EDINBURGH — It’s taken nearly 20 games, but the Edinburgh boys basketball team appears to be heading in the right direction.
The Lancers sprinted out to an 18-0 lead and were never really challenged as they kept up the pace and downed visiting Trinity Lutheran 69-40 Tuesday night.
It was the third straight win for Edinburgh and second straight blowout (they beat Cambridge City Lincoln by 35 Saturday night), who improved to 8-11, and still gives the Lancers a shot at reaching .500 for the season.
“We’re kind of on a roll,” Edinburgh coach Keith Witty said. “Our efforts are a lot better, and the guys are shooting the ball pretty well at the right time of the year.”
And while the Lancers are appearing to gel, the same can’t be said of the Cougars, who not only dropped their fifth straight game, but fell to a 5-17.
Right off, Trinity’s outlook appeared bleaker than the weather. The 18-point run by Edinburgh notwithstanding, the Cougars couldn’t find the basket, missing their first five shots.
As a result, Trinity seemed a bit intimidated by shooting, not necessarily so much by the Lancers’ defense — though it was adequate in there, it was more of the Cougars trying to find that perfect basket.
When they did, Edinburgh would counter with baskets of its own, usually after the first or second shots.
The Lancers held a lead in rebounding 23-16.
Trinity continued to pass up looks and as a result, Edinburgh saw its lead keep swelling, which gave the Lancers more than enough time to experiment a bit on plays and different lineups themselves.
That went on until the end of the game and Witty liked what he saw.
“We’re finally playing how I thought we would play back in November, December,” Witty said. “We did a good job defensively.”
Edinburgh had four players in double-figures, led by Coltan Henderson with 20 points. Bryce Burton had 12 and Darius Bennett, and Jordan Myers had 10 each.
The Cougars were led by A.J. Goecker and Mitchell Hackman, who had nine apiece.
