Edison closes out win at Western

COLLINS — Just go stand in the middle. After a deflected ball was ruled out of bounds off of Edison's Coltyn Meagrow, the senior needed to get it back on defense in Saturday's non-league game at Western Reserve. About 35 seconds later, Meagrow helped disrupt a pass by the Roughriders with 1:08 left and the Chargers trailing 63-62. He then got the ball on the block and was fouled with 1:03 remaining, then made both free throws for a 64-63 lead. From there, the directions were simple. "Coach (Dan) Campana told me to just stand in the middle and block anything I can, and that's what I did," Meagrow said. On Western's next possession, Meagrow came up with the block and the ball, and teammate Cole Leimeister got the run out this time and finished at the rim for a 66-63 lead with just 35.5 seconds to go. The sequence helped the Chargers stave off the 'Riders in the final minute of a 69-66 win to improve to 9-11 overall. "I got that turnover, so I knew I had to step up, and we got the stop," Meagrow said. "I've been face-guarded the whole game, so I knew most of my buckets would be down low, so that's where I went, got a rebound, and they called a foul." After a Western miss, it appeared the Chargers were safe when Leimeister was fouled and made both free throws for a 68-63 lead with just 18.4 seconds left. However, Cooper Roe drilled his fifth three-pointer of the game for Western (10-9) at the top of the key with just 2.8 seconds left. The clock showed 1.9 seconds after the run-off, and a timeout was called. Western then fouled Edison's Connor Goodwin before the ball was inbounded, which sent him to the foul line. He missed the first, which left the door open for a potential tie, but made the second for the 69-66 lead. Out of one last timeout, Western got a half-court pass in to leading scorer Chase Hipp, who took an off-balance 3 in front of the scorer's table that caught rim but was off the mark as time expired. "I definitely held my breath when I saw him get that kind of shot off," Meagrow said. "But coming here and winning means a lot. It was a long game and a good battle, and I'm glad we stuck through it." The Chargers led 33-29 at halftime, but the entire second half quickly became a back-and-forth game. From the 4:31 mark of the third on, the lead was never more than four points for Edison. That came on three straight points from Leimeister to make it 57-53 with 4:47 left in the game. Hayden Keith scored, and Roe made another 3 to give Western the 58-57 lead with 3:58 left, but Kyle Robison answered with a three-point play at the other end for the Chargers just 16 seconds later. Hipp scored for Western to bring his team within 62-21 with 2:31 left, then was fouled after an empty possession the next trip down the floor. He made both with 2:01 remaining for the 63-62 lead. Meagrow then had the ball deflected off his leg for the turnover, but Western was again unable to finish off the last minute-plus. "We get the lead with the ball and are trying to spread the floor, and we did the right action trying to go downhill, and they collapse and we turn it over, and then come back and give up the lead on a defensive breakdown," Western head coach Chris Sheldon said. "And honestly, the defensive side of the ball cost us all night. Their two best players (Meagrow and Leimeister) go for 40 points. "The one thing this group has done a good job of is shutting down the other team's best players, and we didn't do that tonight. And then I just felt all night long, we were late to react." Sheldon noted the Chargers finished with 12 offensive rebounds. "There wasn't a sense of urgency, and we were late on every rotation and put them on the foul line 27 times," he said. "You can't win games when you give your opponent 23 free points at the line, and a lot of it again came from their two best players. Late in the game, we had the ball in the right people's hands. We just didn't finish. We got some good looks that didn't go, and they sealed the deal at the free-throw line." Campana said three big talking points before the game were composure on big plays, body language after a bad play, and keeping a high energy level. "Every one of those boxes was checked tonight, and we made the plays down the stretch, but really for the whole game," he said. "Doing those things got us this win." Hipp had 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting along with seven rebounds, four steals, and three assists. But Campana felt his team made him work for every point. "He's a really good player, and he has been all four years we've faced him," Campana said. "I told Kellen (McDonnell) he's a tough matchup for anybody, but do anything you can to try and frustrate you. Kellen fouled out but did every bit of what he was supposed to do. "I told the other guys, anything he or they miss, that rebound has to be our ball. We've had some nights where we didn't rebound well, and tonight didn't go that way, and it's really what helped push us over the finish line." Meagrow had 19 points and nine rebounds for Edison, with Leimeister leading all scorers with 21 points. Robinson and McDonnell each added nine points for the Chargers, who are 9-5 after an 0-6 start. "We've not started great all four years," Meagrow said. "We didn't want to be here, but we're here. We had to keep battling, bring energy to practice, and even more at games, and we felt it would turn around eventually." Roe had 15 points for Western, and Hayden Dobias had 10 points and four assists. Tyler Wood added eight points and six rebounds for the 'Riders, who were coming off a 64-56 win at Crestview the night before. "It's a microcosm of what we've been … play well, don't play well," Sheldon said. "And it's not for a lack of effort or because we're not trying to do the right things. We just haven't been able to do it consecutively for multiple games in a row. That's what's frustrating for all of us." EDISON (9-11) Cole Leimeister 6-9—21; Kyle Robinson 2-4—9; Evan Schnittker 2-0—5; Kellen McDonnell 4-0—9; Coltyn Meagrow 5-8—19; Wesley Seel 0-1—1; Connor Goodwin 2-1—5. TOTALS 21-23—69. WESTERN RESERVE (10-9) Hayden Keith 2-1—5; Cooper Roe 5-0—15; Hayden Dobias 4-0—10; Tyler Wood 4-0—8; Chase Hipp 6-6—20; Evan Goodwin 2-0—6; Tyler Cooper 1-0—2. TOTALS 24-7— Edison 18 15 18 18 — 69 W. Reserve 15 14 20 17 — 66 Three-point FGs: (E) Leimeister 2, Robinson, McDonnell, Meagrow; (WR) Roe 5, Dobias 2, Hipp 2, Goodwin 2.