DARLINGTON — After an emotional win over SWAL rival Fennimore, the Redbirds took one on the chin at home against Madison Edgewood, a Division 3 school from the Badger Conference.
Edgewood lit up the scoreboard in the first half, hitting 10 shots from deep. Two more 3-pointers in the second half gave the Crusaders 12 in the game, compared to Darlington’s six.
“This is why we schedule teams like Edgewood and Monroe and some of these other schools that are bigger and have really good programs, because they are going to exploit you. They are going to find your weaknesses and make you look bad, and they did that today,” said Darlington coach Tom Uppena after his team’s 76-64 loss Dec. 19. “There’s plenty to learn from here.”
The two teams battled back and forth for the first eight minutes of the game. Darlington led 11-8 at the 13:09 mark after Easton Evenstad stole a pass and connected with Carter Lancaster in transition for a layup. Twenty seconds later Ben Newton hit a shot from across the Pecatonica River to tie it up at 11. As the clock moved under the 10-minute mark of the first half, Edgewood’s Will Klipstine and Isandro Jimenez hit back-to-back 3s to put the Crusaders ahead 17-11, with Uppena calling a timeout to try and halt the momentum.
“They came out — and credit to them for knocking them down — but we didn’t execute in the half-court defense either. After a kid hits a couple and we tell you to get out, we can’t keep giving up open shots,” Uppena said. “And we didn’t get it done offensively either.”
Darlington brought the score to within two points on a 3 by Curtis Stone with 7:02 to play in the half, but that was as close as the Redbirds would get the rest of the night. Edgewood closed on a 21-7 run over the final 5:37 of the first half.
“You can’t spot a team like that a big lead,” Uppena said.
Bringing a little bit more heat to ball pressure in the second half, the Redbirds were able to make a dent in the Edgewood’s 40-24 halftime advantage. Darlington brought the score to within 9 points at 46-37 with 12:52 to play after forcing multiple turnovers and hitting some big shots. Al Deang then hit a 3 from the top of the key for Edgewood, which then countered with a 17-6 run of their own to go up by 20 at 63-43 at the 5:45 mark.
Faced with a final chance to make a run to get back into the game, Darlington upped the defensive pressure again and brought the deficit back to nine points at 73-64 with 48 seconds remaining. A couple of quick 3-point attempts didn’t fall, however, and Jimenez hit seven free throws down the stretch in the second half to seal the game.
“What you saw in the last 6 to 7 minutes, that’s the team that we are — but we can’t wait until the last 6 or 7 minutes against a good team to play like that,” Uppena said. “We’ve got to find some motivation to get off to better starts and get ready to play. That’s partly on me as a coach, and partly on the kids. There’s plenty of stuff to fix.”
Jimenez finished with a game-high 22 points, which included three 3s in the first half and 7 of 8 from the line in the second half. Ben Newton added 12 points and Klipstine 11 for Edgewood.
“Jimenez played great. He was knocking them down and we have to know that and get out and make sure we contest,” Uppena said.
Lancaster’s 17 paced Darlington, with Cayden Rankin adding 14 and Evenstad 11.
“In the end I was happy with our energy at the end of the game. We didn’t quit and we kept coming back. Credit to Edgewood, they played well and shot the ball well and did what they needed to do to win,” Uppena said.
The loss comes on the heels of an intense 69-64 win at Fennimore just two days before. Both teams went into halftime squared away at 34 before the Redbirds pulled away late in the second half.
Lancaster had 17 points to lead Darlington, while Stone (15), Hunter Hardyman (15) and Rankin (10) all scored in double figured. Brady Larson led the Eagles with 25 points and Adam Larson added 17 points and 13 rebounds.
