Local Sports

Wildcats fend off Creek for big road win

WINTERSVILLE -- The Edison boys basketball team won the battle of styles against Indian Creek. The Wildcats want to play at a fast pace, while the Redskins are more methodical.

The home team led by two late in the first quarter before the visitors ripped off a big run to build a 14-point advantage in the third, and Edison was able to hold on for a 55-47 victory Friday night on Coach D Court.

The Wildcats trailed 11-9 late in the first, however, the boys in black built a 35-21 advantage in the third.

"It was our defense," Edison (1-1) head coach Nate Moses, who is in his second stint as head coach of the Wildcats said. "It all started with our defense. We did a real good job of slowing down their big guy. They were trying to force feed him the ball.

"That's a good basketball team. It wasn't easy. I love coaching against Coach D. I told him after the game I did not think I would coach against a Coach D team that ran a 2-3 zone."

The Silver-and-Black outscored the hosts, 15-6, in the second on their way to taking a 14-point lead in the third.

"We are learning a lot of new things," Indian Creek (0-1) head coach Joe Dunlevy said. "I said for the preview we have guys in places they have not been in in the past. Naturally, there are times where things happen. We have to learn. We have to get experience, and they only way to get experience is by getting experience. That's what we need to do. You can't simulate game speed at practice. You try to simulate it, but you really can't simulate it.

"That's a veteran team with a veteran coach. He knows what he is doing. He does a nice job.

"I know it is a cliché, but we just want to get better every day. In coaches speak, it is a marathon and not a sprint. We are in a marathon. We are just going to try to get better every single day."

After falling behind by 14, the Red-and-Gold rallied and closed to within five points in the third.

"We just did a better job of running our offense," Dunlevy said. "We got down, and we had some turnovers. When you throw the ball into the post, if we throw the ball over Nishon's head, and it goes out of bounds, I am OK with that. It's the live-ball turnovers that cost you.

"We are doing some new things. We have guys playing in different spots. We want to keep improving. It wasn't because of a lack of effort or at the game tonight."

Indian Creek was able to get the ball inside to Nishon White, who tallied 13 points in the third to help the Redskins whittle the Wildcats' advantage down to five points.

"They kept forcing the ball to their big guy," Moses said. "We broke down on defense. When you play against a Coach Dunlevy team, you know they are not going to give up. You know they are going to play for the full 32 minutes. We knew they were going to make a run. We kept waiting for them to play man. We kept waiting for them to play man. They didn't play man until the end."

After seeing its lead cut down to five, the victors rattled off the first six points of the fourth to regain a double-digit advantage.

We bounced back," Moses said. "I am real proud of the guys. We were able to bounce back after Wednesday."

Edison lost its first game of the season to Conotton Valley, 56-51, Wednesday night on the road.

Against Indian Creek, Jaxon Wiley tallied a team-high 17 points to lead the way offensively for Edison, Kyle Long contributed 12 points and Bryce Rogers recorded eight.

White, who is a senior, collected a game-high 29 points in his first varsity game to lead the way for the Redskins. Also, Evan McGrew ended up with 11 while Caden Saffle finished with five.

The victors took a 7-3 lead in the first before the Redskins responded with a 6-0 run to knot the score at 9 before taking an 11-9 lead on a pair of free throws, however, Edison's second 3-pointer of the night gave the Wildcats a 12-11 lead at the end of the quarter.

The Wildcats kept the momentum on their side in the second as the winners outscored the Redskins, 15-6, in the quarter to take a 29-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Edison continued its run in the third as it built its biggest lead of the game, however, Indian Creek responded with an 11-2 spurt to close to within five points at 37-32. The Wildcats led 39-34 entering the fourth.

A quick start in the fourth gave Edison a 45-34 lead, but Indian Creek did not go away quietly into the cold night. The Redskins battled back and closed to within 51-45 with 1:27 left to play in the game. Indian Creek had a chance to draw even closer, however, the Redskins committed a turnover, and the Wildcats were able to put the game away from the free-throw line.

"We have to make free throws," Moses said. "We have to learn how to win. We have to learn what it takes. We have to learn how to win, and we did that tonight. The kids played hard. I have a great group. They are a great group of boys."

The Redskins got as close as six points late in the game, however, the Wildcats hit two foul shots to seal the deal.

"They made their free throws down the stretch," Dunlevy said. "They are a veteran team. They are going to win some games.

"We just have to get better. We are going to try and get better. We are going to be back in the gym at 10 o'clock tomorrow, and we are going to try and get better."

Both teams are scheduled to take on Jefferson County rivals Tuesday. Edison is slated to play Catholic Central in the Wildcats' first home game of the season, while Indian Creek will travel to take on Toronto inside the George J. Junzler Memorial Gymnasium.

"We are going to face another veteran coach with another veteran team," Dunlevy said. "We didn't win during the summer, but our guys got better. It is going to come down to me being patient and them being impatient. I have to be patient because I'm playing 15-year-old kids. They are going to be really good, it's just a question of when. They have to be impatient because they are going to want to work hard in practice and get better every day. I just have to be patient because it is going to happen. Like I said in the preview, it is not a question of it happening, it's just a question of when."

Edison 55, Indian Creek 47

Edison 12 15 12 16 – 55

Indian Creek 11 6 17 13 – 47

EDISON (1-1): DeGarmo 3 0-0 7, D. Long 0 0-0 0, Rogers 2 3-4 8, Farnsworth 0 1-2 1, K. Long 4 2-4 12, Rambsel 0 0-0 0, Fliburn 2 0-0 4, Wiley 6 4-6 17, McBane 3 0-0 6. TOTALS: 20 10-18 55.

INDIAN CREEK (0-1): Mazar 1 0-0 2, Nickell 0 0-0 0, McGrew 3 5-9 11, Vick 0 0-0 0, Pietro 0 0-0 0, Lyons 0 0-0 0, Saffle 2 0-0 5, Haines 0 0-0 0, Snyder 0 0-0 0, White 12 5-5 29. TOTALS: 18 10-14 47.

3-POINTERS: Edison 5 (K. Long 2, DeGarmo, Rogers, Wiley); Indian Creek 1 (Saffle)