“That has to be one of our better games over a longer period of time that I liked,” Rams coach Gerry Weisgerber said. “I thought for the amount of time they were in the game, everybody contributed tonight.”
Badin (8-7) never trailed and grabbed a 10-1 lead in the first five minutes against Edgewood (10-5), which had a couple offensive spurts, but never seriously challenged the Rams.
John Marot scored 19 points, Evan Grawe had 12 and Brian Gerbus added a career-high nine for Badin, which shot 54.3 percent from the field. The Rams buried 9 of 16 treys (56.3 percent).
“The past couple games, we’ve been playing a lot individually. We needed a really big team win tonight,” said Grawe, a senior guard. “I think intensity would be the key word for us tonight. They got us in football, and we just kind of had the mind-set like, ‘We’ve got to beat these guys.’ ”
Marot put up 12 first-half points as Badin took a 25-12 lead into intermission. The Rams then scored 23 points in the third quarter, with Gerbus coming off the bench and erupting for all of his points in the last four minutes of the stanza.
“Brian gives us that little spark coming off the bench against a stronger, physical team,” Weisgerber said. “The kid just gives us everything he’s got for the amount of time he’s in there. I’ve got to get him more playing time.”
It’s been a long drought in this series for the Cougars. They’ve lost eight straight to Badin and haven’t conquered the Rams since Dec. 27, 2008.
“All I know is that we did not beat them tonight,” Edgewood coach John Thomas said. “Sixty-four points is a heck of a lot of points for us to give up and win a basketball game, and I thought that was a tribute to Badin.
“They weren’t letting us do anything that we wanted to do in the first half. They were tougher and played harder and got to the 50-50 balls. Their intensity and energy and everything about ’em … we got outplayed in every phase of the game. Gerry’s obviously doing a tremendous job over there.”
The Cougars, who committed 10 of their 14 turnovers in the opening two periods, had three double-digit scorers: Eddie Driskell (12), Garrett Gabbard (11) and Drew Reckart (11). Edgewood shot 35.7 percent from the floor.
“I thought defensively in the first half we were very good,” Weisgerber said. “We hit some 3s early, and then all of a sudden we took a couple bad shots because we’re thinking, ‘OK, I’ve hit a couple. I’m just going to fire away.’ I had to tell them at halftime that they made their 3s because they got them out of the offense. It wasn’t just one pass, throw it down and shoot it.
“In the second half, we did a better job of running the offense. We looked for one another, especially when they started pressuring us hard. Somebody’s got to be open, and we found guys inside.”
Grawe started Tuesday’s game with a 3.1 scoring average and got blanked last Saturday against Finneytown. But he burned the Cougars on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
“Just one of those nights,” Grawe said. “I got open from a lot of screens from JT (Jakob Tipton) and Justin (Pappas) and just knocked down shots. I stepped in and was feeling it.”
Marot snagged seven rebounds, Pappas pulled down five boards and Daunte DeCello had four assists for Badin.
“I think the kids are starting to realize what they can do,” Weisgerber said. “All of a sudden, we’re scoring in the 60s on people. Now we’ve got to show that we can do this kind of stuff against the league schools.”
Reckart (seven) and Gabbard (five) paced Edgewood on the glass. Ethan McCarty chipped in eight points for the Cougars, who are 2-4 in their last six games.
“We’re going to keep coaching, they’re going to keep playing, and we’ve got to have better results than what we had tonight,” Thomas said. “We’ve got to get back in the gym tomorrow and get better. The kids better come to play Friday night.”
Edgewood will be at home against Southwest Ohio Conference rival Ross on Friday, while the Rams host Carroll in Greater Catholic League Coed Division play.
Badin 13-12-23-16—64
Edgewood 5-7-14-20—46
BADIN (8-7): Jakob Tipton 1 0 2, Caleb Meyer 0 2 2, Evan Grawe 4 0 12, Seth Thompson 2 1 6, Daunte DeCello 1 0 3, Alex Jones 1 0 3, Justin Pappas 3 0 6, John Marot 8 1 19, Warren Clarke 1 0 2, Brian Gerbus 4 1 9. Totals: 25-5-64
EDGEWOOD (10-5): Nick Noble 1 0 2, Drew Reckart 3 3 11, Jake Paulsen 1 0 2, Ethan McCarty 3 2 8, Eddie Driskell 3 6 12, Garrett Gabbard 4 2 11. Totals: 15-13-46
3-pointers: B 9 (Grawe 4, Marot 2, Thompson, DeCello, Jones), E 3 (Reckart 2, Gabbard)
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