WESTPORT
From the opening tip until the final buzzer, the Edinburgh boys basketball team was too much for Mid-Hoosier Conference rival South Decatur on Friday night.
The Lancers’ stifling defense in the third quarter, combined with dominant play in the paint, lead to a 68-47 win.
The game had a rocky start, with each team plagued with early foul trouble.
Lancers senior Elijah Parmer picked up three fouls in the opening half while South Decatur’s Nick Schwering and Jordan Ortman each committed three fouls.
Edinburgh senior guard Matt Heagy, who scored 11 of his game-high 20 points in the first half, had to play cautiously through the first half with two fouls.
South Decatur, winner of only one game this season, gave the Lancers all they could handle in the first half by penetrating the lane and letting their big man, 6-foot-2 sophomore Nick Benge, execute his offense.
The Lancers led at the end of the first stop 15-12 and 30-26 at the break.
With a few defensive adjustments at halftime, Edinburgh started the third quarter with an ally-oop pass from Heagy to junior guard Bobby Simpson for a highlight film layup.
With a quick steal on the next possession, Heagy got to the free throw line and converted both to give the Lancers a 34-26.
“There were a couple things that we didn’t do well in our last game that we needed to make improvements on,” fifth year Lancers coach Drew Glentzer said. “I thought we confused them a little bit with some defense we tried and we took care of the basketball. When we keep our turnovers at 10 or below, that’s the sign of a good team. I thought overall, our effort was pretty good even though we got in a little foul trouble so we had to play guys in different positions throughout the night.
“This was a South Decatur team that has won only one game, so they had nothing to lose.”
Glentzer said the first half was reminiscent of a perfect storm.
“We shot the ball poorly, and they made a bunch of threes to make it a close game,” he said.
With Heagy and Simpson running the offense, Edinburgh put together a 10-4 run at the start of the third quarter.
Clock management was also key to the Lancers’ efficient third-quarter.
By patiently working the ball around the perimeter, passes went to the post for Elijah Parmer and junior Kyle Pendleton for easy layups.
Pendleton got a turnaround jumper in the lane, and on the next two possessions, Heagy went the distance on a steal and fast break layup. Simpson finished off the third-quarter scoring streak with a conventional 3-point play that pushed the Edinburgh lead to 51-38.
South Decatur (1-17, 0-8 Mid-Hoosier) got a team-high 15-points from junior guard Spencer Burkhead, who scored all of his points beyond the arc. Benge added 14 points and five rebounds.
Pendleton finished with 17 points and nine rebounds and Simpson added 15 for the winners.
Edinburgh (12-9, 4-4) travels to MHC rival Southwestern (Shelby) on Wednesday.
