Reid Edmonds Connects for 1,000th Point

Anthony Stevens | Sports Correspondent | Posted: Friday, January 11, 2013 11:49 pm

ST. PAUL, Va. – Senior Reid Edmonds had one more great game to play at St. Paul.

Edmonds who transferred to Castlewood with the closure of St. Paul played a road game at his old high school and it was a storybook finish.

Edmonds scored the Blue Devils first points on a layup to give him 1,000 for his career, but he saved the best for last, taking over the final two minutes of the game to give Castlewood a 50-45 come-from-behind win over the Spartans.

The game was played at St. Paul as a home game for Eastside while the school undergoes renovations.

“This is just truly a blessing,” Edmonds said. “I couldn’t have been at a better place for me to get my 1,000th point, at my old school in my old gym. It’s really special to me, it was real emotional.”

Castlewood led most of the game with its largest lead – 10 points – coming in the second quarter and up 28-21 at halftime. Eastside cut the lead to one point three times in the third quarter, but Edmonds hit some free throws, a reverse layup and Tyler Austin sank a 3-pointer to give the Blue Devils a 38-31 lead going to the final stanza.

Led by another former St. Paul player, Ryan Milgrim, Eastside exploded at the start of the fourth quarter. Milgrim made a 3 then converted a 3-point play to end a 11-0 Spartans’ run. They led 43-38 with just over three minutes to play and appeared to be in good shape with momentum on their side.

“I’m not disappointed,” said Eastside coach Patrick Damron. “I thought my kids played a good game. We had one basket late in the game that rimmed out; if it goes I think we’re in pretty good shape. This game came down to the last minute, I’m proud of the kids we fought back most of the game.”

Eastside wasn’t helped when Milgrim fouled out. Although Ben Yates stepped in at point guard and did a solid job for the Spartans.

Dylan Trent made 1-of-2 free throws with just over a minute to play to cut the Eastside lead to 47-46. The Spartans missed a shot, Castlewood grabbed the rebound and immediately spread the floor. Edmonds drove to the basket, and when double-teamed, dropped a pass to Dalton Addington who scored to give the Devils the lead. Austin hit a couple of critical free throws with two seconds remaining to ice the contest.

“Edmonds hurt us late in the game,” Damron said. “He either scored or assisted on most of the buckets.

“I wasn’t happy to see it, I wasn’t happy that we lost to Castlewood but I am happy for Edmonds. He played for me, he’s a good player and a good kid.”

Edmonds finished with a game-high 19 points and also led the Devils with six rebounds and four steals. Edmonds was 7-of-8 in field goal attempts inside the arc. Austin scored 10 points and Ben Couch dropped in 12 points, including three 3’s.

Milgrim led the Spartans offense with 12 points. Forrest Lunsford totaled nine points and six rebounds.