Woodbridge Presses Issue, Tops Edison

Playing Woodbridge short-handed isn’t appealing, but that’s what confronted Edison in a nonleague boys’ basketball game Tuesday at Woodbridge High.

Woodbridge’s pressing, trapping defense and its depth wore down Edison, which was missing one starter and had only nine players in uniform, and the Warriors broke open a close game in the second quarter before cruising to a 65-52 victory.

Regan Arroyo scored 13 points to lead a balanced attack for Woodbridge (7-4), which had 11 players score. Woodbridge’s Shane Harris made consecutive three-pointers in a 43-second span midway through the second quarter to turn a five-point lead into 11.

Edison (5-4) never got closer than seven the rest of the way.

“We’ve told our guys that we have eight or nine starters on this team,” Woodbridge Coach John Halagan said. “And it’s the guys six through 11 that always seem to make the difference when the other team starts fatiguing.”

Edison had good reason to look tired. The Chargers returned home late Sunday after winning the Orlando (Fla.) Lake Highland tournament last week.

And Edison also played Tuesday without its second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, Kyong-Su Min, who is on a religious retreat, Edison Coach Corey Kelly said.

Although Edison’s leading scorer, Steve Henderson, the MVP of the Lake Highland tournament, finished with a game-high 14 points, he made only two of 12 from the field and didn’t have his first basket until he made a three-pointer 2 1/2 minutes into the third quarter.

He wasn’t the only one struggling. Edison shot 28% (eight of 29) from the field in the first half, but still only trailed by seven with 1 1/2 minutes remaining in the second quarter.