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Edgerton holds off Milton

MILTON — Sometimes a high school basketball coach has to remain optimistic above everything else.

Edgerton coach Mark Wanless certainly relied on optimism to get him through another battle with traditional rival Milton.

Despite missing five fourth-quarter free throws, including three in the final 41 seconds, the Crimson Tide still managed to fight off the Red Hawks, 47-44, in a nonconference thriller here Monday night.

Bryan Gregory had a team-high 19 points, while Brek Perry added 12 to lead the way as Edgerton improved to 7-1 for the season.

“We’re extremely happy to pull this one out,” Wanless said. “They (the Red Hawks) are a very good team and well-coached. It seems like every time we play them it goes down to the last few possessions.”

Edgerton certainly didn’t help prevent another last-possession game.

Brandon Knudtson’s three free throws after being fouled on a three-point with 32 seconds left pulled Milton within 47-44.

The Red Hawks then quickly fouled Perry on the ensuing inbounds pass.

But Perry missed the front end of the one-and-one free-throw situation, giving the Red Hawks a chance to tie.

On the ensuing Milton possession, Austin Richards drove down the lane and overshot a layup, forcing the Red Hawks to foul Gregory with 10 seconds left.

Gregory, an 80-percent foul shooter this season, missed both free throws, giving Milton a second chance to tie.

“Normally, Bryan is going to knock those free throws down, and the two free throws just didn’t happen to go down,” Wanless said. “I told him that I’d rather have him (Bryan) miss and win than have him make a bunch of free throws and lose.”

Edgerton was bailed out by a Knudtson three-pointer that fell short in the final seconds to preserve the Crimson Tide victory and drop Milton to 3-4.

“We shot a little quicker than maybe we wanted,” Hammil said of the Red Hawks’ final possession. “We didn’t execute very well at the end.”

Milton’s execution woes helped the Crimson build a 22-11 lead with 3:23 left in the second quarter. A late 5-2 by the Red Hawks cut it to 24-16 by halftime.

The Red Hawks finally got things rolling early in the third quarter with an early 7-0 run to pull within 24-23. Mason Walters scored nine of his team-high 19 points in the third to lead the comeback.

But the Crimson Tide answered with five straight points to regain a 29-23 lead and was up by the same margin, 34-29, after three quarters.

The Red Hawks never got closer than three points the rest of the way and never were even with the Crimson Tide after a 2-2 tie.

EDGERTON 47, MILTON 44

Edgerton (47)— Ozga, 1-0-2; Eastman, 1-0-3; Perry, 3-6-12; Palet, 2-0-4; B. Gregory, 9-1-19; Fox, 1-0-3; A. Gregory, 1-2-4. Totals: 18-9-47.

Milton (44)—Knudtson, 2-4-8; Richards, 0-2-2; Walters, 8-1-19; Ziegler, 2-0-4; McCann, 1-0-2; Farnsworth, 2-0-5; Trewyn, 1-2-4. Totals: 16-9-44.

Edgerton 12 12 10 13—47

Milton 6 10 13 15—44

Three point goals Edgerton 2 (Fox, Eastman), Milton 3 (Walters 2, Farnsworth). Missed free throws-Edgerton 7, Milton 3. Total fouls-Edgerton 12, Milton 17.

Junior varsity—Milton 48, Edgerton 47 (OT).