 22, 10-16: 55

EDISON LOCAL SCORING: Dylan Long 0-0-0, Bryce Rogers 5-0-11, Kenny Farnsworth 1-2-4, Kyle Long 3-6-14, Isaiah Filburn 2-1-9, Jaxon Wiley 0-0-0, Jackson McBane 1-0-3, Tim DeGarmo 5-0-13. TEAM TOTALS: 18, 9-14: 54

Three-point goals: Edison 9 (Tim DeGarmo 3, Kyle Long 2, Isaiah Filburn 2, Bryce Rogers 1, Jackson McBane 1). East Liverpool 1 (Dre Brown 1);

Total fouls: Edison 18, East Liverpool 15. Fouled out: none.