Game Takes: Paoli 57 Springs Valley 47

A recently hot Springs Valley Blackhawk team, winning 9 of their last 11 took the 10 minute trip east to rival, Paoli on Tuesday night in a make-up game from a previous postponement. The Rams come in a with a good record themselves and are hovering around the top 10 of 2a. Paoli started out in a zone from the opening tip. SV seniors Maverick Land and Konner Chase almost shot Paoli out of their zone early on connecting on bombs from deep. Paoli settled in after the first few minutes and their defense tightened up. The Blackhawks managed more turnovers than points for the rest of the quarter and Paoli took a 19- 11 lead into the 2nd quarter and extended it to a 32-22 lead by halftime. The difference really was that 4 minute stretch in the 1st quarter because the rest of the game played out even. Ram senior Trey Rominger found points easy to come by attacking the SV zone and junior Fletcher Cole was in complete control of the game. Paoli went on to a 57-47 win despite junior Blackhawk Deion Edwards cashing in on 19 pts.

● 6'1 Paoli senior Trey Rominger was not who you'd expect to lead the game in scoring with 20 but he continously found himself open in SV's zone defense. Trey is a football kid so he is very aggressive and strong at getting to the basket. He's not going to beat you with his outside shot but when he is going to thr basket, it either a foul or 2 pts. For 6'1 he's a very aggressive and willing rebounder. If Paoli can get him into double figures every game it will change the dynamics of their team and make them sectional/ regional contenders come March. Combine that with sophomore Cooper Spire putting up 10 and the Rams can do damage down south in 2A.

● 6'0 junior Paoli guard Fletcher Cole is the engine for this team. It wouldn't be hard for him to score 20-25 a night but he knows what the team needs to be successful. Cole is a true point guard that can also score it. He is a coach on the floor, which makes sense because his dad is the head varsity coach. Fletch uses his body to get to the basket on drives and had a pull up game from 6-7 feet that is money. Fletcher will be a kid at the next level whos happy with 6 pts and double figure asssits as long as the team wins. It bothers him to lose. College coaches in the Crossroads League or HCAC should really give this kid a serious look. He knows how to run a team. Cole finished the game with 13.

● 6'5 SV junior Deion Edwards has been on a heater recently scoring+ rebounding in bunches. The Rams defense did give him and his Blackhawk teammates some issues throughout the game but Edwards showed he could step out and hit the 3 ball tonight hitting three of them. Edwards is big and atheltic enough to get to the basket most anytime. If there's anyone that's  the definition of a point/ center at the high school level its Edwards. He is routinely asked to bring the ball up during pressure and rebound against the other teams bigs down low. He guarded Cole on the perimeter for half the night. Like I've said before, Edwards is getting better and more confident realizing his full potential overall on both ends of the floor. Going 100% the entire game, every possession is the next step in his improvement. Edwards had 19 on an "off night" by his recent standards

Paoli improves to 13-3 and hosts another rival on Friday night as the Bulldogs of Orleans come in while the Blackhawks face off against White River Valley at home on the 9th.