Jimenez and Hall combined for 19 first-half points, as the ninth-seeded Quasars moved the ball well and opened up perimeter shots for the pair of short sharpshooters.
With the 5-9 Jimenez netting 10 points in the game's first 18 minutes and the 5-8 Hall drilling a trio of 3-pointers, SSC built leads of 8-5, 14-9 and 21-15 during the game's first 12 minutes and 31 seconds.
"Give SSC a lot of credit," praised Edgerton head coach Doug VanKley about the all-around play of the Quasars.
"They played hard and showed a lot of intensity. We had to change our defensive focus from Jameson Collin to get out and cover those two guards (Jimenez and Hall) better, because they were shooting so well."
The change of tactics worked out well for Edgerton, as the two SSC guards only scored one point -- a free throw by Jimenez with 12:04 to play, that put the Quasars ahead, 32-31.
But that was the last time that SSC held the lead.
Seventeen seconds later, Edgerton senior forward Alex Van't Hof swished a 3-pointer from the left corner, giving the Dutchmen a 34-32 edge.
SSC tied the score with a patiently-executed offensive possession when Collin scored on a nice assist from junior guard Alex Meyer with 10:38 on the clock.
Collin, a 6-4 sophomore, had scored 20 points, claimed 21 rebounds and blocked six shots in the first meeting between the two squads (at Okabena, Feb. 5) when Edgerton emerged with a 67-64 overtime win.
"That Collin kid played a great all-around game against us when we faced them at Okabena," noted VanKley. "So that was our focus early to keep the ball from him."
After getting off only three shots in the first half, Collin became more active in the SSC offense after intermission, as Edgerton was forced to put more pressure on the Quasar guards.
That defensive pressure by the Flying Dutchmen on the SSC perimeter was key to Edgerton's second-half success.
The Quasars, who were charted with 32 turnovers in the contest, were picked for a total of 21 steals by the Dutchmen -- with 6-0 sophomore guard Johnny Menning getting 10 of them himself.
"Johnny did a real nice job on Jimenez in the second half, pressuring the dribble and getting his hands on lots of passes," praised VanKley about Menning's defensive effort.
SSC head coach Tim Owen agreed with that.
"Edgerton's overall defensive pressure was a big factor," he said. "It seemed like they came up with key steals at crucial times, never allowing us to get into a consistent offensive rhythm in the second half."
The Quasars were greatly hampered by the absence of 6-1 senior forward Alex Collin (illness), who averaged 13 points and nine rebounds per game this season. He scored 16 points and had 14 rebounds in the earlier Edgerton vs. SSC game.
"No question, we missed Alex's physical presence and his ability to score and rebound," Owen said. "Without him, our rotation was messed up and we were a lot smaller than we needed to be against a team with the overall physical strength that Edgerton has."
Starting in Alex Collin's place was 6-2 sophomore Austin Liepold, who finished with a team-high 13 rebounds, while hustling for lots of loose balls. He also scored five timely points and passed for a trio of assists.
After the Meyer to Collin connection had tied the score, Liepold drew a charge and with 10:14 to play, the Quasars had a chance to get the lead back.
But, instead, it was Edgerton that went up by two when 6-3 junior Tanner DeKam fed a slicing Codi Gunnink down the lane for an easy score with just under nine minutes to play.
Liepold answered with a 10-foot jumper, knotting the score at 36-all with 8:36 on the clock.
Nine seconds later, DeKam and Gunnink duplicated the same play from the previous possession -- and again, Edgerton had a two-point lead.
Meyer and Jameson Collin worked the pick-and-roll and SSC tied the game again at 38-all with 8:10 to play.
Just over a minute later, following a Quasar timeout, Menning came up with one of his steals and after a missed shot by Edgerton, 5-9 junior guard Dylan Voge scored his only basket of the game -- an offensive-rebound putback -- that put his team ahead to stay.
Menning came up with another steal that led to a bucket from the corner by DeKam, and with exactly six minutes left, Edgerton was up by four, 42-38.
A steal by Voge, was followed by an inside basket by 6-2 senior forward Chace Hulstein (assist DeKam) at the 4:51 mark and the lead was stretched to six.
The Quasars finally broke a 4:22 dry spell when Liepold dished to Collin on a high-low, making the score 44-40 with 3:48 showing.
Neither team scored for nearly two minutes, but then the sure hands of Gunnink -- a receiver on Edgerton's football team -- lifted the Dutchmen into position to secure the victory.
Gunnink, a strong 6-1 senior forward, made a great catch on a pass in the lane from 6-2 senior guard Alex Heard and converted a nifty shot.
That basket with 2:08 on the clock, put EHS up by a 46-40 count.
Meyer answered for the Quasars with a short jumper, trimming the lead to 46-42 with 1:50 remaining.
Nineteen seconds later, Gunnink made another terrific catch, scoring on a sideline inbounds pass from Van't Hof, which put the Dutchmen up six again, 48-42.
"Codi has nice hands," declared VanKley. "He made some big plays at the end and had a very good all-around game."
Heard sank a pair of free throws with 38 seconds to go, extending the lead to eight and 15 seconds later, Van't Hof made two from the line, giving EHS a 52-42 advantage.
Meyer fired in a 3-pointer -- SSC's seventh of the game (but only first of the second half) -- five seconds later, but Van't Hof sank another one, putting his team back up by eight.
Meyer, who scored six points in the game's last 1:50, made a free throw with five seconds left to complete the scoring.
SSC had taken an early 5-0 lead on an offensive-rebound putback by Collin and a 3-pointer by 5-11 junior forward Sean Haberman.
Four minutes into the game, Edgerton tied the score on a 3-pointer by Heard and a pair of free throws by Van't Hof.
But over the next eight minutes, the perimeter shooting of Jimenez and Hall highlighted the action as the two all-around senior athletes combined for five treys.
After Jimenez sank one from behind the arc to give the Quasars a 14-9 lead, Hall struck twice in a span of 30 seconds, putting SSC up 20-15 with 6:08 left in the first half.
Twenty-eight seconds before intermission, Jimenez delivered another shot from behind the arc for the Quasars, who shot 60 percent (six of 10) from 3-point range in the first half.
Edgerton, however, worked its way back in the contest and eventually took and held the lead in an exciting second half.
Van't Hof finished with a game-high 17 points for Edgerton, while Gunnink had 15 points and nine rebounds.
Heard and Voge each had three steals, while DeKam had three assists and Jordan Gunnink came down with five rebounds.
SSC, which played much of the game with only one senior on the court at a time, received 12 points, 12 rebounds and three assists from Jameson Collin and a trio of assists from Haberman.
The Quasars, who had only one player back with previous tournament experience (Alex Collin) finish their season with an overall record of 7-17, playing in four overtime games -- winning two of those.
