St. Paul tops Edison for fifth straight

NORWALK — Evan Wangler never stops. The way the St. Paul senior sees it, that was his path to becoming a varsity basketball player two years ago. Now, the Flyers thrive on Wangler's ability to crash the glass and create havoc inside. On a night St. Paul struggled to find its footing from the perimeter, Wangler's constant energy was apparent against visiting Edison in a non-league game Tuesday night. Wangler's fast start kept the Flyers on top, and they never trailed in the 50-31 win over the Chargers inside Harvey Keller Gymnasium in Norwalk. It was the fifth straight win for St. Paul (5-1), which got 11 points and 11 rebounds from Wangler. "That's how I got on varsity, it's just working hard," Wangler said. "(Assistant) Coach (Brandon) McCall keeps telling me my energy brings the whole team up, so that's just kind of how I play. I had to step up and keep us going." Wangler scored eight of St. Paul's 10 points in the first quarter, then juniors Korey Frazee (18 points) and Nolan McCall (14 points) took it from there on a night the Flyers never trailed. "I don't know where we'd be without him," St. Paul head coach Steve Minor said of Wangler. "He's our leader. The guy who scores the most points doesn't always have to be your leader, and Evan is owning the basketball and tracking it down all the way out near the three-point line in the fourth quarter of a 20-point game. "That's why he started playing varsity for us. He wasn't even on our radar before his sophomore year, but he just came in and worked hard every day and made our decision for us. He's such a great leader and an irreplaceable player for us." The Flyers took a 10-5 lead after one quarter after the Chargers (2-7) got a 3-pointer from Cole Leimeister at the quarter buzzer. It was a 20-13 halftime lead as Edison again got a basket in the final seconds from Kayden Bourget to stay close. Trailing 22-13 to start the third quarter, the Charges got consecutive scores from Grayson Smith and Luke Blatnik to pull within 22-17, but it was all St. Paul from there. Wangler then scored three straight points to make it 25-17, followed by Frazee making consecutive 3s, the last with 59.5 seconds left in the third. When McCall added his lone 3 with 17.5 seconds left, the Flyers had closed the quarter on a 12-2 scoring run for a 34-19 lead. "We lost their shooters a couple times and paid for it," Edison head coach Dan Campana said. "It comes down to making your shots, and we were as cold as it gets. I thought we played good basketball. "We played good team defense and contested their shots and rebounded well. We just couldn't capitalize on the other side, and that holds us back a little bit if another team catches fire and starts shooting it well." In the fourth quarter, the Chargers opened with a basket, only for St. Paul's Michael Kirk and Brock Houck to score on easy layups in transition at the other end to keep the Flyers in command. "We finally loosened up a little bit and kind of took a deep breath and hit those threes, but Evan kept us in it early," Minor said. "All our kids are all capable of doing different things well. "The offense is nice, but you have to play defense, and Evan certainly does it. And he and Nolan play well as a 1-2 pair in the paint." Bourget finished with nine points to pace Edison, while Blatnik grabbed six rebounds. The Chargers host Port Clinton on Thursday. "I'm proud of the way the guys are playing," Campana said. "They had some good looks that just weren't dropping tonight. We played well enough to win, but just had trouble scoring. The thing that people don't see is the strides these guys are making from last year to this year, and the way they are playing and working to finish through quarters and games. "They are really making long strides, but they're just not getting wins right now," he added. "We have some winnable games coming up and are looking to get back out on the floor, we just have to make more shots next time." McCall added eight rebounds for St. Paul, which seeks a sixth straight win on Friday against Monroeville (2-5, 2-3) at home. The Flyers are 4-0 in Firelands Conference play entering the game. "A big part is the kids focusing on who is next instead of looking down the road and circling dates," Minor said. "Even with five minutes to go and a big lead, we're still on Edison. We'll worry about who's next when it's over. "They've done a good job on focusing on what's in front of them." To keep the wins coming, Wangler said the Flyers need to not stray away from what is working. "We knew we were a good team, but we maybe didn't have the confidence in the past that we do now," he said. "We know we can score, and so we're a very balanced team and I think that's kind of showing right now. "But we'll get into a nice groove, then try and switch it up. We just need to keep attacking what's working, whether that's us shooting from the outside or trying to pound it in down low." EDISON (2-7) Cole Leimeister 1-2—5; Grayson Smith 2-0—4; Davin Wendt 2-0—4; Kayden Bourget 4-1—9; Luke Blatnik 1-0—2; Kellen McDonnell 1-0—3; Coltyn Meagrow 2-0—4. TOTALS 13-3—31. ST. PAUL (5-1) Michael Kirk 1-0—2; Jacob Bocock 1-2—4; Brock Houck 1-0—2; Korey Frazee 7-1—18; Nolan McCall 4-2—14; Landon Fries 1-0—2; Evan Wangler 5-1—11. TOTALS 20-6—50. Edison 5 8 6 13 — 31 St. Paul 10 10 14 16 — 50 3-point FGs: (E) Leimeister, McDonnel; (SP) Frazee 3, McCall. JV: St. Paul, 35-30.