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RICHMOND -- The Toronto boys' basketball team built an early lead and pulled away against undermanned Edison.
The Wildcats were within striking distance early in the second quarter, however, the Red Knights went on and gained control and did not look back en route to a 58-34 victory Friday night inside the Edison Fieldhouse.
"Coach Matics does an excellent job," Toronto (5-1) head coach Sean Tucker said. "He does an excellent job with everything he does with those kids. They had some guys who were not here, but the guys who were here played very hard. They never gave up. That is something to be proud of as a coach. They faced some adversity. He should be proud of his guys.
"As far as our guys go, we thought they continued to play solid defense. They rotated very well. We did the little things well in the first half and in the start of the third quarter.
"Offensively, they took us out of some things with their 1-3-1. They limited our offense in that zone. We had some kids step up and hit some very key shots. We were able to attack the rim. We got the ball inside to our big guy. I wouldn't want to guard our big guy, but they did a good job defensively. They did an excellent job."
The Red Knights led by nine at the end of the first quarter, and they extended their advantage to 17 points before taking a 15-point lead in the locker room at halftime. The Red-and-White led by 27 entering the fourth, and the visitors led by as many as 30 in the fourth.
"Defensively, we got a little tired," Edison (0-4) head coach Jeremy Matics said. "We turned it up in the first quarter. I'm proud of the guys They executed tonight.
"We had some guys out tonight for various reasons. We played a lot of young kids. The young kids we played, they played hard. They hustled. It was the same thing as last year. They outworked them. It was nice to see."
Nolan Dickinson netted a game-high 21 points to lead the way for Toronto, Cayden Benton tallied 11 and Kam Baker recorded nine.
"They pretty much did the same thing they always do," Matics said. "They were able to execute on offense, and they hit some big shots at the end of the second quarter.
"We were able to get some open looks, but they would not fall. I'm proud of the guys."
Brayden Moses delivered a team-high nine points to lead the way for the hosts, while Deacon Rawson and Dawson Jones each collected eight.
The Knights led 16-7 at the end of the first, and they led 33-16 in the second stanza before leading 33-18 at halftime.
"Coach Tucker is a great coach," Matics said. "He always has his team ready. They made some nice adjustments. They were able to go on a run. Their kids work hard."
Toronto extended its advantage to 50-23 entering the fourth, and the Red Knights built a 54-24 lead early on in the final quarter.
"They were very aggressive in their 1-3-1," Tucker said. "They did not have a lot of size, but they had a lot of quickness. They were able to recover. They took away our passing lanes.
"We harped on the guys to attack the gaps. When we attacked the gaps, we were able to get guys open, and we were able to get some very good looks at the basket.
"They were able to take away our passing lanes, but we had some guys step up and hit some high-percentage shots."
Both teams hit six 3-pointers in the game.
The Red Knights have now won four straight games since losing to Indian Creek Nov. 25 on the road.
"In that Indian Creek game, we had some guys who were sick," Tucker said. "They started to get the flu. They got sick on the bus ride out there. It comes on fast.
"Against Indian Creek, we did not have all of our guys there. This was the first game we have had everybody healthy since the Indian Creek game.
"It comes on fast. I know a lot of coaches in the valley are dealing with it. You try to do everything you can to protect your kids. You try to make sure everyone washes their hands, and they drink out of their own water bottle and things like that. It comes on fast.
"We struggled with the flu. One of the things with that is our younger guys have gotten a lot of reps. It is unheard of the amount of reps we have gotten from our freshmen.
"They listen. They follow directions. They are improving. We are seeing them improve on the court. We need to continue to pull together. We want to develop our bench."
The Wildcats are still looking for that elusive victory.
"Things are looking up for us," Matics said. "We had a couple good practices. We are going to keep grinding until we get that win."
Edison is slated to play Buckeye 8 North Division rival Beaver Local Tuesday at home.
Toronto is scheduled to play Trinity Christian Dec. 20 at home inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.
Toronto 58, Edison 34
Toronto 16 17 17 8 – 58
Edison 7 11 5 11 – 34
TORONTO (5-1): N. Dickinson 7 3-3 21, Karaffa 3 0-0 6, Baker 4 0-0 9, Jenkins 0 0-0 0, Fair 0 0-0 0, Close 1 0-0 2, Henry 0 0-0 0, Grimes 1 0-0 3, R. Dickinson 0 0-0 0, Benton 5 1-4 11, Thomas 1 0-0 2, Ensell 1 0-0 2, Buchanan 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 24 4-7 58.
EDISON (0-4): Long 0 1-2 1, Rogers 0 0-0 0, Rawson 2 2-2 8, Moses 4 0-0 9, Jackson 0 1-2 1, J.D. Henderson 0 1-2 1, Watson 0 0-0 0, Jones 3 0-0 8, Smith 0 0-0 0, Daugherty 0 1-2 1, McBane 1 2-2 5. TOTALS: 10 8-13 34.
3-POINTERS: Toronto 6 (N. Dickinson 4, Baker, Grimes); Edison 6 (Rawson 2, Jones 2, Moses, Jones)