The Edgewood Cougars tipped off their season with a 45-34 loss to the Middletown Middies. Sophomore guard Tyson Daley led the team with 13 points in his first varsity appearance.
“I was pretty impressed, a little nervous coming in playing in my first varsity game,” Daley said.
Coach Osterman, who is in his third year at the helm with a 19-27 record, identified his plan to stop the Middies.
“Just to slow them down. They’re a real athletic quick [and] team. Just trying to stop them as much as possible. We didn’t know if we were going to play man or zone,” Osterman said.
Sophomore guard, Tyson agreed with Coach on the difficulties the Middies presented with.
“Probably their athleticism and size, and how they can get to the rim, and steal a couple plays to knock down shots,” Daley said.
However, the Cougars came out flat early scoring only two points thanks to sophomore guard Kale Reynolds. While Middletown took the lead early scoring 10 points.
Going into the second quarter Edgewood made adjustments by switching to a zone defense. The change limited the Middies’ opportunity to score in the paint. The Cougars’ scoring surge started from Daley’s two free throws off of a Dae’Shuan Showes technical. Edgewood cut the deficit to four points going into the half.
“The zone starting working for us, so we decided to stay in it,” Osterman said.
The Cougars also received a boost from the amazing atmosphere, Tyson loved playing in it.
“It was super fun, and probably the most fun basketball game I’ve played my whole life,” Daley said.
Middletown came out strong out of halftime soaring to a 13-2 run that ended off a Daley three. With 2:38 left in the third quarter and sitting on a ten-point lead, the Middies decided to not attack the EHS zone and just stood with the ball just over the half-court line. EHS did not give in and leave the zone, and fans got over two minutes with no action.
“We had the possession arrow, We also had four team fouls, So I knew if we came out and got them, We had the chance to commit a foul and give them two points at the line,” Osterman said.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Cougars cut the Middies’ lead to five with 27 seconds left, after two huge three-point shots by Kale Reynolds. However, the Middies secured the win.
Coach Osterman was proud of the effort his team had under pressure. A positive takeaway was the team shooting 46% beyond the arc.
The Cougars look to bounce back on Tuesday as they host the Colerain Cardinals, Varsity tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm at Ron Kash Court.
