New Faces, Old Faces and a Win. Edmonson County Tops Fort Knox 75-56 in Home Opener

Edmonson County senior shooting guard Kollin Doyle (22) makes a no look pass in the air after drawing the defense of visiting Fort Knox Friday December 6 in Brownsville.

Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
Edmonson County Wildcat basketball took to the home court hard wood for the first time in the 2024-25 season against the visiting Fort Knox Eagles Friday, December 6th in Brownsville.

In the Wildcats’ second game of the season, with a new coach, minus three transfers and a couple graduating seniors, the squad of some new and old faces came together for a pretty resounding win against the visiting Eagles.

The game opened with a 9-0 run by the Wildcats and saw the halftime score with a 24-point lead, 54-30 in the home team’s favor.

“If you’ve seen that first half, that’s how we want to play,” Edmonson County first year head coach Brad Meredith said on the Edmonson Voice Post Game Show.

Edmonson County senior shooting guard Ben Sander (21) shoots a three-pointer against visiting Fort Knox Friday December 6 in Brownsville.

Edmonson County junior shooting guard Blayne Deweese (3) pulls up for a short jumper against visiting Fort Knox Friday December 6 in Brownsville.

​Edmonson County had some trouble in the third quarter when Fort Knox came out and used a 2-2-1 full court defense.

The team has only worked on dealing with the 2-2-1 press during one practice, Meredith admitted.

“We gotta work on our press offense,” Meredith said was one key thing they need to work on.

There is so much to catch up on for the team, he added.

“It’s an experience, and we’ll get better from it,” Meredith said of the game.

Edmonson County junior shooting forward Owen Ruth (30) shoots a contested jumper against visiting Fort Knox Friday December 6 in Brownsville.

Edmonson County senior shooting guard Carter Swihart (12) finishes a layup against visiting Fort Knox Friday December 6 in Brownsville.

​Asked about how he felt about the win after the game, Edmonson County sophomore point guard Brayden Wright said, “Good.”
 
“I feel great,” Edmonson County senior shooting guard Ben Sanders said after the game. “I think we played great as a team. We are just trying to figure out the new offense and come together as a team.”
 
Sanders feels one thing they need to work on going forward is keeping their heads and not making easy turnovers.
 
Edmonson turned the ball over 13 times alone in the third quarter, according to the unofficial stats from Edmonson Voice Live Broadcast Darren Doyle.
 
Edmonson did outrebound Fort Knox 43-25 and shot 30 of 60 from the field for 50 percent.
 
Wildcats senior shooting guard Kollin Doyle lead the team with 23 points and 6 rebounds. Senior shooting guard Ben Sanders had 14 points with 7 rebounds, junior shooting forward Owen Ruth scored 14 with 7 rebounds, sophomore point guard Brayden Wright scored 9 with 3 rebounds, junior shooting guard Blayne Deweese had 8 points and 5 rebounds, senior Carter Swihart had 5 points and 3 rebounds off the bench and senior power forward Braxtin Lindsey scored 4 and hauled in 9 rebounds.
 
Next, Edmonson County travels to face Cumberland County, today, at 4;30 p.m. Saturday Dec. 7 in Burkesville.