Most people haven’t heard of Lake Forest junior Lorenzo Edwards, but after the game he had during the Scouts’ 58-49 win over Zion-Benton on Thursday night, that’s likely to change in a hurry.
Edwards, a 6-7 forward, hadn’t played a basketball game in eight months following surgery to repair a microfracture in his right knee. He scored 11 points and tallied nine rebounds in his season debut, and was a huge factor at both ends of the floor despite only being used in brief 2-4 minute spurts.
“My knee was deteriorating, so they had to poke holes in the tissue to rebuild the tissue,” Edwards said. “I’m still pretty out of shape, but that will come with more practice and hard work. You expect to have a strong performance each time you play, but coming off the bench and providing the kind of spark I did tonight … well, I guess that’s what happened. I’m glad I was able to contribute to the team’s effort.”
Nine of Edwards’ 11 points came in the first half. He finished 4-for-7 from the field and made all three of his free throw attempts. He also played lockdown defense on Tennessee-bound Zion-Benton star Admiral Schofield (game-high 22 points) when Scouts coach Phil LaScala mixed up his defensive assignments later in the game.
“That was a heck of a debut by Lorenzo,” LaScala said. “Admiral Schofield is a heck of a player who made a lot of tough shots tonight. I’m not sure how many people noticed, but when I had Lorenzo guard him, it forced Admiral to adjust several of his shots, and that defensive effort made a difference in the outcome of the game.”
Early on, it appeared Lake Forest would run away from Zion-Benton, as the Scouts (5-0, 1-0 NSC Lake) built a 14-3 lead and didn’t allow the Zee-Bees to make a field goal until junior guard Nick Reed sank a shot from just inside half court as the buzzer sounded signaling the end of the first quarter.
Lake Forest led 28-21 at halftime, but coughed up that lead with just under two minutes to go in the third quarter. Zion-Benton’s lead lasted one possession as the Scouts used a 7-0 run to close out the third and never trailed again.
Dartmouth recruit and Lake Forest senior Evan Boudreaux scored a team-high 20 points and ripped down 16 rebounds. After missing 10 of his first 13 shots, he made five of his final six field goal attempts and all four of his free throws.
“Some of my shots just weren’t dropping early on,” Boudreaux said. “I was getting some looks, but in the second half, I got a bunch of offensive boards I was able to put back, and that kind of got me in a better rhythm.
“Even when we fell behind briefly, coach LaScala told us just to slow down and play our game. We had the lead almost all night, and when we started being more patient and not panicking, it paid off.”
Seniors Noah Karras (11 points, five assists) and Steve Vogrich (nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range) both provided additional offensive punch by making key jump shots throughout.
“Our entire team stepped up,” LaScala said. “Our starters, our role players. It’s huge for our confidence to get that first division win out of the way, and it’s something we talked about in the locker room after the game. Especially on the road against a really good team like Zion-Benton, who coincidentally, we lost to in both of our division openers each of the last two seasons.”
It was the first loss of the season for the Zee-Bees (4-1, 0-1), who got seven points each from sophomore Damarquis Henry and junior Kienan Baltimore (five rebounds, two steals).
