BOYS BASKETBALL: Edison gets revenge versus SMCC, 74-69

SANDUSKY — What a difference the second time around made for Edison on Friday at “The Den.”

However, the Chargers didn’t seal a revenge win over St. Mary Central Catholic until the final three seconds ticked away in the Sandusky Bay Conference contest.

Edison had the lead throughout the last 30 minutes, 36 seconds after the score was knotted at 5-5. The lead ranged from as many as 10 (three occasions) and as low as one (70-69) before coach Chris Ceccoli’s club pulled out a 74-69 win, and avenge a 57-45 loss to the Panthers in December.

However, the Panthers refused to give up, and staged dramatic flurry in the a span of 77 seconds to pull within one point with 13.9 seconds showing.

Edison (5-7, 10-7) led 68-60 with 2:27 remaining in regulation, and again 70-62 at the 1:29 mark.

That’s when the Panthers staged their last-ditch try to end an eight-game losing streak.

Sophomore Ethan Sennish drilled a 3-pointer with 1:15 left in regulation. The Chargers turned the ball over at the 48-second mark and Brian Ferber went to the line for the double bonus and converted a pair of free throws to make it 70-67.

Edison once again turned the ball back to the hosts and this time senior Albert Kromer drove to the bucket for a lay-up with 14.3 seconds remaining, and SMCC coach Lyle Falknor again called time.

The Panthers immediately fouled Edison’s Ryan Reber after one second elapsed, and Reber calmly sank two foul tossed for a 72-69 lead.

SMCC called its last time-out to set up a play.

“We wanted to get the ball to Pat Sennish but we also knew they would defend him. Alex Opfer, our sophomore guard, used the second choice,, and that was to find Ethan (Sennish) and he did a nice job of doing that, and Ethan had a nice look, but the ball just came up short,” said Falknor after his team fell to 1-12 in the SBC and 2-14 overall.

After Ethan Sennish’s miss, Brandon Tomson of the Chargers was fouled with 2.8 seconds to go, and he dropped both free throws to make it the final score.

The game actually boiled down to Edison’s lay-up drill compared to successful free throw and 3-point shooting for the Panthers.

The Chargers were 17 of 65 from the field in the early loss, but this time around they were red-hot, especially in the second half. They hit on 10 of 13 action shots in the third quarter, then made seven of eight in the final eight minutes to wind up 29 of 48 for the night (60 percent).

In the stretch from the five-minute mark of the third quarter until their final attempt from the floor in the last quarter ((2:27 remaining), the Chargers converted 14 of 16 field goal tries to protect the lead.

Most of the time, Edison’s points came off driving to the basket for the easy lay-up goal.

Meanwhile, SMCC kept its hopes alive with fine shooting at the line, and six there-point buckets, four by Pat Sennish. The Panthers were 25 of 32 for the night from the line, and cashed in on 18 of 22 opportunities in the second half alone.

Ceccoli commented his team.

“We felt it was important to get off to a good start, and we did that tonight. (Edison scored just nine first-half points in the first game, and trailed 27-9). We did not have practices twice this week because of the weather and I was concerned about that, but we looked sharp in that first half and maybe got a little tired n the second half. We ran into foul trouble and that hurt,” Ceccoli said.

Edison had a 31-23 half-time lead.

“Our goal was to space the floor and attack the rim, and did that quite well. We also made out foul shots down the stretch. Ryan Reber and Brandon Tomson made some big foul shots at the end,” Ceccoli said.

“Right now I’m thinking about the big challenges ahead of us. We have Clyde, then Western Reserve and finally Port Clinton, and all three are home. We have a chance to get ready for the tournament season,” Ceccoli said.

As for Falknor, he talked about the effort his team made, especially in the final quarter.

“I have not complained about the effort all year long and I’m still not doing that. It was there tonight but there were some certain situations I’d like to change. They made a lot of their points off easy shots and Chris (Ceccoli) did a nice job of clearing out the weak side, and that created some problems,” Falknor said.

“What I liked about Ethan Sennish was the fact he was not afraid to take that shot at the end and that’s the kind of confidence I’m looking for,” Falknor said.

“We’ve been a good shooting team from the line all season long and had another good night and put ourselves in a position to at least force overtime. We didn’t make that shot, but we will just keep on working at it,” Falknor said.

Both teams had three players in double figures.

Mike Yost, who made a career of driving successfully to the bucket, had a game-high 23 points for the Chargers. Meanwhile, Zach Yovanov also sank several lay-ups driving down the lane on the way to 22 points. Reber chipped in with 11.

Chad Schlett tossed in 18 points to lead nine Panthers in the scoring department. Ferber followed with 14 and Pat Sennish finished with 12 points (on four treys). Opfer came on to score nine points off the bench.