The St. Andrew's Lions defeated the Episcopal Eagles (Jacksonville) 63-51 Friday night in the Savannah Christian Classic behind a 32-point outing by senior Zayden Edwards. Edwards was fantastic on both ends of the floor, adding nine steals to his stellar performance on offense.
"He's been doing that since he got to St. Andrew's. He's a senior who's been around the block," said Lions' Coach Mel Abrams. "He was exactly what we needed him to be, which is a senior leader who sets the tone, both on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. I thought he was aggressive early and got us going."
Edwards was dominant early, matching Episcopal's first-half point total of 15. He blew past Episcopal's perimeter defense at will, which he turned into several impressive finishes around the rim and a perfect 7/7 from the line in the first half. Edwards would finish with 14 makes on 20 attempts from the line.
Edwards' instincts and explosiveness were displayed on the defensive end, where his nine steals resulted in 14 transition points for #12.
PHOTO: St. Andrew's Zayden Edwards going to the hoop - Prep Sports Report
St Andrew's shot 0/11 from three in the game, but their 44-16 advantage in the paint was more than enough to cover the rough performance from beyond the arch.
The Lions smothered Episcopal on the defensive end from the jump with tight, high-energy play on the perimeter.
"We played them two years ago at an event in Jacksonville, and they took it to us. They're a well-coached team. A lot of what they do is predicated on ball movement and cuts, so we wanted to disrupt that and slow it down as much as possible," Abrams said. "I think it set the tone mentally…it allowed them to understand what kind of intensity we were going to play with."
That intensity from St. Andrew's resulted in 33 turnovers by Episcopal.
The Lions put an exclamation point on the game, up 59-47, when Zayden Edwards threw a lob to Ja'cari Glover, who threw it down to let the Eagle faithful know it was time to hit I-95.
PHOTO: St. Andrew's School Ja'cari Glover putting in 2 of his 20 points - Prep Sports Report
St. Andrew's next game is tonight, Saturday, December 21, 2024, against Benedictine in the Savannah Christian Classic. Tipoff is set for 5 pm at SCPS.
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St. Andrew's School 63, Episcopal School of Jacksonville 51 |
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| EPISCOPAL SCHOOL | 10 | 5 | 14 | 21 | 51 |
| ST. ANDREW'S SCHOOL | 15 | 9 | 23 | 16 | 63 |
| EPISCOPAL (51) | |||||
| Nolan Schwartz 19, Will Moore 17, Platt 2, Noles 8, Srada 2, Baeus,3 | |||||
| ST. ANDREW'S (63) | |||||
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Bloom 2, Cook 2, Zayden Edwards 32, Glover 20, Jackson 2, Scott 3, S. Singleton 2 |
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| RECORDS—St. Andrew's 7-1, 0-0; Episcopal 5-5, 1-0 | |||||
PHOTO CREDIT: Prep Sports Report
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