By Skip Weaver

Contributing Writer

Middletown High School boys basketball coach Josh Andrews said he doesn’t believe in trap games, but after grabbing a huge lead early Tuesday night against Greater Miami Conference rival Colerain, the Middies nearly fell into that very trap.

The Middies (11-9, 8-4 GMC) appeared to be building a runaway victory when they reeled off 13 straight points in the first quarter to break a 3-3 tie. But over the course of the next three periods, the pesky Cardinals (7-11, 3-9) crawled their way back to within four points late in the final period before succumbing to the home team 64-55 in the Wade E. Miller Gym.

"They are almost good at getting down and then coming back," Andrews said of Colerain. "That's how they beat Lakota East the other night. They did things that disrupted our flow and are hard to simulate in practice."

“I don’t really believe in trap games,” he continued. “But on a Tuesday night late in the season, we knew what was at stake and though we didn’t play at a comfortable level late in the game, we did what it took to get a quality win against a quality opponent.”

What was at stake for the Middies was remaining part of the logjam atop the GMC league standings.

Entering Tuesday night, Middletown was in a four-way tie with Sycamore, Lakota East and Fairfield. The Thunderhawks lost Tuesday night while the Aviators and Indians both won to keep pace with the Middies in the GMC race.

Middletown won the league title last year, and if it can maintain its pace for another league title, it will be the first time the Middies have won back-to-back GMC championships since the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons.

Junior Vincent Edwards led Middletown with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jalin Marshall and Khylan Jackson each added eight points in the win.

Colerain had three players in double figures with Kelvin Clark and Milton Davis each with 14 points and Bryan Porter with 13.

“We finally started playing,” Colerain coach Kevin Higgins said of how his team overcame the early 13-point deficit. “But we weren’t very focused in the first or third quarters and that was the difference in the game.

“We had every opportunity, but just never made the plays,” he added.

The win was the second straight for the Middies, who will travel to Lakota East on Friday.

To discuss the Middies win or their chance for repeating as league champions, click here to go to our Middletown USA sports forum.

For a full box score from the game, follow this link to the GMC website.