Opponents are sick trying to stop Edwards, Hampton

Tri-State Sports & News Service

Good thing for the garbage can in the corner of Franklin Regional High School’s gym. It was there that an ill Laryn Edwards of Hampton made an emergency stop. Just in the nick of time. “I wasn’t feeling good at all,” Edwards said. “I ran off the court as fast as I could. Luckily, I made it.”

The next logical step for Edwards, who had a 101-degree temperature, would have been to retire to the locker room. Yet there she was, moments later, putting the finishing touches on a 28point, 8-rebound, 5-steal performance in a 62-57 overtime victory.

It was one of many highlights in a junior season that saw her average 14.5 points in helping the Talbots to a second consecutive trip to the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals.

“I would rather play through being sick than not play at all,” said Edwards, who was reminded that, 20 years earlier, a flu-plagued Michael Jordan amassed 38 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals in leading the Chicago Bulls to an NBA Finals victory at Utah. “My dad told me that some of the best games are played when you’re sick. It was the game of my life that night.”

The toughness exhibited by Edwards, a senior point guard and one of three returning starters for Hampton, is a product of growing up with a couple of Division I athletes in brothers Eddie and James. Eddie played baseball at the University of Buffalo before the program was eliminated after last season, and James is a freshman guard on the Air Force basketball team.

Their driveway basketball games of “33” often turned into knock-down, drag-out affairs, Laryn said. On one occasion, she did not like her brothers teaming up on her. So, in a fit of frustration, she aggressively scratched Eddie’s arm as he made his way to the basket. The scar remains. “I was so mad because they wouldn’t let me score,” said Laryn, who, like her brothers, earned a Division I scholarship, to Loyola (Md). “But looking back on it now, I’m glad they treated me that way. It pushed me to work hard and to realize that no one was going to give me anything. It was good for me.”

Been good for Hampton, too. Edwards and returning starters shooting guard Ali Collins and forward Brooke Fuller are part of a senior class with a 60-17 career record. That total includes a Class 5A Section 4 championship last season and runner-up finishes in 2014-15 and 2015-16. The Talbots are 34-4 in section play during that span.

Known for her top-end speed and smooth ballhandling skills, Edwards has shifted from shooting guard to point guard due to the graduation of Jenna Lafko, a freshman at Saint Vincent College. The transition should be relatively seamless, given Edwards filled in for an injured Lafko last season and helped the Talbots to a seven-game winning streak. She also plays the point for her AAU team, the Western PA Bruins, and is projected to play there at Loyola.

Third-year coach Tony Howard, who spent eight years at Mars prior to taking over at Hampton, offered a powerful superlative in assessing Edwards.

“The best,” he said. “In 11 years of coaching, she has the best overall game I’ve seen. She can score the basketball, she’s a great rebounder, she sees the floor well, she’s a great passer. Plus, she’s savvy and she’s smart.”

Howard said a summer camp at the Naval Academy in his first season immediately endeared him to Edwards. It was there that she offered insights and input that belied a player who was months removed from her freshman season.

“She would come over to me and say, ‘I think this will work or let’s try this,’” Edwards said. “For her to be able to communicate with me when she was that young — and the fact that she had a great sense of the game — I knew I had something special.”

For Edwards, a “special” season would entail getting past the WPIAL semifinals and helping the Talbots to a WPIAL championship.

“The goal is to get over the hump,” said Edwards, a sprinter in track (she placed sixth in the 200 at the 2016 WPIAL finals) who plans to run this spring after sitting out last year. “I hate getting stopped in the semifinals. I don’t want it to happen again. The seniors don’t want it to happen again. So that’s our goal, to win it all.”

4. South Fayette (20-7) — With four returning starters from last season’s PIAA semifinalist, the Lions could roar. Samantha Kosmacki averaged 10 points a game and was an all-section pick. Other senior starters are Jordyn Caputo and Maddie Gutierrez, along with juniors Maura Castelluci and Jordan Head. Coach Matt Bacco said developing bench players will be a key.

5. Hampton (23-4) — The Talbots figure to battle Mars for the Section 4 title. Three starters return for a team that beat out Mars for last season’s section title. Guard Jenna Lafko has graduated, but Laryn Edwards is a 5-8 senior guard who has signed with Loyola, Md. The other two returning starters are 5-7 senior guard Ali Collins and 6-foot senior forward Brooke Fuller.

Players to watch

Sierra DeAngelo, Catholic, 6-0, Jr., F

Jordan Edwards, 5-7, Sr., G

Tai Johnson, Jr., G

Mackenzie Wagner, Chartiers Valley, 5-11, Jr., G

Lauren Waslyson, Mars, 5-11, Sr., G Oakland Gateway, Mars, 5-7,