BOYS' BASKETBALL - Edison rallies to beat Margaretta

MILAN — A season-long nemesis of the Edison boys’ basketball team made another appearance Friday night as the Chargers hosted Margaretta in a Sandusky Bay Conference game.
However, for the first time this season, it ended up not costing the Chargers as they rebounded from a 13-point first half to post a 51-45 win over the Polar Bears at Edison High School.
It was the Chargers’ first SBC win since Dec. 29, also against the Polar Bears.
“At some point in time, you have to draw a line and say enough is enough,” Edison coach Chris Ceccoli said. “We’re not a young team anymore. We reminded them tonight, that’s not the case. We have to start making strides and getting some momentum.”
A common reoccurrence for Edison (9-7, 4-7) had been scoring droughts that have lasted for nearly a quarter, sometimes longer. In most of those games, the Chargers rallied to make it close, but ultimately came up short.
“We always come out slow,” Edison senior Zach Yovanov said. “We need to figure out some situations in practice where we start off the game and set a goal for 10 points in the first 2 to 3 minutes, or do something along those lines.
“We need to get up and running, because we’re scared to run,’’ he added. “I still think we get nervous jitters even though we’ve played 16 games. We need to put together some consistent nights.”
Margaretta took a 39-35 lead entering the fourth quarter and eventually pushed the lead up to 44-37 with 4:39 left in the game. It was all downhill from there, however, as the Chargers closed out the game with a 14-1 scoring advantage.
Yovanov hit a 3-pointer and Ryan Reber converted a three-point play, which tied the game at 45 with 2:54 left. Edison then took the lead for good on a steal and basket by Yovanov, followed by back-to-back scores from Reber and Taylor Emody with 49.6 seconds left to close out the scoring.
Margaretta shot just 2-of- 14 in the fourth quarter with four turnovers.
“The kids didn’t want to take good shots at pressure points,” Margaretta coach Troy Roth said. “The plays we were making in the first half, they made in the second half. It was a lack of taking care of the basketball. When we did get shots, we didn’t finish.”
The Chargers trailed at halftime 26-13, largely in part to a scoring drought that covered four minutes and 45 seconds as the Polar Bears (5-8, 4-7) proceeded to score ten straight points in that span.
Edison came out with a renewed purpose in the third quarter, however, as a 20-6 scoring run capped by a 3-pointer from Reber with 1:01 left in the quarter allowed the Chargers to take a 33-32 lead.
“The coaches were in their room and we were in ours,” Yovanov said of the halftime break. “We talked to each other as a team and said we couldn’t put an effort like this in at home. We have to pick up the pace and because that’s what we’re good at.”
Reber finished with 15 points and eight rebounds for Edison, while Emody and Yovanov each added 11 points. Kyle Homerick was the lone player in double figures for Margaretta with 13.
Ceccoli talked about the key to his team’s 38-point second half that saw an impressive 16-of-25 shooting from the floor.
“We got some stops on defense by changing it up to create transition,” he said. “And when we’re able to get some transition buckets, it’s a big shot in the arm for us. We spaced the floor better in the second half, which led to better shots.”
The Chargers are scheduled to play Friday at St. Mary Central Catholic for a league game.