Even in an abnormal environment, where fans are limited to two guests per player and cheerleader, Moss expects it to be a high-energy game from both sides. The teams split games last year and both are coming off wins against Purcell Marian – Fenwick on Tuesday and Badin a week ago.
“I always approach that game knowing it’s going to be a battle, knowing it’s a rival game and even in a low-attended game both will be playing hard with bragging rights involved because it’s a rivaly,” Moss said. “But we are laser-focused. We have goals and will come in locked and ready to roll.”
Moss has seen that “laser focus” since practices began. Fenwick has six seniors who have been playing together since youth league and are all good friends off the court, so the chemistry is evident when they are on the court.
Wright State recruit A.J. Braun leads the group, scoring 19.5 points per game, while others also have stepped up into bigger roles to replace three graduates who played significant minutes in 2019-20. Junior point guard Wes English, senior guard Will Richards and 6-foot-4 senior forwards Carter Earls (UC baseball commit) and Carter Bernath (newcomer starting) are among those contributors.
“It’s a tight-knit group, it’s a really good family environment and makes it easy to coach,” Moss said. “They are selfless, they understand the formula for how we have to win games. There’s no egos, no jealousy. They hold each other accountable and pass up good shots for great shots, they understand we are an inside-out team and they need to be ready for when their number is called.”
Moss said the low-key environment of games this season, especially for a rivalry game, suits his team quite well, although he knows it’s not the way anyone really would like it to be.
“I love having the packed-house environment, but with the team we have, a lot of the guys on my varsity team were role players in the past so this small-crowd environment fits them better,” Moss said. “It’s not getting them riled up, not getting their emotions too high, they are not too nervous – it’s a perfect environment for the team I have.”
In terms of what he expects from Badin, Moss called the rams a “gritty, physical and disciplined” team that “plays hard and has nice depth of size.”
David Schweinefuss leads the Rams with 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, and point guard Andrew Larkin directs an otherwise balanced offense. He and Ian Sabourin average 7.0 points, and Ryan Kirkendall and Jayden Carter each chip in 6.5 points per game through two outings.
Edgewood postpones play: The Edgewood boys basketball team had to postpone Friday’s game originally scheduled against Northwest because of low numbers available to play.
According to coach John Thomas, the Cougars barely would have been able to field a full starting lineup because so many players are currently quarantined because of COVID-19 contact tracing.
Edgewood has 31 players in its high school program and 26 of them have been quarantined at various points since the preseason. Thomas is hopeful players will be back as expected next week, so the Cougars can resume play Tuesday at Kings, but they likely will not get a chance to practice together much before then.
“I feel bad for the kids right now that we’ve had to go through these situations,” Thomas said. “I know we’re not the only ones. A lot of programs have gone through this to various degrees. It’s tough on all of us, but you feel bad for the kids, especially the seniors. We’re trying to look at safety of the students and keep everyone as safe as possible, first of all, but once we can, we look forward to getting our players on the floor again.”
The season started out on a high note with a 77-72 win over Monroe with Caleb Allen amassing 47 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Aaron Frazier had 18 points and played a big part in keeping the Cougars in the game in the first half.
With players like Allen out, Edgewood dropped its next two games, though.
“I’m proud of them, how they’ve handled themselves,” Thomas said. “It’s a great bunch of guys, so I just hope we can get ourselves back to playing some good basketball.”
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