DALE – Dale swept rival Bethel Tuesday night, but the night belonged to Dale Coach Jeff Edmonson who won his 500th career game in only his 23rd season as a head coach.
Dale has won three straight 2A State Championships and the No. 1 Pirates don’t have a member of the team who has lost on their home court. Despite collecting more than 100 of his wins in the past four years, Edmonson said this milestone coming this early in his career shows how good his teams have been over the 23 years – five in Meeker and the rest at Dale.
“It means two things. One, I’m getting old. And two, I’ve coached 23 really good teams, including this team,” Edmonson said. “I’ve coached a lot of good kids with a lot of good support. It’s been fun to lace it up with all 23 of those teams. I need to be thanking all those guys.”
While every season is special, Edmonson is especially enjoying this season. He has been on the sideline for all of his son’s games and Easton Edmonson is a senior this year.
“My son’s a senior, and he’s a really good player for us, and I’m trying to enjoy every minute, every second. I know what a special team this is, and the last three years have been awesome,” Coach Edmonson said. “What this group’s been able to accomplish with the three state championships, but we’re still not satisfied, and we want to get another one. But I’m no dummy. I’m enjoying this time with him.”
Another thing that makes this team special is the fact that players haven’t moved in or moved out. Most of the fabric of this year’s Pirate squad came together in the second grade, so the entire program feels like family.
“We’ve all had a lot of good times together,” Edmonson said. “Tonight is one of them for sure.”
Pirates 89, Bethel 45
The Pirates made it obvious pretty early that Edmonson would get his 500th win Tuesday. Bethel fought hard and even led 8-6 after Gavin Lynch and Zack Jennings hit shots to give the Wildcats hope early.
But the Dale defense locked down the Wildcats after that. Bethel led 8-6 early but Trayden Chambers had 12 first quarter points for the Pirates to lead them to an 18-9 advantage after one quarter.
Dale outscored Bethel 20-4 in the second quarter to put the game away with a 38-13 lead at intermission.
They went on to win 89-45.
Chambers led all scorers with 18 and Denton Forsythe added 17. Jett Higdon scored 15 and Keldan Meeley and Jaxon Womack each reached double digits off the bench. Meely had 14, including six on
dunks, and Womack had 11. Easton Edmonson had five for the Pirates.
Jennings led Bethel with 15 and Lynch had 10. Darius Cheatham added eight for the Wildcats.
Lady Pirates 76, Bethel 49
Bethel, the No. 16 team in 3A, put up a fight before the 2A No. 1 Lady Pirates pulled away for a 76-49 win.
Ava Gascon hit one of her five 3-pointers to start the scoring and Lexi Tucker knocked down a long three to keep the Lady Wildcats ahead early. After Kynlee Bullard and Skylar Anderson scored on fast breaks to tie it at 6-6, Bailey Tucker knocked down another 3-pointer to give Bethel a 9-6 lead. Danika Pendley hit one of her two first quarter 3-pointers to tie the game again at 9-9 before Ava Bell got a steal and found Teague Muncy for two to give Dale an 11-9 lead. Another Gascon three for Bethel gave them a 12-11 lead and it looked like the two teams would trade punches.
But Dale finished the period on a 14-2 run for a 25-14 lead after the first quarter.
The Lady Pirates got 3-pointers from Kaleigh Strange and Kinsley Hill to help them build a 39-21 lead, but Bethel fought back to finish the half down 15 at 41-26.
The second half saw more Dale defensive success as the Lady Pirates’ size and speed overwhelmed Bethel.
It was 61-34 after three and Dale finished with a 76-49 win.
The scoring was balanced for the Lady Pirates. Muncy led the way with 14 and Heartly Snyder was next with 13 off the bench. Skylar Anderson and Danika Pendley each added a dozen and Hill had eight, including two 3-pointers. Bell, Bullard and Holland Herring all had four and Strange had three. Khloe Jones wrapped up the scoring with two.
Bethel was led by Gascon with 15, all behind the arc. Bailey Tucker finished with 13 and Lexi Tucker had seven. Kinley Bowles scored six for the Lady Wildcats.
Dale is off until a trip to Latta next Tuesday.
Bethel heads to the Kellyville Tournament Thursday through Saturday.
