-
Sean Pedulla (1) and Tate Mazza (12) -
Dalante Shannon -
Joell Wilson (1) and Gabe Seat (13) -
Sam Walker prepares to shoot a free throw
Sean Pedulla took the inbounds pass and let fly a wild shot against great defense which somehow beat the buzzer.
The senior’s highlight shot to end the third quarter was the exclamation point in a 65-54 Edlam win by the Edmond Memorial boys’ basketball team against rival Edmond North Tuesday night at Memorial.
No. 1 Memorial (9-1) won the first of two scheduled meetings between the Bulldogs and Huskies despite having not played in 11 days.
No. 2 North (12-3) has now lost two of its past three games, albeit against the other two teams ranked in the Class 6A top three.
Pedulla, who led all scorers with 28 points, jokingly said he did not mean to bank his buzzer-beating 3-pointer off the backboard.
“I just shot it and hoped that, just like every other shot, hoped it went in,” Pedulla said. “I’ve put work into making those types of shots, so that’s just really what it came down to, trusting that the work ethic is going to pay off.”
After Pedulla, junior J.V. Seat scored 14 points for Memorial, followed by fellow junior Gabe Seat with 11.
Senior Dalante Shannon led the Huskies with 17 points but fouled out with 49.1 to play. Fellow senior Josh Price followed with 15.
The Bulldogs had to play without senior Keyshon Spotwood. Memorial coach Shane Cowherd said he was proud of the way his team performed without one of its best players.
“He’s the best defender in the state,” Cowherd said. “I believe that wholeheartedly, and he’s one of our leading scorers. Having other guys be able to step up and make some plays and show a little toughness and grit, it wasn’t always pretty, but for most of the part tonight, it was the right plays at the right time.”
The game was tight throughout the first half. Both teams had a couple scoring runs, and both held leads. After trailing 33-29 at halftime, North cut the deficit to 36-35 in the third quarter. However, the Bulldogs went on a 17-5 run the rest of the quarter, capped off with Pedulla’s shot.
North fought back to make the deficit 61-54. The Bulldogs missed some key free throws at this point, but the Huskies could not take advantage.
North coach Scott Norris said Memorial did not do anything different to pull away, the Huskies just needed to shoot the ball better.
“(Memorial) made some effort plays,” Norris said. “We weren’t getting anything at the rim and the lane. We weren’t scoring, at all. We’re just shooting 3s, and they got some easy transition points, too, off of that.”
Memorial had not played since Jan. 15, a win against Yukon. The Bulldogs only had a practice and a half to prepare for this showdown after getting out of quarantine. Pedulla said Cowherd gave the team the option of postponing or canceling the game, but the team wanted to play.
“We all were super excited to be back,” Pedulla said. “Yeah, it was kinda tough, but I think the quarantine made us want to get back even more, and it made us more excited to be in the gym.”
The Bulldogs and Huskies will face off again at North Feb. 16.