With a pair of strong defensive performances, Southwestern finished 2-0 in day one of the Edinburgh Holiday Classic.

In the final game of the quarterfinal bracket Tuesday afternoon, Southwestern outscored South Ripley 18-3 in the second quarter to build a 25-10 halftime lead.

The Raiders rebounded in the second half but never got the game tied and Southwestern prevailed 31-28.

“We got on a roll and hit a couple of 3s and we did a great job of defending and making them shoot 3s,” said Southwestern coach Jason West on his team’s second-quarter performance. “We struggled in the second half and missed seven open lay-ups in the third quarter when we had an opportunity to blow that game wide open. We had opportunities and didn’t convert and at the end every possession mattered.”

Lily Kerber led Southwestern with 13 points. Faith Kelley hit a pair of three-pointers during the Spartans’ second-quarter run and finished with eight points. Alison Muck had five.

Rachel Meyer topped South Ripley with 11 points – all in the second half. Gracie Gunter had seven points.

With the win, Southwestern advanced to Tuesday night’s semifinal round against South Dearborn.

The Spartans outscored the Knights in each quarter to pull away for a 45-34 win.

“We have some bumps and bruises and some illness going on that we had to battle through,” said West of finishing just before 6 p.m. and then returning to the court for an 8 p.m. game. “The girls were tough as nails.”

Kerber and Muck each scored 11 points in the win. Kennedy Pile had seven.

Southwestern outscored South Dearborn 13-7 over the final eight minutes.

Emily Elliott led the Knights with 12 points. Natalie Rupp had seven and Gracie Messmore finished with six.

In other games Tuesday, Edinburgh defeated Lutheran, 52-38, to advance to the championship game to face Southwestern.

In the loser’s bracket, Knightstown dominated Columbus Christian, 37-15 and South Ripley rebounded to beat Hagerstown, 48-32.

There are four games scheduled today.

The seventh-place game pits Columbus Christian against Hagerstown (4-6). The fifth-place game follows with Knightstown (2-14) taking on South Ripley (8-8).

In the third-place game, Lutheran (3-8) faces South Dearborn (3-12).

And in the championship game scheduled for 4 p.m., the host Lancers (8-4) take on Southwestern (6-6) – 3-3 in its last six games with all three losses coming to top-10 ranked opponents.

“We will try to continue to do what we do best … control the tempo and play great defense,” said West.