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Turnovers cost Beavers in their season opener

RICHMOND — Another big fourth quarter made the difference for Edison against Beaver Local.

The Edison boys’ basketball team turned a four-point advantage in the fourth quarter to a 15-point lead en route to a 65-56 victory over Beaver Local Friday night at home.

“It all started with our defense,” Edison (2-0) head coach Nate Moses said. “I thought we did a really good job defensively. We did a good job locating their shooters and switching there. We were able to get a hand in their face. We stepped up on defense. We got some stops on defense, and we got some big rebounds.”

The Wildcats pressure defense forced the Beavers into making some costly turnovers in the fourth quarter.

“They were able to speed us up,” first-year Beaver Local (0-1) head coach Jason Pacanowski said. “They were able to get us out of rhythm. Their pressure got to us. We got flustured. This was our first game of the season, so we have not been put in that situation in a while.

“We played super hard. I am proud of the kids. We had the lead at 45-44, and they went on a run and we fought back. We just got flustered by their press.”

Eight players scored in the game for Edison, three of which reached double digits. Zach Kramarich contributed a team-high 16 points to lead the way, while Bryce Piatt tallied 15 points and Dom Rogers 10.

Six players scored in the game for Beaver Local, half of whom reached double figures. Chase Wilcox collected a team-high 16 points, Zak Pappas produced 15 points and Nathan Kline contributed 11.

A three-pointer by Pappas gave the Beavers a 45-44 lead late in the third quarter, but the Wildcats netted the final five points of the quarter to take a 49-45 lead into the fourth. The three-pointer by Pappas proved to give his team their lone lead of the night.

Early in the fourth quarter, a basket by Piatt gave the Wildcats an 8-point advantage, but Beaver Local battled back to within 53-49. However, that was as close as the Beavers got the rest of the way as Edison scored the next 11 points to build a 64-49 advantage late in the game.

“It was a good back and forth high school basketball game,” Moses said. “Both teams played hard. Both teams got after it. I am really happy with our defensive effort. I was really happy with our defensive effort, especially in the second half.

“Wilcox is a great player. We have played against him and Kline for years. We know what kind of players they are. we put Kramarich on Wilcox, and he didn’t give him anything. We put Piatt on their point guard, and he did a heck of a job.”

The Beavers committed six more turnovers in the game than the Wildcats.

“They always play tough,” Pacanowski said. “Their press is always tough. We outrebounded them by 10 according to our IPad. We outrebounded them, and I am proud of them for that. Rebounding was a problem for us last year. We have struggled in the past rebounding. We just have to limit our turnovers, and we have to be smarter with the basketball. We made some mistakes, but they were fundamental errors. We can fix those.”

A putback at the buzzer by Connor Hyndman gave the home team a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Wildcats built a 10-point advantage – 24-14 – but the Beavers fought back and tied the score at 24 less than two minutes later. Edison responded and built an eight-point lead, but Beaver Local battle back and pulled to within 32-30 at halftime.

The victors extended their advantage to 38-31 in the third, but once again the Beavers refused to throw in the towel as Beaver Local regrouped and tied the score at 40 before taking the lead on the 3-pointer by Pappas.

The Beavers won the JV game, 62-35. Luke Chetock led the way for Beaver Local with 21 points.

Both teams are scheduled to play today in the afternoon at home. Edison is scheduled to play against rival Indian Creek while Beaver Local is slated to play against Coulumbiana County rival Wellsville. The Beaver Local game has a jayvee start time of noon, while the Edison game has a jayvee start of 1 p.m.

“We play Indian Creek tomorrow afternoon,” Moses said. “They also played tonight, so there will be no excuses. It is a good-early test. We know what they are going to do. They are going to play real-good defense. It is going to be a battle tomorrow.”

BEAVER: 11-19-15-11–56

EDISON: 15-17-17-16–65

BEAVER SCORING: Zak Pappas 6-1-15, Chase Wilcox 4-5-14, Nathan Kline 4-0-11, Drew Theiss 0-8-8, Michael Clendenning 2-0-4, Logan Bouscher 2-0-4, Terry Adkins 0-0-0, Torey Calio 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 18, 14-18: 56.

EDISON SCORING: Zac Kramarich 6-3-16, Connor Hyndman 7-1-15, Bryce Platt 4-6-15, Dom Rogers 3-2-8, Joe Nave 1-2-4, Michael Speedy 1-1-3, Alec Mcbane 0-2-2, Anthony Sinicroppi 1-0-2, Zach Easter 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 23, 16-20: 65.

Three-point goals: Beaver 6 (Pappas 2, Wilcox, Kline 3), Edison 3 (Kramarich, Platt, Speedy).

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