By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
SWANTON (December 23, 2023) – No doubt Swanton’s Charlie Wood had a game as big as his frame as the 6’10” junior scored 21 points, snared 12 rebounds and rejected six Edgerton shots.
However it was point guard Evan Reinhard who hit his only two field goals of the game at the right time to regain a Swanton lead and help spur the Bulldogs to their first win of the season, 33-30 over visiting Edgerton.
“He is capable of that”, Bulldog coach Bruce Smith said of Reinhard’s two huge buckets. “We are asking him to guard, we are asking him to handle the ball and quite frankly he is really fatigued a lot of times late but I can’t take him out.”
“Yes, he hit that three then that little drive and bank which not only caught us up but put us ahead then gave us a margin.”
Wood and Edgerton’s Cory Herman traded a pair of hoops each for the only points in the first.
After Kellen Sanchez’ runout basket gave Edgerton their first lead, Wood went to work inside.
First the towering junior scored on a dunk, then a three-point play and dished to Gio Ruiz on some hi-lo action to give Swanton their biggest lead at 11-6.
Herman brought Edgerton back hitting a floater then a long triple to slice the Swanton lead to 14-13 at intermission.
Wood on a stick back and Adam Lemon off a turnover in the first minute of the third again regained a five-point Swanton lead but this time Herman brought Edgerton back to not just close but ahead with seven straight points including a triple from the right of the top of the circle to push Edgerton up 20-18.
A pair of baby hooks from Wood brought Swanton even at 22-all but Joel Walkup canned a triple from the left top for a 25-22 Edgerton advantage to begin the fourth.
Edgerton’s Noah Weaver canned a deep two that kept the margin at three with 7:16 left. Connor Mitchey threw one in off glass to bring Swanton within a point before Reinhard would come up big.
His first field goal of the night, a top of the key triple, gave Swanton a 29-27 lead at the 6:32 mark. Three minutes later his running bank expanded that lead to four.
Herman had one more shot in the holster and made it count when after two Swanton misses in traffic, the junior forward stuck a long three-ball from the high left side to chop the deficit to 31-30 with 55 seconds to go.
Wood got loose sliding down the baseline 30 ticks later for his last basket of the night to make it 33-30.
“He has been really good when he stays out of foul trouble,” Smith expressed speaking of Wood.
“I try to get him rest but we get really limited sometimes on offense so we have to pick and choose moments or sometimes we play at a slower pace to give him a little bit of a break.”
“He has gotten considerably better and it’s rewarding as a coach because he has worked so hard at it.”
“We did not want to go into Christmas with an 0-6 record and now we have something to look forward to in the Bob Fisher Tournament next weekend which we take a lot of pride in.”
After an Edgerton timeout, Herman got one touch but never saw the ball again and Edgerton’s last contested heave from way outside the arc was off.
No other Swanton (1-5) player besides Wood hit double figures as the Bulldogs shot 15/40 from the field.
Herman led Edgerton (1-5) with 19 points but the Williams County Bulldogs were hampered by 18 turnovers, 14 of which came in the second half.
EDGERTON (30) – Krontz 0; Baker 0; Herman 19; Walkup 3; Sanchez 4; Kennerk 0; Weaver 4; Totals: 9-4 – 30
SWANTON (33) – O’Shea 0; Young 0; Ruiz 2; Mitchey 2; Carrizales 0; Reinhard 5; Lemon 3; Wood 21; Totals: 14-1-2 33
EDGERTON 4 9 12 5 – 30
SWANTON 4 10 8 11 – 33
JUNIOR VARSITY: Edgerton, 39-15
FRESHMAN: Swanton, 22-20