Edge Athletics opened its season with ten teams traveling to Yonkers to compete in the Spring Hardwood Classic. As of 7pm most teams had reported in. The 11u won its first game of the season with a very solid performance both offensively and defensively, beating the Defensive Motion 46-36. In the second game of the morning, the 11u boys fell to a very strong Long Island Lightening team 38-32. “I was very pleased with today’s games, “ said head coach Ryan Peek. “There is a lot of upside for this team and I am very excited about going into tomorrows game,” Peek added. Alex Strom led all scorers with 18 points.
The 12u West and 13u teams both swept today’s games. Both teams turned in solid defensive performances. “I was happy with our defensive effort today across the board. Our 12u team really started to understand the defensive concepts and the amount of hard work needed to implement them,” Coach Santoro said. In game two, the Edge 12u West defeated the Westchester Cougars but not before going down by 8 early in the game. Midway into the first half, the Edge boys rolled and cruised to a 20 point victory. The 12u boys will play the Rockland Royals at 8:30am followed by the Championship game at 12 noon at Sacred Heart School.
The 13u easily defeated Hoops express in their first game of the morning. They then went on to beat a very athletic and talented Long Island Lightening team, winning that game by 6. “We were down by a few points with under 4 minutes remaining,” Santoro said. But their defense really turned up the heat and were able to regain the lead with 3:45 seconds to go. They never looked back.
In other action, the 14u West turned in an impressive performance defeating the Westchester Hawks 47-37. “I was pleasantly surprised by our man defense,” said Coach Moore. “I really saw the kids execute our strategy and it was very obvious they have grasped the concepts,” he added. Ken Massario and Devon Shaw led the team in scoring with 11 and 10 points respectively. In game two, Teaches Hoops wore out the Edge boys, defeating them 45-49. “Not only did we tire, but we faced full court pressure and a half court zone, something we really haven’t worked on yet,” said Moore. “Our kids hung tough and were able to improvise but we just didn’t have enough,” he added.
The 12u East dropped both games for the day. In the second game, the Edge boys were in it from the start and took it to the wire before losing by 3. “We were short handed in the first game,” said Coach Breitfeller. “But the kids really worked hard and we made some real strides today,” he added.
The 15u team defeated a very strong LI lightening team. After going down 16-4 in the opening minutes, the 15u used a solid defensive and offensive performance to crawl back into the game. Down by 6 at the half, the 15u took control in the second half, holding the Lightening to just 15 second half points. They took their first lead of the game with 3:30 to go and went on to win 48-45.
Other scores were not available at the time of this posting.