By Michael Marts, The Report
ROSS TWP. — The Edgewood Cougars traveled to Ross to take on the Rams in a Friday night SWBL showdown where the Cougars took home a 46-38 win. Senior guard Connor Ballantyne led the Cougars in scoring with 17 points.
“I had a good night shooting threes, we shared the ball pretty well, and put a lot of buckets in,” Ballantyne said.
Ross came into tonight’s matchup averaging 56.3 points per game this season, Edgewood coach Jason Osterman enjoyed the defensive game from his Cougars.
“We knew we had to rebound because we didn’t do so well last game, and get out on their three-point shooters, so to hold a team like Ross to 38 points is big time,” Osterman said.
The Cougars’ offense started fast thanks to a couple of three-point shots by Brayden Smith and Connor Ballantyne. However, Ross scored the final five points in the quarter. Edgewood led 12-10 after the first quarter.
Edgewood led most of a back-and-forth second quarter until the home team grabbed the lead just before the half.
Edgewood tried to hold for the last shot of the half however an offense foul gave the Rams a chance for the lead. Ross guard, Will Schaefer, was leading the Rams in scoring, 14.3 per game, so Ross coach David Lane wanted him to get the last shot.
“He (Schaefer) did a great job being aggressive in the first half, attacked the rim really well, got to the free throw line, but that’s the type of player he is, he can really score in bunches, I thought he had a good first half,” Lane said.
Coming out of the break, both teams kept it up on the defensive end. The Rams lead the SWBL in scoring defense, allowing 40.3 points per game. Friday’s game was no different with both teams struggling to score.
“They played really aggressive, [and] we didn’t see that on film, so they came out and surprised us, but we were able to handle it,” Ballantyne said.
Late in the final quarter, both teams were going after the ball when Ross’ Riley Caldwell was called for an intentional foul on Edgewood’s Kale Reynolds. Edgewood forced six Rams turnovers in the fourth quarter and some crucial buckets late by Jaylen Barry, and Connor Ballantyne sealed the win for the Cougars.
Edgewood (2-3, 1-1 SWBL) hosts CHCA in their next matchup on Tuesday, at Ron Kash Court. Ross (2-2, 0-1 SWBL) travels to Wilmington on Saturday.
