TORONTO — The second quarter provided the spark for the Toronto boys’ basketball team.

Edison hung with Toronto early on, and the Red Knights led by seven at the end of the first quarter, however, the boys from the Gem City outscored the Wildcats by 16 points in the second and never looked back en route to a 78-44 victory Friday night inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.

“Defense,” Toronto (2-0) head coach Sean Tucker said asked what enabled his team to build its big lead. “We are a very young group, and we are still trying to find our identity on offense. Defense is our strong point. 

“Give Edison credit. They hit a lot of shots. They shot the ball well. They played to their strengths out of the gate, and we did not do a good job of taking away their strengths at the beginning of the game. 

“In the second quarter, we started taking away strong side and things like that. We were able to force some turnovers. We made them uncomfortable, and that led to some good offense for us. We outscored them 27-11 in the second quarter. Our defensive pressure was the difference.”

The hosts were able to speed the visitors up in the second quarter resulting in multiple turnovers.

“We started off by following our gameplan,” Edison (1-2) head coach Jeremy Matics said. “We knew what to expect. Hats off to Coach Tucker. He always has his kids prepared.

“I will take the blame for that. We didn’t do a good job with their pressure. Their pressure bothered us. We worked on it at practice. We’re young. They sped us up, and we couldn’t slow down.”

Four players produced double digits in points for the boys in white. 

Individually, Austin Buchanan tallied a game-high 24 points. Buchanan contributed 15 points in the first half. Also, Brady Fair delivered 14 points, Aiden Filby finished with 11 and Landon Grimes recorded 10.

Three players scored in double figures for the boys in black. Individually, Bryce Rogers and Jackson McBane each contributed 12 points, while Jaxon Wiley tallied 10.

“Jeremy does a great job,” Tucker said. “They came out and play hard. We were able to scout them. We were able to watch them. We told them not listen to what was out there. We told them Edison was going to come out and play hard. This is a rivalry game. Our schools are rivals. We knew they were going to come out and play hard. We did not expect anything less. We just outplayed them in the second, third and fourth quarters.”

Toronto led 21-14 at the end of the first, and the Red Knights extended their advantage to 48-25 at halftime

“Not really,” Matics said asked if Toronto did anything differently this season after losing six seniors – including all five starters – from last year’s team. “We knew what to expect. I have to do a better job of making sure we are able to handle pressure better.”

The Red-and-White continued their run in the third as the victors built a 65-34 lead entering the fourth. 

“This group is really starting to jell,” Tucker said. “When they jell, they are going to be very fun watch. They are very close. Once they get more experienced, they are going to be a fun group.

“They want to share the ball. They do share the ball. There are times where they share the ball too much, but they are making the right play at the right time.”

The Red Knights outscored the Wildcats, 13-10, in the fourth.

Both teams are scheduled to play Tuesday on the road in Columbiana County. Toronto is slated to play Wellsville, while Edison is set to take on Southern Local. The Red Knights opened the season with a win against the Tigers, while the Wildcats started the season with a win against the Indians.

“We have Wellsville coming up,” Tucker said. “They gave us a tough game here. Wellsville is another rival. They are always very tough. We are going to be playing in a tough environment. 

“Nate (Scott) does a good job. They have a young team. We are going to have to weather the storm. We are going to enjoy this one tonight, and get ready to play again.”

Toronto 78, Edison 44

Edison  14 11  9 10 – 44

Toronto 21 27 17 13 – 78

EDISON (1-2): Kirkman 0 0-0 0, Rogers 3 4-4 12, Bokunevitz 0 0-0 0, Hoobler 0 0-0 0, Long 1 1-4 3, Filburn 2 1-2 7, Wiley 4 1-2 10, McBane 4 2-6 12, DeGarmo 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14 9-18 44.

TORONTO (2-0): Filby 5 1-2 11, Grimes 4 0-0 10, Joynson 2 3-4 7, Buchanan 8 4-4 24, Fair 6 1-3 14, Close 0 2-4 2, Henry 0 0-0 0, Rebich 1 0-0 3, Dickinson 2 0-1 4, Byers 1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 29 11-16 78.

3-POINTERS: Edison 5 (Rogers 2, McBane 2, Wiley); Toronto 9 (Buchanan 4, Grimes 2, Fair, Rebich, Byers)