Edison wins second straight district title

NORWALK — As soon as Edison senior Bryce Ostheimer saw a Western Reserve player back up a step for a point-blank shot — his eyes got real big.He knew he had him."I was like, 'there it is.' You're body just gets real hyped in the moment — and it just feels good," Ostheimer said.Midway through the fourth quarter of Saturday's Division III district championship, Ostheimer got a clean swipe at a strong block that led to a three-on-two transition at the other end. Bryce Roberts then drained a 3-pointer from the left corner off the blocked shot — giving the Chargers a commanding 38-30 lead in the 44-35 win at Norwalk High School.The Roughriders (15-9) had cut the deficit to 33-30 with 6:19 left — but the block and 3 was part of a 7-0 scoring run that allowed the Chargers (16-9) to pull away.It marked the second straight district championship for Edison — both over Western — as it will play at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Bowling Green State University Stroh Center against AP No. 7 Haviland Wayne Trace (23-2).Less than 48 hours removed from a 14-of-43 shooting performance (33 percent) in a 38-32 win over Margaretta, the Chargers were 17-of-36 shooting (47 percent) in Saturday's win."We had a lot of energy today — and it was more about playing hard and relaxed," said Ostheimer, who had nine points on 4-of-7 shooting. "It was a matter of not rushing and making the wrong play. We settled down and found the open man."Edison trailed 10-9 after the first quarter, but used a 14-2 scoring run over a 4:15 span in the second quarter to open up a 27-17 lead. The key stretch came from senior Nick Frederick — who connected on an open 3-pointer then got his hands on a loose ball for a steal and layup to give Edison a 23-17 lead.The five points in a 28-second span equaled his point total from Thursday's win."It was just how the flow of the game went," Frederick said. "I was able to get open and knock down the 3 and really the loose ball just came my way and got a layup. I thought the story of the game was we finally put together everything as a team. We played like we are capable."A 3-pointer by Colton Puder in the final minute of the first half trimmed the Edison lead to 27-20 at halftime. Then the Roughriders had two close looks not fall to open the third quarter, and head coach Chris Sheldon believed it set the tone for the half."We didn't make layups," he said. "We started the third and missed back-to-back layups — and when we cut it to three points, we missed another. We just couldn't finish. Obviously they have more size than us and I'm sure that plays a part in it, but for whatever reason we weren't able to finish through contact today."We didn't shoot it great from the three-point line," Sheldon added. "But at the end of the day, I thought the difference was how many easy ones we missed at the front of the rim."An Aiden Markley 3 brought Western within 33-30, but Braden Ehrhardt scored off a driving layup — then Ostheimer's block and Roberts' 3 followed. Ehrhardt off an inbound pass underneath the basket then put in a reverse layup and the Chargers had a 40-30 lead with 3:37 left.The deficit got no closer than seven (42-35) the rest of the way."It was probably nerves on Thursday," Ehrhardt said of the efficiency turnaround on offense. "This is a lot bigger court than we're used to, and we had been here before — but not all of us had played in these situations before. This is my first time doing this. It took some time."Roberts paced Edison with 12 points and five rebounds, while Ehrhardt added 11 points. After scoring 19 of his team's 38 points on Thursday, center James Hill was held to five points — but he also grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots."I was proud of how we executed," Edison coach Kyle Hammond said. "Down the stretch we kind of panicked a little bit, but early on and throughout the game I thought our kids played well on the offensive end. And then of course at the defensive end, just a tremendous effort by our team."Our three seniors played great, and Nick and Braden get overlooked a little bit out of that group," he added. "But all three of them came to play today, and we wouldn't have made it this far without them. This is an unbelievable feeling for our community and our kids."Puder finished with 12 points and five rebounds for Western, while Dale Smith had 11 points and six rebounds. The rest of the team was limited to 12 points as the Roughriders finished 13-of-45 shooting (28 percent) as a team."Edison came up with more tips, loose balls, deflections — things like that — than what we did," Sheldon said. "They seemed to feed off of that, and that sort of bothered our tempo at the offensive end I thought."But you're trying to win and make plays to win a district title — and Edison made more plays at the front of the rim than we did," he added. "I thought that was the difference in the game. They were more athletic, a little bigger — but also had more active hands than us. It led to some bad turnovers, but it still came down to how many shots we missed in the paint today."Edison seniors Nick Frederick, Bryce Ostheimer and Braden Ehrhardt hold the Division III district championship trophy after Saturday's 44-35 win over Western Reserve at Norwalk High School.Edison's Nick Frederick squares up for a corner 3-pointer in front of the Edison bench during the second quarter of Saturday's Division III district championship game against Western Reserve at Norwalk High School.The Edison boys basketball team poses with its Division III district championship trophy after Saturday's 44-35 win over Western Reserve at Norwalk High School.