4-AA BOYS : Sharp-Shooting Edison Sinks Woodbridge
Edison High School sent a message to the would-be tacticians remaining in the Southern Section 4-AA playoffs--bring on those gimmick defenses.
The Chargers, a team that has pounded the ball inside throughout the season, demonstrated that their outside game is just fine, thank you. They dismantled Woodbridge’s triangle-and-two defense for a 70-53 victory in a first-round game at Edison Friday night.
“To do well in the playoffs, you’re going to need good outside shooting,” Edison Coach Jon Bochert said. “That’s the only way you can keep other teams from packing it in on defense.”
Which is just what Woodbridge Coach Bill Shannon had in mind Friday night.
The Warriors played man-to-man on 6-foot-10 center Bill Martineau and 6-4 forward Brandon Jessie, while the rest of the team played zone.
“Edison had made only 12 three-point field goals all season,” Shannon said. “We wanted to make them shoot the threes.”
Guards Dan Lovelady and Tom Smyser obliged, although not to Shannon’s liking.
Lovelady, who had made seven three-pointers all season, made three and finished with 12 points. Smyser came off the bench and made four of five shots, including three three-pointers, and finished with 12 points.
The Chargers started strong, making their first five shots. Lovelady made two of his three-point field goals in the first three minutes, which brought the Warriors out of their defense.
But, by then, the Chargers (17-9) had a 18-4 lead.
“The were giving us any outside shot we wanted to take,” Bochert said. “We just took what they gave us.”
Woodbridge (13-13) made a game of it in the second quarter. Led by guard Toby Ramos (18 points), the Warriors closed to within 21-18.
The Chargers got into foul trouble in the second quarter, which almost cost them. Edison had four starters with three fouls by halftime, including its entire starting front line of Martineau, Jessie and Steve Thobe.
The Warriors (13-13) were able to go inside and stayed close until 3 minutes 15 seconds left in the half. However, Jessie scored five points in a two-minute span before going to the bench with his third foul.
That helped push the Edison lead to 37-26 at halftime.
“We were a little inconsistent in the first half,” Bochert said. “A lot of that had to do with the our foul problems. But there were times out there tonight when we played very, very well.”
With the Woodbridge defense extended, Jessie (17 points) and Martineau (12 points) dominated inside. Jessie scored 10 points in the second half and Martineau nine.
