Chargers Fall 82-70 in Final Home Game
The Edison State Chargers would play their final home game of the 2023-2024 season on February 24, 2024, and honor their five sophomores who would play their last game in Charger Gymnasium.
Article by Rob K. Winkle, Jr., B.A. | Photos by Reflections by Rob, LLC
The Edison State Chargers would play their final home game of the 2023-2024 season on February 24, 2024, and honor their five sophomores who would play their last game in Charger Gymnasium. Edison State entered Saturday's action with an 11-14 (7-7) record and a fifth-place standing in the OCCAC in this non-conference game versus Community Christian College (Mich.). The OCCAC tournament accepts the top three teams in the conference, not mathematically eliminated. The Chargers needed to win their final three games, including this one, to have a shot and help from other OCCAC teams.
Sophomores Abdulai "AJ" Jalloh (Westerville South HS), Caleb Iheukwu (Westerville North HS), Jesse Dixon (Portsmouth West HS), Mohamed Sidibe (Marist HS - Penn.), and Devonte Curry (Briggs HS) as customary in many sophomore/senior day games would be the in the starting lineup except for Sidibe who was inactive due to an illness.
The Sophomores would provide most of what would be a dominant performance for most of the game for the Chargers. This season's two-time OCCAC Player of the Week winner sophomore Caleb Iheukwu(17.4 PPG) would lead the Chargers in three stat categories, in points with 26, 15 rebounds, and six blocks, completing the double-double. Fellow sophomores Abdulai Jalloh (6.5 PPG) with 13, Devonte Curry (10.5 PPG) with 10 points, and the fourth playing sophomore Jesse Dixon scored 9, 5th on the team.
The Chargers would come out with intentions of sending their sophomores home in style with a win and stopping a six-game skid, having not won a game since January 27. It would be all Chargers in the first half, with Community Christian College (Mich.) putting up a fight but Edison State leading 43-35 at the half.
Devonte Curry, though not this season, was an OCCAC Player of the Week last season. He showed he could handle the ball, play defense, and score, putting forth a total effort on the court. The Chargers would lack some normal production and firepower in the absence of freshman point guard Ronald Smith(11.3 PPG) (Thurgood Marshall HS), who was also sidelined due to illness, and two-time POTW this season Freshman Daviyon McDonald (Dublin Jerome HS) while prominent on boards, defense, and ball control leading the Chargers in assists with 5, scored well below his 13.8 PPG average only netting 6 points. Their sharpshooting from outside, a big part of their offense this season, struggled, hitting only 2-17 from deep.
Sophomore Jesse Dixon would be the only active sophomore not to score double-digits but miss only by 1 point, scoring 9 in a day in which the sophomores put on a show for their Piqua crowd and families.
The Chargers would hold firm leading by a 49-38 margin with 17:33 left to go in the game, Community Christian would tie the game on an 11-0 run at the 14:40 mark. The Chargers then lost the lead until 4:28, when they tied the game at 66. Even with the inactive players, this team fought until the end and was in this game until the end. The Chargers would take the lead at 4:19 and then fall behind again at 2:24, which would be the point of no return for this spirited club. With less than a minute remaining, Edison State trailed 78-68 and ultimately dropped their seventh in a row 82-70. This team faced adversity this season, trials, tribulations, and is loaded with talent. The Chargers, Coach Vanover, Maschino, and Eustache have nothing to be ashamed of, regardless of how their season ends.
After Saturday's action, Edison State's record now falls to 11-5 (7-7), remaining in fifth place in the OCCAC. They travel to Springfield for neighboring OCCAC rival Clark State on Wednesday, February 28th, at 7:30 pm to face a team that defeated them in an overtime thriller in Piqua a few weeks ago. They will then travel to Lakeland CC on March 2, 2024, at 1:00 pm to end their season and conference play after Saturday's complete OCCAC action. Unfortunately for the Chargers, there are not enough OCCAC games or total games to make the OCCAC tournament this season. The best record they can finish with would be 13-15 (9-7). This would mean defeating Clark State, dropping the Eagles to 14-13 (8-7), and the Chargers improving to 12-15 (8-7). Their conference records would be tied; however, they are still 4th and 5th regardless of where the tiebreak puts each team, and they need 3rd. Clark State ends its season with Cuyahoga. If they defeated Cuyahoga, it would put Tri-C's record to 22-8 (11-5), still not enough to bump Clark State or Edison State into the top three. This means the OCCAC tournament for the season is set to feature Lakeland, Hocking College, and Cuyahoga (seeds undetermined games remain).
It will not be the spirit of Coach Vanover or these Chargers not to play hard and play to end their season with two wins. Unfortunately, it would not be enough to put them into the postseason this year. The Chargers men have seven freshmen who are expected to return next season. Only losing five of their twelve gives them a good outlook for 2024-2025, although the sophomores will be hard to replace.
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