Tied after one quarter with visiting Yorktown, the #18 Edison Eagles used 10-0 and 9-0 runs to open the second and third quarters respectively to cruise to victory, 88-63.
Edison coach Terry Henderson saw danger before the game with the opposition, a relatively inexperienced but occasionally explosive team. “It was a whole different atmosphere [with the 4:30 start, students on break] and I saw it in warm-ups. I know some of our guys laid around early before the game and just kind of showed up, and I saw it in the way we warmed up. It scared me a little bit. So it took us a half to at least show decent play on the court.”
Yorktown played well early, too, using backdoor cuts and drive and dish to keep the game relatively close. While the Patriots turned the ball over a lot to start the second quarter and fell behind double digits, they soon battled back to within four. Edison expanded its lead at halftime to seven, mostly behind the hot shooting of senior swingman Shurland Williams, but coach Henderson was still worried. His team didn’t look particularly sharp, and standout guards Jared Clawson and Marquis Washington each had two fouls.
“With those two guys off the floor [Clawson and Washington] it’s tough, because they provide a lot of scoring for us. Even when they’re not scoring for us, they’re making it easier for someone else. We talked at halftime about needing to go on another run.”
That they did. Williams stayed hot from long-range, Washington started to attack the rim better and the team got better looks against Yorktown’s 1-3-1. The Eagles started to force more turnovers. They applied more and more defensive pressure and even when Yorktown beat it they seemed to lose their legs a little bit and leave shots short.
But it wasn’t the Patriots’ offense that failed them in the long run. They shot 54% from the field. They just turned the ball over way too much and allowed the Eagles to shoot almost 60% from the field. Senior guard Matt Coulam had a fantastic game for Yorktown (2-5), scoring 23 points and dishing out five assists. Junior guard Ryan Van Kirk added 12, and Davis Patterson had eight points and six rebounds despite foul trouble.
It wasn’t enough against a hot Edison (7-1) team that has won seven straight since a season-opening loss to Hayfield. Williams finished with 24 points to lead the way while Washington collected offensive rebounds galore in the second half to finish with 21. Clawson finished with 13 and five assists, and junior guard Nate Hester also got hot late to finish with 16. The bench was good too. Senior Kendrick Clawson played well and filled a valuable role with brother Jared and Washington in foul trouble.
“I feel comfortable where I can reach down a little deeper on the bench than in previous years,” Henderson said. “We want to play good defense from the opening whistle to the end of the game. I didn’t know we’d be this good this early, but if we can do that I think we can keep this thing going.”
–Chris Jollay
all stats are unofficial
| EDISON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| J. CLAWSON | 4-5 | 3-3 | 13 | 4 | 5 | |
| HESTER | 5-8 | 4-6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | |
| COFFMAN | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| WILLIAMS | 9-16 | 2-3 | 24 | 6 | 2 | |
| WASHINGTON | 10-12 | 1-3 | 21 | 7 | 1 | |
| K. Clawson | 3-9 | 0-0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| Broady | 1-2 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Hussein | 2-5 | 0-0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |
| Wilson | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Yattara | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Bunch | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Wigglesworth | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 35-59 | 10-16 | 88 | 26 | 13 | |
| Threes: Williams 4-7, J. Clawson 2-3, Hester 2-3, K. Clawson 0-2, Broady 0-1 | ||||||
| YORKTOWN | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| VAN KIRK | 3-11 | 4-4 | 12 | 2 | 1 | |
| COULAM | 10-14 | 1-2 | 23 | 4 | 5 | |
| McCOSKRIE | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| STROUP | 1-5 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| PATTERSON | 4-6 | 0-0 | 8 | 6 | 2 | |
| Andersen | 2-3 | 3-3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | |
| Rita | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| #32 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cornfield | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Franco | 3-3 | 0-0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| Dickson | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| Richetti | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| #4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 25-46 | 8-10 | 63 | 18 | 13 | |
| Threes: Coulam 2-4, Van Kirk 2-5, Stroup 1-3 | ||||||