Reynolds poured in a game-high 20 points, punctuated by a thunderous baseline dunk and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, and Edgewood pulled away in the second half for a 70-58 Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division victory over Ross.
”First off, it was a big win — a completely different story from the last time we played them. It’s a big rivalry game,” Reynolds said. “We came in with a lot of energy, but we came out short in the first half. We gave up a lot of straight-line drives and just couldn’t figure it out defensively.
“At halftime, we were really bummed out and low energy. But we came out, picked it up, started hitting some big shots and getting to the line. We only had about six points in the paint in the first half, which is not us at all. That’s not our identity. We want to get to the rim, and then once that happens, kick it out for 3s. In the second half, we made big shots, got to the line and closed the game the right way.”
Amir Cannedy added 16 points and Keegan Sullivan chipped in 13 as the Cougars outscored Ross 41-28 after halftime to secure their fourth straight win and fifth in their last six games.
The Cougars led 20-18 after one quarter before Ross surged ahead late in the second. The Rams carried a one-point edge into halftime, but Edgewood responded quickly after the break.
Edgewood (10-3, 5-1 SWBL Southwestern) trailed 30-29 at the break in a tightly contested first half before taking control behind rebounding, defense and timely shooting.
Reynolds gave the Cougars a 36-34 lead with a baseline dunk midway through the third quarter, then buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to close the period and push Edgewood’s advantage to 49-42.
Ross made one final push when JJ Buehner drilled a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 54-52 with 4:50 remaining, but Edgewood answered with a decisive run fueled by offensive rebounding and second-chance points.
“Offensive rebounds were huge for us. We’re aggressive,” Reynolds said. “We work every day in practice and push each other to get better. We just work hard.”
Reynolds, who recently broke the school’s career blocks record previously held by 2010 graduate Brian Weber, continued to impact the game on both ends of the floor.
“He does the little things that don’t show up in the stat sheet — talking on defense, being in help, being in the right position,” Edgewood coach Jason Osterman said. “He’s a great kid with a bright future. He’s going to go play basketball somewhere after this year. He had a hand injury over the holidays and couldn’t shoot the ball from three for a few games, but he’s back to 100 percent now, and that’s nice to have.”
Osterman credits his team’s chemistry and leadership as key factors that have carried the program this season.
“We have a really good group of seniors and some juniors who are playing really well for us,” Osterman said. “They’re great leaders on and off the floor, and they’re really close, which helps. They play well together, and we’re blessed to have them. We’re tough to guard — we’ve got a lot of guys who can score the ball.”
Ross (4-8, 3-3 SWBL Southwestern) was led by a pair of freshmen, as Ryan Smith scored 17 points and JJ Buehner added 11. Zack Otto finished with 10 points for the Rams, who have dropped three straight.
“I thought we played really hard again. Our kids busted their butts and did a great job, for the most part, following the scouting report,” Ross coach David Lane said. “We really tried to take away (Tyson) Daley, who I thought was their best scorer, and I think we did a good job. I think he only made one shot and a couple free throws late. They had some other guys step up, and the biggest thing was we didn’t make some winning plays in winning moments at the end.”
Daley finished with eight points — roughly eight less than his season average of 15.8 a game — but it was rebounding that Lane said was the decisive factor down the stretch.
“We gave up offensive rebounds on free throws — five in the fourth quarter — and that can’t happen,” Lane said. “We play our butts off, play really hard, and do a great job, then have a couple silly turnovers and some mental mistakes, especially with offensive rebounding. That was kind of the difference in the game tonight.”
Lane, though, praised the development of his younger players.
“Those guys did a really good job stepping up,” Lane said. “Ryan attacked the rim really well tonight, and JJ and Ryan both hit shots from deep. Ryan had a great third and fourth quarter. With teams really focusing on Ethan (Fuersich) in the post and not helping off of him, those guys were able to get to the rim and score.”
The Rams showed progress from their season-opening loss to Edgewood, a 59-42 setback in Trenton.
“That was the second game of the season for us, and we were still trying to figure out what we had,” Lane said. “We lost a lot from last year, had guys trying to learn rules, and we had a bunch of injuries early. We played a much more complete game tonight than we did the first time.
“I’m really proud of our guys’ effort and how they’re playing,” Lane added. “We’ve got a lot to work on, but we’re getting there. You look at Edgewood and Monroe at the top of the league right now, and we competed with both of them. If we keep playing with this effort, energy, and enthusiasm, I think we can compete with a lot of teams.”
Ross hits a three-game road stretch with Madeira on Tuesday, Talawanda on Friday and Wilmington next Saturday.
Edgewood travels to Valley View on Tuesday and has a big SWBL Southwestern showdown at home against Monroe on Friday. The Cougars and the Hornets are tied atop the Southwestern standings at 5-1.
“Now the focus is forward,” Reynolds said. “We’ve got Monroe coming up. We want to win the league championship.”
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