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EEVP drops a tough one on the road to Ohio power St. Edward

East English Village Prep players during shootaround.
East English Village Prep players during shootaround.

LAKEWOOD, Ohio - For East English Village Prep to go into the gym of one of the best teams in the state of Ohio, St. Edward, and come out with a win, would be an uphill battle. And the reason had little to do with basketball. EEVP lost to St. Edward 73-56, but was late to the game because its first bus would not start, the second one blew a tire on the highway, which turned into an hour wait for a third bus. But excuses are for the weak, and head coach Juan Rickman was not accepting any.

"The odds were against since this morning," he said. "But we're not one for excuses. it was good to come out and play in an atmosphere like this, where you know the odds are going to be against you. Sometimes this is how its going to be in the states (playoffs). They (St. Edward) have a good program, they're nationally ranked, and we just have to keep on getting better."

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Junior guard David Dejulius led all scorers with 21 points, on 9-24 shooting. Senior Greg Elliott stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. Those two combined for a large percentage of EEVP's points, with four other players combing for 17 total points.

"That's been the whole season," Rickman said on Dejulius and Elliott shouldering the offensive load. "We just have to get the other guys going. They're all first-year players, besides Samuel Womack, and its Tukeemo's (McGee) first year playing a lot, so we just have to keep getting the other guys better. We have a couple of weeks before states starts, so we have to get these guys as good as we can get them."

St. Edward played a great game from start to finish, led in scoring by forward Will Henry with 18 points. Senior point guard Thomas Schmock finished with 13 points and 11 assists. It also did not help that EEVP only six three throws in the entire game, going 1-6. Schmock was 6-7 from the free throw line by himself.

The Eagles also shot the ball well from three, getting uncontested looks the entire game. Rickman pointed out a lot of things his team needed to work on, and defense was one of them.

"The rotations were off all night," he said. "Guys not getting over. Same thing happened against Cass Tech, leaving the shooters open. We just have to keep getting better."

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