By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The Delavan-Darien Comets lost a non-conference match-up against Edgerton 77-46 at home on Dec. 28. The Comets held their own early on, but the Crimson Tide (6-2) took command mid-way through the first half and never let up.
D-DHS jumped out to a 4-0 lead on baskets by Seth Grabow and Reese Crull. Edgerton took its first lead of the game at 7-6 on a rebound and put-back basket by Donovan Cone. Grabow put the Comets right back on top with a basket. Five points from Jacob Fox gave Edgerton a 12-8 lead, but the Comets came right back regaining the lead on a steal and breakaway basket by Logan Rios. D-DHS led 13-12.
“We were playing good basketball at that point,” Coach Chris Hembrook said.
Unfortunately, that would be the last lead the Comets enjoyed all night. Already short-handed with Dakota Williams still out of town, Crull and Mateo Morales both picked up their second fouls and had to sit on the bench for an extended period of time. That, according to Hembrook, forced other players to have to try to do what the bigger Crull and Morales usually do, and the situation was difficult on the substitution rotation.
Edgerton used a 16-3 run to build a 28-15 lead and outscored the Comets 22-7 the remainder of the half. Edgerton led 34-20 at the half. The offensive drought for the Comets resulted from poor shooting, too many turnovers and not enough rebounding. Many Comet possessions ended with one missed shot and an Edgerton rebound.
“We let Edgerton get to us, and we turned the ball over way too much,” Hembrook said. “We need to play through that stuff.”
The Comets were outscored inside 36-16 and had 20 turnovers overall.
Hembrook said he tried to get his guys to come out in the second half and not worry about what wasn’t going their way, but the game plan did not get executed very well. Hembrook also said the team was again forced to abandon its preferred zone defense when it fell way behind, and he said the Comets really need to work on their man-to-man defense. The defensive switch did not slow down the Edgerton offense much.
Edgerton picked up right where it left off in the second half using an 11-4 run to build the lead to 21. A three-pointer by Logan Rios cut it back to 18 and the Comets experimented with a press defense, but Edgerton scored the next six points to make it 51-27. Crull picked up his fourth foul along the way. Morales did as well later on.
Christian Wichman made a basket and a three-pointer, and Morales made a free throw to bring the deficit back down to 18. Two free throws by Wichman brought it down to 16, but that was as close as the Comets could get. Already leading by 19, Edgerton used a 15-0 run to cement the win.
“We were playing too much one-on-one basketball and were not playing as a team,” Hembrook said. “That is not what our offense is about.”
Hembrook said the team needs to share the ball, work as a team and not go away from the offense for it to work.
Wichman and Grabow led the Comets with 15 points apiece. Rios added 11. Fox led Edgerton with 15, Cone added 14, and Alec Johnson and Kyle Wille each added 10.
The Comets shot 39 percent from the field while Edgerton shot 52 percent. D-DHS made six of 17 three-pointers while Edgerton made six of 15. The Comets also shot just 43 percent from the free-throw line. Edgerton shot 71 percent.
The Comets (1-8) will host Elkhorn on Friday and Waterford on Jan. 9.
