Heading into its Feb. 8 game against Edgemont, the Bronxville boys basketball team knew that the matchup between two of the top teams in Class B could be a potential playoff preview.  But even though the contest didn’t go the Broncos’ way—with the Panthers squeaking by in a 59-56 nail biter—Bronxville head coach Bobby Russo believes that the game could help his team regain focus before the postseason kicks off next week.

Bronxville (14-3) came into Tuesday’s game riding a four-game winning streak against a number of elite Section I teams and had already handed the Panthers a 61-53 loss on Jan. 12, but it was apparent from the outset that Edgemont would be no cakewalk as the visitors headed into halftime with a 24-23 lead. 

“I honestly think we might have been overlooking them, which you can’t do; that team has 15 wins,” said Russo. “And you have to give credit to Edgemont, they came in determined and focused and played really well.”

Edgemont’s tenacity helped the visitors pad that cushion after the intermission,  as offensive rebounding—and a 21 point night from Mike Ferrante—helped the Panthers extend the lead to double-digits at times in the second half. Behind a terrific showing from Chris Kelty, who notched a game-high 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds, the Broncos were able to pull to within one point in the final minute of the game, but were never able to even things up.

Russo cited Edgemont’s effort on the boards and Bronxville’s woes from the foul line as key contributors to the loss. 

“The biggest thing, in my opinion, is that they just wanted it a little more than we did; we really need to buckle down as far as help defense and defensive rebounding. ” he said.  “If you look at the film they probably had 10-plus offensive rebounds which turned into eight or so points. And we went 7-20 from the foul line.”

The discrepancy in the rebounding department may owe to an injury suffered by Bronxville center Conor O’Neil early in the third period that kept the senior big man out of action for the majority of the second half. 

“Losing him at any time is big, especially from a physicality standpoint,” said Russo. “Especially in a game like that where we’re struggling to get 50/50 balls, obviously that kind of hurt us a little bit.”

Despite the loss, Bronxville still finished Tuesday atop the Class B standings, although a number of teams—including Edgemont, Rye Neck, and Hastings—could challenge the Broncos for their spot on the leaderboard in the final week of the season. The Broncos will finish up with two road games against Irvington and Dobbs Ferry before hosting Tuckahoe on Feb. 14. Section I tournament play will commence on Feb. 17.

“This is ok, we’ll learn from this and move on,” said Russo. “We know that moving forward, when we’re in tough games, we have to win those 50/50 balls, and we have to be sharp from the foul line.”