SHELBY — Mel Blubaugh was selected the District 6 Player of the Year earlier this week.
She showed why Wednesday night.
Clear Fork’s do-it-all senior scored 25 points as the top-seeded Colts galloped to a 62-45 win over No. 5 Edison in the opening game of a Division V district semifinal doubleheader at Shelby.
The Mount Vernon Nazarene University-bound Blubaugh connected on three of five 3-pointers in the first half as Clear Fork raced to a 41-23 halftime lead.
“I thought Mel Blubaugh was fantastic, as advertised,” Clear Fork coach Scott Sellers said. “I don’t think we could have played a better offensive first half.”
The Colts led 26-13 at the end of the first quarter and 40-15 after a Brinley Barnett 3-pointer midway through the second period, but Edison closed the half with an 8-1 run.
Blubaugh connected on her fourth trey of the evening early in the third for a 44-23 lead, but The Chargers responded with a 14-0 run and cut Clear Fork’s lead to 44-37 with 4:01 to play in the period.
Blubaugh split a pair of free throws to stem the tide and connected on her fifth and final triple at th 2:39 mark of the third quarter to give the Colts a 48-37 lead.
“They started making shots and sometimes there’s nothing you can do about that,” Blubaugh said. “We just had to keep our heads up. We’re pretty calm with the ball and pretty confident.”
Edison trimmed the Clear Fork lead to 48-38, but Barnett gave the Colts some breathing room when he was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 6 seconds left in the third and made all three free throws for a 51-38 advantage.
“I thought Edison did a good job of adjusting to what we were doing pressure-wise,” Sellers said. “We looked a little big sluggish in the third.”
Barnett and Blubugh combined for all 11 of Clear Fork’s fourth-quarter points. Barnett had a pair of layups early, while Blubaugh scored the final seven points, including a perfect 5-for-5 showing from the free throw line.
Barnett backed Blubaugh with 16 points. Rozy Stover scored six, while Lillian Weikle, Ashlyn Wine and Hailly Thrush each had five.
Jorja Byington led Edison with 15 points. Ivy Kluding and Ella Booth each had nine.
The Colts (21-3) will play No. 2 Willard for the district title at 6 p.m. Saturday at Shelby. Willard beat No. 4 Huron 43-30 in Wednesday’s nightcap.
“I told the girls, ‘We just won a district semifinal game by 17 points,’ ” Sellers said. “We told them to enjoy it. It’s a humungous deal for us and I couldn’t be prouder.”