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EDWARDSVILLE – Jack Marinko and Caleb Strohmeier played key roles for Edwardsville in their home opener Tuesday night at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
Marinko lit up Soldan for 42 points and Strohmeier had 16 – including a key three-pointer in the final minute that put Edwardsville ahead to stay – as EHS defeated Soldan of the St. Louis Public High League 64-60 to go to 2-0 on the season. All told, Strohmeier and Marinko tallied a combined 58 of Edwardsville's 64 points.
EHS has been working on late-game situations in practice in recent days; the work paid off, Marinko thought. “We've been working that in practice the last couple of days, late-game situations,” Marinko said, “getting trapped and handling the ball; I thought it came through tonight.”
Marinko thought the challenge posed by Soldan, coming off a difficult season-opener against DeSmet the week before that Edwardsville managed to pull out, was a good one. “They're a tough team to play against early in the year,” Marinko said. “They're fast, they push the ball, they're really athletic and I thought we handled that very well by the way we've been practicing.”
Marinko's confidence in hitting the shots he takes has been helped by the work he's put in during practice sessions, he said. “I've been working on my shooting in practice every day; it's been paying off out there,” Marinko said. “We did a good job finding me and that's how we get the shots; I give a lot of credit to Malik (Robinson) and Caleb screening and R.J. (Wilson).”
The way Edwardsville finished the game “carries over from practice,” Strohmeier said. “just late in the day when all the other teams have gone home – we're putting in the work; it carries over in late-game situations.”
Strohmeier also acknowledged how difficult a team Soldan was to play against. “They're quick and a pretty tough team to play against in the second game of the year,” Strohmeier said. “They're quick and athletic; we're just happy we got the 'w' and we could pull it off out there.”
Strohmeier felt Edwardsville could build on some of the lessons learned during the game Tuesday. “We did a lot of things good,” Strohmeier said. “I think we still need to work on handling the ball under pressure; we'll build on that and we'll get better from games like this.”
