Fries, St. Paul run past Edison

NORWALK — If anything, Landon Fries was surprised. The St. Paul senior guard is one of just two returners, along with Brady Fritz, from a team that won 20 games and Firelands Conference and district championships a year ago. With big pressure on both players, Fries found himself shocked by the looks at the rim he was getting in Friday's home opener against visiting Edison. Fries scored 22 points in the first half on his way to a career-high 32 points on 12-of-25 shooting in the Flyers' 68-48 win over the Chargers for a non-league win inside Harvey Keller Gymnasium. Several times in the first half, Fries couldn't believe the clean looks and space at the rim he was receiving. "I was just getting to the basket and free-throw line, and my teammates were getting me open looks, and it just kind of fell from there," Fries said. "I was pretty surprised. Sometimes I didn't know where their defender was, because we broke them down so well." In the first half, the Chargers struggled to shoot from the field at 5-of-28 (18 percent). Meanwhile, Fries was 8-of-13 shooting by himself as the Flyers raced out to a 35-14 lead at the break. The Flyers started the game on a 9-2 scoring run without Fries scoring. Brady Fritz made the first basket, then Isaac Kalizewski made a 3-pointer from the top of the key after Edison's Wesley Seel scored. Back-to-back baskets by Nate Griffin and Connor Lindenberger put the Flyers up seven at the 3:54 mark of the opening quarter. Coltyn Meagrow answered with a 3 to make it 9-5, only for St. Paul to close out the quarter on another 9-2 run. Fries made a 3 and had a baseline running jumper around another basket from Fritz to make the lead 16-5 at the 1:37 mark. Seel and Meagrow each split free throws for the Chargers, only for Nate Griffin to score inside, followed by a second 3 from Fries for a 21-7 lead with six minutes left in the first half. Leimeister made a 3 near the top of the key for Edison, only for Fries to come back with six straight points. Trailing 26-10, Leimeister and Meagrow scored consecutive baskets for a 26-14 deficit with 2:49 left in the half. This time, Fries scored the next nine points of the game. The first was a three-point play where he was fouled getting to the rim, and the last was an easy layup in transition with 11.2 seconds left in the half for a 35-14 lead. "We missed 16 layups in the lane, and it felt like Fries was making everything," Edison head coach Dan Campana said. "We didn't play our game the way we did in scrimmages. I don't know if it was the environment or hype, but we didn't look like the team we feel like we have. "But it could be the best thing to happen to us. We just got slapped in the face, and sometimes that's what it takes. St. Paul is a good team that plays disciplined. They move the ball, and they have good players who crash the boards." In the second half, the Flyers didn't have long scoring runs. However, they canceled out the Chargers nearly every time the visitors tried to get back in the game. That included consecutive baskets from Kalizewski, and six straight points again from Fries. "Fortunately, I think they had some early first-game jitters on their end, but we played well," St. Paul head coach Steve Minor said. "We took advantage of the start in our own gym. They had some early missed shots that will usually fall for them, some from really good players. "But you'll make what you can get when those guys miss. They're going to win a lot of games sill, but tonight we just did some things really well." Kalizewski had 15 points and five rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting for the Flyers, while Griffin added 11 points and nine rebounds. Fritz had five points and six rebounds. "Brady and Casey (Fries) were examples tonight of doing things well in other places," Minor said. "Brady will come out from the post to guard on the perimeter. He's not a kid who cares how many points he has. "As long as we win, Brady doesn't care what he does. And that's pretty much everyone. It's just how it falls for us sometimes." Fries has scored 57 points in the first two games of the season for the Flyers, who get another SBC Bay Division test Tuesday when they host Vermilion. "We lost a lot of guys, so we knew we had to have a lot of different guys stepping up to keep this going from what we've done," Fries said. "It's a good start, but we have to keep it rolling." Edison also looks to respond Tuesday when it visits Woodmore. "It's early, but this can be beneficial, as long as we look at it and take the right things away from a loss," Campana said. "We have to do a long look in the mirror and do some recalculating of what we're able to do or should be doing." EDISON (0-1) Cole Leimeister 7-1—17; Kellen McDonnell 0-3—3; Cameron Sallee 3-0—6; Coltyn Meagrow 7-2—17; Wesley Seel 1-3—5. TOTALS 18-9—48. ST. PAUL (2-0) Nate Griffin 4-2—11; Connor Lindenberger 1-0—2; Kade Houck 1-0—2; Isaac Kalizewski 6-0—15; Brady Fritz 2-2—6; Landon Fries 12-6—32. TOTALS 26-10—68. Edison 7 7 13 20 — 48 St. Paul 18 17 15 18 — 68 3-point FGs: (E) Leimeister 2, Meagrow; (SP) Kalizewski 3, Fries 2, Griffin JV: St. Paul, 52-45.