Petersburg Spoils Edison's Playoff Hopes

RICHMOND—Edison’s historic playoff run came to an end on Friday night with a 68-61 loss to Petersburg at the Siegel Center on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

The Eagles jumped on top of the state’s No. 1-ranked team in the first 12 minutes of the game, building a 25-21 lead when Michael Lewis put-back Tyrone Mackall’s miss. But Petersburg reeled off seven straight points—led by guard Frank Mason—to take a 28-25 lead which they never relinquished.

Mason, a Towson commit, finished with 30 electrifying points and at only 6-foot-1, led everyone with 15 rebounds. He was complemented by Marcus Hoosier, who finished with 19 after being held to just one basket in the first half.

“Frank, he’s a pretty quick player,” said Mackall, who led the Eagles with 19 points and 11 rebounds. “I’m 6-4 and I can stay with most guards. He’s fast, you can’t do anything about it, he’s a great player.”

Edison (19-10) reached the state basketball playoffs for the first time since 1970 and acquitted itself well in front of a heavily partisan crowd in the sold-out building. After getting down by nine points after a Hoosier jumper early in the second half, Marcus Brumsey Jr., Chief Amoah, Matt Murphy and Mackall brought the Eagles to 42-40.

The Crimson Wave stretched the lead to eight again, but Mackall, LaSalle Mensah and Amoah cut the lead to 52-51 with 4:25 to play.

The game’s decisive play came next, as Hoosier missed a free throw and Mackall wasn’t able to secure the ball. Mason got his hands on it and was fouled, then hit a pair of free-throws to give Petersburg a four-point advantage. The Eagles brought it back to 55-53 after a beautiful reverse lay-up by Amoah, but the Crimson Wave scored seven unanswered points to take a 62-53 lead with 3:05 to play.

“I don’t think Petersburg had seen too many of these games,” said Edison coach Terry Henderson. “But a couple of balls didn’t go our way and we had some untimely turnovers.”

It was one of the tightest games of the season for Petersburg (28-1), who will face the winner Gar-Field and Kecoughtan in the state semifinals.

“They came to play and the coaches had them ready to play,” said Wave coach Rick Hite. “They played to the buzzer and I give them a lot of respect.”

Henderson, who grew up in Petersburg, just outside of Richmond, was proud to see his Eagles play a competitive game.

“According to the blogs and everything, we weren’t even supposed to be able to play them within 20 points,” he said. “This was a winnable game for us. I kind of wish we had gotten blown out because we would be able to say we couldn’t compete with those guys.”

It was only the third time all season Edison didn’t make a 3-pointer, and it hurt. The shooting percentage of each team was nearly identical, but Petersburg made four long-range shots while the Eagles went 0-10.

“We made it this far with only adequate 3-point shooting,” Henderson said. “We were able to overcome that for the most part this year. If we can set our feet, usually we have a good chance of knocking those down.”

It was the final game in Matt Murphy’s career, and the disappointment showed. The 6-7 center nearly broke down into tears during the post-game press conference.

“We finished my freshman season at 1-19,” he said. “But to end my career like this in the state tournament was unbelievable. I just wish it could have kept going.”