The Middies sit at 1-9 overall and 1-8 in the Greater Miami Conference, with their lone victory coming against Colerain in mid-December.
But results aside, Edwards insists the story of this season is more about transition, timing and patience than the record suggests.
“Everybody was excited because football had a great year,” said Edwards, now into his third season at the Middletown helm. “That’s a great thing for our community. Coach (Kali) Jones and his staff did an amazing job. But it kind of put us behind the ball a little bit.”
With football extending deep into the fall — its first-ever trip to the state semifinals — Middletown’s basketball program didn’t fully come together until later than usual.
Edwards said the delay affected every level — varsity, junior varsity and freshman — forcing the staff to compress preparation time while trying to bring players up to speed.
“We were a couple weeks behind starting in,” Edwards said. “So we just tried to stay focused and keep the main thing the main thing.”
Compounding the challenge was roster turnover. Middletown lost a veteran core that had been together for three seasons, leaving Edwards to blend new contributors into bigger roles.
“We have seniors, but we don’t have experienced seniors,” Edwards said. “It’s tough to replace those guys right away.”
The Middies believed they might be further along by this point, but continuity has been elusive. Edwards said Middletown has had only three games all season with its full roster available, as illness, injuries and athletes transitioning from other sports disrupted consistency.
“For this crew, one of the biggest things is we’re just not making shots, and then we’re not guarding,” Edwards said.
Defense, particularly on the perimeter, has been a recurring issue. Edwards acknowledged a breakdown against Lakota East in a 52-36 loss on Monday, when Middletown surrendered its first 15 points on 3-pointers.
“We’re doing a bad job of taking away the 3-point line,” Edwards said. “It was like target practice — wide-open shots. We have to do a better job coaching them up defensively, and they have to do a better job effort-wise.”
Still, Edwards has found encouragement in flashes, especially from younger players.
“I was happy about how our younger guys started the game,” the coach said. “They guarded well, I thought. There were some bright spots, some things we can build on.”
As of late, leading the way for the Middies are seniors Mario Rose and Keith Daniels, who average a combined 25.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.6 steals a game.
But a consistent obstacle has been consistency — particularly in second quarters. Edwards pointed to multiple games where Middletown held its own for three quarters, only to be undone by one extended stretch.
“The second quarter has killed us all year,” Edwards said. “You look at Lakota West — we tied every quarter but the second, and it was 19-6. Same thing with Sycamore, same thing with East. One quarter kills us, and we never recover.
“That might be on me and our coaches. Managing the game a little better with our timeouts, trying to settle those guys down during runs. You’ve got to play a complete game.”
With less than a dozen games remaining, the Middies are shifting their focus away from immediate results and toward long-term growth.
“At this point, our goal is to try to be playing our best basketball by February,” Edwards said. “We’re just trying to take it day to day.
“We’ll figure it out. We’ve got the staff, and we’ve got the young men who are going to keep going in there and working hard. We’re going to get this thing figured out.”
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