Warriors find spark against Geneva
Jan. 12—ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP — As the only senior playing major minutes for Edgewood this season, Ben Welty understands better than anyone that while his team may not have a lot of experience on the floor, they certainly have a lot of energy.
"I really like this group of guys," Welty said following Edgewood boys basketball team's 71-52 win over Geneva in Chagrin Valley Conference action at Edgewood High School. "We're a really young group of guys, but we have a lot of chemistry and we love playing with each other. That's why we have such a good record because we enjoy playing with each other. When one guy is playing hard, another guy is dropping in buckets, we feed off of one another's energy."
The energy took a few minutes to show up Tuesday night. Edgewood turned the ball over four times in the opening minutes and needed nearly three minutes to collect its first points.
After that, however, the defense and transition game kicked in, igniting an 18-1 run to close out the period.
"We came out maybe a little flat," Edgewood coach John Bowler said. "Our defense controls that a little bit. When we start playing defense and trapping and getting steals, it generates everything for us."
The Warriors (9-1, 4-0 CVC) may not have the star power of past great Edgewood teams, but they do have a cast of players that can turn up the volume.
"This is the prototype team," Bowler said. "I have seven guys that can play every position and seven guys that can shoot, seven guys that can rebound. On a given night, it can be anybody."
Logan Kray led Edgewood in scoring with 18 points to go with five rebounds. He was one of four Warriors in double-figures. Zackary Vencill had 15 points. Welty added 12 points to go with six boards, while Christian Curry had 14 points, five rebounds and eight steals.
The Warriors may be young, but their winning ways are no surprise to Welty.
"Some of these guys didn't play any varsity last year, but I really love playing with these guys," Welty said. "I can make them better because they have a couple of more years, but they are making me better too."
Geneva, after falling down by as many as 20 in the first half, cut the Edgewood lead to 11 late in the third quarter, but the Warriors closed the period on an 8-1 run to regain control.
Geneva coach Eric Bowser said matching the Warriors' energy is something his team needs to learn to do.
"There's got to be some changes made," Bowser said. "You can't turn the ball over as much as we did and expect a good team not to take advantage. We need energy all the time, not just in spurts. You have to have it at practice, in in-game situations, in the off-season. You have to have it all the time.
"When there are momentum swings like that, you have to match it, you have to bounce right back and we're just not very successful right now." '
The Eagles (3-6, 1-2 CVC) were led in scoring by Luke Smith with 14. Freshman Luke Barbo provided a spark off the bench and finished with eight points.
