The Edge School’s prep basketball team enjoyed its first competitive games of the new year Jan. 9 to 12, when the Springbank-based private school hosted the National Preparatory Association’s (NPA) Western Session.
The session saw some of the top prep high-school basketball teams from across the country duke it out on the Edge School’s home court. The home team Mountaineers played four games over the weekend, picking up three wins and a loss.
The weekend started on a strong note for the Edge Jan. 9, with a 79-64 win over Canada TopFlight Academy (CTA) – the two-time NPA champion the Edge knocked out in the championship semi-finals last year.
The @NPACanada Western Session just kicked off at @edgeschool in Springbank. The @edge_basketball prep team is playing Canada Top Flight Academy - the two-time NPA champ that Edge knocked out in the semi-finals last year. Should be a great game! The session runs all week. pic.twitter.com/J7wrpQIVZ3
— Scott Strasser (@scottstrasser19) January 10, 2020
“I was really pleased,” said head coach Adam Huffman. “For the first time this year, I felt our guys were being really unselfish and doing it for each other.”
2021-grad Thow Biel was the star player for the Edge, putting up 30 points, including 18 from behind the three-point arc.
Huffman added the Mountaineers took advantage of CTA’s fatigue – the result of playing on the same day as the squad’s flight to Calgary from Ottawa – to come out with the win.
“We know how difficult that is,” he said. “They would have liked to shoot the ball better, I’m sure, but I’m proud of my boys for gutting out the win.”
CTA clawed their way back into it in the third frame with some much-improved shooting. It’s now 54-53 for the Edge, with 10 minutes left to play. @NPACanada pic.twitter.com/yA29ZgDfqA
— Scott Strasser (@scottstrasser19) January 10, 2020
The team couldn’t replicate the strong start in its second fixture Jan. 10, losing 79-76 against Winnipeg-based Northstar Preparatory Institute. The setback temporarily dropped the Edge into second place of the Western Conference.
“I really feel we beat ourselves,” Huffman said. “Northstar threw everything they had at us and shot the ball extraordinarily well. But, ultimately, we controlled our own destiny in that game. We went back and watched the film after. Guys were kind of dreading watching the film, but afterwards, we’d learned a lot from it. Hopefully, we won’t drop a game like that again.”
The squad rounded out the weekend with comfortable wins Jan. 11 over Royal Crown (71-44) and GTA Prep (87-64). The results leave the Edge tied for first place with Northstar Preparatory Institute at the top of the NPA’s Western Conference standings, with a 6-2 record.
Post-grad shooting guard Alan Spoonhunter, one of the Mountaineers’ returning players from last year, said the team’s chemistry has improved throughout the season.
“The group feels like we’re more of a family now,” said the 18-year-old, who leads the Mountaineers in steals and rebounds this season. “We’re starting to gel and guys are starting to play for each other, rather than their own interest.”
While the Edge spread out the points, Biel led in scoring throughout the weekend, averaging 22 points per game. Amir Rahimzad – a national player on Iran’s U18 team – followed with 14 points per game, as well as 10 rebounds per game.
“We have so much talent – guys coming off the bench who are Team Canada or Nike league,” Spoonhunter said. “There aren’t enough shots to go around, so the buy-in from everyone has to be there. You might get two shots a game, but you’re going to play defence. That’s what we need going forward.”
The Edge will head to Ottawa at the end of February for the NPA’s Central Session. The trip will include games against CTA, Rothesay Netherwood, Halifax Prep and Oakville Basketball Prep.
Spoonhunter said the rematch with CTA will be one fixture the team has circled on its calendar.
“They’re a top-three team in the country and in the NPA,” he said. “We got the best of them [this time], but last year, they got the best of us in our gym, and then we beat them in nationals.
“We just need to trust the work we put in.”
Following the Central Session, the Edge will prepare for the NPA championship tournament March 23 to 26. Last year, the squad made it to the championship game before losing to Ontario-based Crestwood Prep.
