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Middies tough, steady in win over Big Blue

McKnight, Edwards, Edwards trio combines for 45 points, 27 boards.

Hamilton's Marcus Oliver grabs a rebound Tuesday during the game against Middletown at the Wade E. Miller Gym. The Middies won, 65-46. Staff photo by Samantha Grier

Samantha Grier Hamilton's Marcus Oliver grabs a rebound Tuesday during the game against Middletown at the Wade E. Miller Gym. The Middies won, 65-46. Staff photo by Samantha Grier

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1:16 AM Wednesday, February 1, 2012

By Rick Cassano

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — Consistency was like a drumbeat for Middletown High School’s boys basketball team Tuesday night.

The host Middies maintained their grip on first place in the Greater Miami Conference with a 65-46 victory over last-place Hamilton in a physical affair at Wade E. Miller Gym.

“We basically played five points better than them each quarter, and that speaks to consistency, which I like,” Middletown coach Josh Andrews said. “I thought our guys showed great composure.

“Hamilton really came at us. If that’s the team at the bottom of our league, that says a lot about our league.”

Geovonie McKnight had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Middies, who moved to 12-4 overall and 9-1 in the GMC.

Vincent Edwards cranked out another double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds for MHS. Zach Edwards had 12 points, five caroms and five steals.

“Everybody’s going to give us their best,” Zach Edwards said. “There’s pressure being on top, but we’ve only got one GMC loss. We seem to handle the pressure pretty well.”

Quintin Bailey (14) and Christian Jones (12) led the scoring for Big Blue (3-13, 1-9), who suffered their fifth straight loss. They shot 31.9 percent from the field, yet heartened Hamilton coach Tim Robinson with their scrappiness.

“I feel like the Blue’s time is coming,” Robinson said. “We’ve been trying to teach our guys about toughness and playing hard. I don’t want to see any brawls, but they need to play with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, like they did tonight.

“Middletown’s very athletic,” he continued. “There are times when we just can’t guard them, and that’s not a knock on our guys. They’re just that good.”

Tempers flared a couple times late in the third quarter, and Robinson got plowed over by Zach Edwards during that stretch.

Edwards, a University of Cincinnati football recruit, put Robinson on the floor for several minutes as he went after a loose ball.

“I was just hustling,” Edwards said. “You always feel bad when you do something unintentional like that. I was trying to catch him on the way down.”

Robinson had some ankle and knee pain, but got up and completed his coaching duties.

The Middies converted 20-of-26 free throws, 16-of-19 in the second half. Hamilton was 10-of-19 at the charity stripe.

Focus on local teams Middletown 65, Hamilton 46

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