ASHLAND – A pair of defensively dominant quarters and a three-headed monster of scorers led the Ashland boys basketball team to victory in its season-opening game Friday.
The Arrows received a combined 57 points from Paxon Ediger, Garrett Davis and Gabe Baith on their way to a 63-50 triumph over visiting Wooster inside Arrow Arena.
Ashland trailed 13-11 after the first quarter but was never outscored in another quarter the rest of the night. The squad’s 21-11 margin in the fourth period provided the big cushion the hosts needed to pull away.
“I thought our defense showed up in the second and fourth quarters,” 11th-year Ashland head coach Jason Hess said. “We had a good effort and it was a good team win.”
It was the first time in six years the Arrows opened their season against a team other than Norwalk, and the first time since 2018-19 that they kicked things off against an Ohio Cardinal Conference rival.
Paxon Ediger had a huge night to lead the way, dropping in a game-high 27 points – 11 in the third quarter – and pulling down a team-high six rebounds.
The guard hit a 3-pointer in every quarter and now has 789 career points.
Behind him, Garrett Davis (five rebounds) and Gabe Baith both tallied 15 points. Baith connected on a quartet of 3-balls, had eight points in the fourth quarter and moved past 700 points for his career (now 704).
As a squad, Ashland hit 12 shots from beyond the perimeter, something Hess said he expects the squad will rely on this season.
Wooster hit only five treys and got just 10 points from its top scorer.
The Arrows finish off a back-to-back opening weekend Saturday with a road contest at Clyde. They won’t be back at home until another OCC game Friday, Dec. 19, against Mansfield Senior.