TORONTO — Different night. Different start. Same result.

One night after scoring 29 points in the first half, the Toronto boys basketball team built a 30-point advantage at halftime against Jefferson County rival Edison en route to an 81-37 victory via mercy rule Friday night inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.

“It was like night and day,” Toronto (14-3) head coach Sean Tucker said. “It was a point of emphasis. We talked prior to the game about coming out with an attitude. We did not have an attitude last night. We told our guys to come out with an attitude and to be a little angry. We came out and played our style of basketball.

“Edison is physical. They have good athletes. You can’t let a team like that hang around. They have very good athletes, and we wanted to come out and play the way we were capable of playing. We played well.”

Toronto has now won eight straight games.

“Basketball is an easy game,” Edison (4-8) head coach Nate Moses said. “You want to play a style, and they want to play a style. They were able to dictate the style of game to us. We had a lot of turnovers. They are balanced. We did not play the way prepared to play tonight.

The Red Knights took a 17-7 lead on a 3-pointer in the first quarter before the Wildcats answered with a basket of their own, however, the Red-and-White tallied the next 17 points to go up by 25 and the hosts were off and running.

“We really jelled in the middle of the first and all of the second,” Tucker said. “That might be the most amount of points we have ever scored in one half of basketball. We jelled together. We worked together. We played good defense. It was a wonderful performance. We played the way we wanted to play at the beginning of the season. It was really nice for us to be able to play that way. I am very proud of every single one of them.”

After leading 24-9 at the end of the first, the boys from the Gem City extended their advantage to 51-21 at halftime. A pair of free throws early in the third increased Toronto’s advantage to 56-21 bringing the running clock into play. The boys in white built a 68-27 lead entering the fourth. The victors led by as many as 48 (79-31) in the fourth.

“We saw them play Buckeye,” Moses said. “They are a very good team. Hats off to Toronto. They have a nice team. They play very unselfish. I thought we did a pretty good job of taking one of their better players away. They are very unselfish. They have a good point guard, and they have speed. They were able to dictate the pace of the game to us. They got us out of the game we wanted to play. When that happens, good things don’t happen for you.”

Austin Buchanan collected a game-high 16 points to lead the way offensively for Toronto. Buchanan was joined in double digits by Landon Grimes (13), Brady Fair (12) and Colt Joynson (11).

Jaxon Wiley tallied a team-high 15 points to lead Edison, while Kyle Long contributed six.

“We are getting better,” Moses said. “We are getting better at practice, but for whatever reason it is not carrying over into the games. That is the next step. I thought we had a really good week of practice. I thought we had a good week of preparation. The game just got away from us. The next step is the things we work on at practice have to carry over into the games.

“I am really happy. We are getting better. If you had asked me before the game, I was very excited. We prepared all week for this, but it just really wasn’t our night. I told the guys after the game that we are right there. We’re right there. We just have to take what we do in practice into games. That is the next step.”

The win enabled Toronto to sweep the season series from Edison as the Red Knights defeated the Wildcats, 68-47, Dec. 12 on the road.

“Not really,” Tucker said asked if either team did anything different in the second game compared to the first. “We both like to play man-to-man. Edison switched things up in the second half. Edison went to a 1-3-1. We talked to our guys about them going to a 1-3-1. They did a really good job of face guarding Austin. They made him work for everything he got. He had 16 points tonight.

“It’s late in the season. Teams have seen you. They know what you are capable of. They know who is hot and who is not. They want to try and take those guys away. You have to learn how to play against teams that do that. You have to find a way to get open shots when that happens. You have to be able to play off of that.

“It is nice when you work on things at practice, and the kids come out and do those things in the game. You get to see the work you put in in practice pay off. That makes you proud as a coach. You know the guys are buying in to what you are doing.

Prior to the start of the game, a video was played in honor of Tucker, who was elected to the Ohio District V Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.

“I did not know about it,” Tucker said about the video. “It was really emotional.”

The Hall of Fame Banquet will be held March 29 at Harrison Central.

“It’s a blessing,” Tucker said about going into the hall of fame. “It shows how many great basketball players I have been blessed to have been around in the last 18 years. The credit goes to all the coaches I have been around in the last 18 years. Those are the people who truly deserve this honor. I have a great support staff. I have got great support from the administration and the school. Without all of them, I would not be capable of achieving this. Selfishly, you want to take credit for it, but you can’t. There are so many people who have helped me to get here. Without them, this would not be possible. I am extremely thankful for everyone here at Toronto from the administration, to the superintendent and all of the coaches. We have got a great AD in Mark Ferrell.

“I want to thank the parents for trusting me with their boys. They let me help them to develop into great young men.

“I am truly blessed. I know my mom would be very proud. I know she is here. I can feel it. I am truly blessed. I am very thankful for everyone.”

Weather permitting, Toronto is scheduled to play Indian Creek Tuesday on the road.

“Continued prayers for Coach Dunlevy,” Tucker said.

Edison is slated to play Brooke Tuesday night at home, weather permitting.

Toronto 81, Edison 37

Edison 9 12 6 10 – 37

Toronto 24 27 17 13 – 81

EDISON (4-8): DeGarmo 1 1-1 3, D. Long 0 0-0 0, Rogers 2 1-1 5, Bokunevitz 0 0-0 0, Fuller 0 0-0 0, Farnsworth 0 0-0 0, Long 1 4-4 6, Rambsel 1 0-0 2, Everhart 0 0-0 0, Filburn 1 0-0 2, Wiley 6 2-2 15, McBane 1 2-2 4. TOTALS: 13 10-10 37.

TORONTO (14-3): Anderson 1 0-0 3, Grimes 5 0-0 13, Joynson 5 1-5 11, Bodnar 3 0-0 8, Winters 1 4-4 6, Buchanan 5 4-4 16, Wertjes 0 0-0 0, Fair 6 0-0 12, Gibson 0 2-2 2, Henry 3 0-0 8, Rebich 1 0-0 2, Barcus 0 0-0 0, Liddick 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 30 11-15 81.

3-POINTERS: Edison 1 (Wiley); Toronto 10 (Grimes 3, Bodnar 2, Buchanan 2, Henry 2, Anderson)