For the Daily Journal
EDINBURGH
Before the start of Edinburgh’s Tuesday night Mid-Hoosier conference matchup against visiting Southwestern (Shelby), the Lancers celebrated senior night.
The Spartans put a damper on the celebration.
Starting in the second quarter, the Spartans went on an 11-0 run, and the Lancers were unable to put together an effective response. As a result, Edinburgh was handed a 67-40 loss.
The Lancers move to 4-18 on the year and finish conference play at 2-7.
“These kids took it pretty hard getting beat tonight,” Edinburgh coach Drew Glentzer said. “They also took it hard that Kyle (Pendleton) did not get to play. It was emotional for him because he really wanted to play. It technically will not be their final home game (for our seniors) because we host the sectional next week.”
Pendleton was lost for the season due to a knee injury.
The Lancers were down 26-12 after the Spartans’ run. The Lancers went more than seven minutes without a basket, but Bobby Simpson hit a couple of 3s to end the drought and keep the Lancers within striking distance at halftime, 31-18.
The Lancers did an excellent job early containing the Spartans’ top player, Bryce Rowe, as he was limited to only five points in the first half. He went off in the third quarter, though, pouring in 10 points to keep the Lancers at bay when they were getting ready to make a charge.
Jacob Atha hit a couple of 3-pointers to cut the Spartan deficit to 40-32, but the Spartans put away the game for good when they went on a 18-0 run.
Simpson finished with a team-high 19 points for the Lancers.
Jacob Atha finished with eight points and Christian Cox added seven.
Rowe led the Spartans with 19 points. Hayden Veach had 13 points and Darian Tyler added eight.
The final game of the regular season for Edinburgh will be Thursday at Brown County.