FERRIS —
Edgewood (31-4) exploded out of the gates in the first quarter by hitting five 3-pointers, two of which came from sophomore point guard Josh Sharff.
Keene freshman Manuel Gonzales hit a 3-pointer to cut the early deficit to 4-3, but Sharff ignited an 18-0 run with 15 of those points coming from beyond the arc.
The Chargers (25-8) held their ground and Juan Castelblanco buried a 3-pointer from the quarter to cut it to 22-6.
Keene finished the quarter on a 12-2 run after Fred Kurn converted a 3-point play and hit from beyond the arc along with senior Marc Murff to trail, 24-15, after the first period.
The Chargers sputtered at the beginning of the second period with back-to-back backcourt violations, and Sharff made Keene pay with two more 3-pointers to put Edgewood up, 30-18, after Gonzales hit another 3-pointer.
By halftime, Edgewood led, 36-24, and the teams had combined to make 15 3-pointers.
Keene had seven from beyond the arc, and Edgewood had eight.
Colten Hinton put in a bucket for Edgewood to start the second half, but Keene rallied again with an 8-0 burst that was keyed by a Kurn 3-pointer.
With the lead cut to six, Edgewood closed the quarter out on a 6-0 run to stretch the lead to 44-32.
Keene looked to mount a final charge in the fourth quarter and a Derek Cuebas free throw sparked a 7-1 run that brought the Chargers again to within six at 45-39.
Edgewood prevented Keene from getting any closer as senior Dillon Palmer scored to spark a 7-0 Edgewood run that put the game in the Bulldogs’ control.
Keene head coach Jason Hill said his team made too many mistakes down the stretch when the game was back within reach.
“When you play teams of this caliber, you can’t make that many mistakes,” Hill said. “We had turnovers and missed box outs, and they’ll make you pay for it.
“I told our guys the effort was there and the will to win was there. They just made a few more plays than us.”
Gonzales concluded his freshman year with 15 points in the loss, all of which came from beyond the arc, to lead Keene.
Shelfer and Murff both finished with six points, the duo of Castelblanco and Ryan Baze each had five, and Cuebas finished with three points.
