When his two tallest players unexpectedly transferred before the start of this basketball season, Edgewood coach Bob Slagle was left with a roster that was top-heavy in guards and heavy at the center.
"I looked around and thought, 'I have guards coming out of my ears, but no big men,' " said Slagle, not meaning to offend his starting center, 6-foot-3, 255-pound Mike Brown. "All of a sudden, we were very, very small."
The departure of Anthony Largie (6-6) and Eric Briggs (6-4) and a tough nonleague schedule might have played a part in Edgewood's 3-6 start, but whatever it was, the Rams have overcome it.
Friday night's 40-38 triumph over Bel Air enabled the Rams to close out their regular season with a five-game winning streak, which sends them into the region playoffs having won 11 of their last 13 games.
More importantly, Friday's victory gave Edgewood (14-8, 11-3) the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and the first-round bye that goes with it.
"We played some tough teams early on and we had some really tough games that didn't help our win-loss record but I think it made us a better team," said Slagle. "We have guards playing forward, so we had to be a little more creative in what we did defensively. We have to offset other teams' size advantage and for the most part, we've been fairly successful."
Edgewood's success began with the Rams' 68-55 victory over Joppatowne on Jan. 18. Since that game, which featured 24 points from senior Clayton Harrington, the Rams have lost only two games, one a 47-46 loss to the Mariners. That loss gave C. Milton Wright sole possession of the county title and ended Edgewood's bid for a third straight title, but it didn't deter the Rams.
"Winning the county title was one of our goals and we blew that, but we've bounced back," said senior guard Chris Finlay, who leads the Rams' balanced scoring attack with just over 11 points per game. "Our major goal is to get back to College Park [for the state playoffs] and that is still attainable."
Some midseason injuries and illnesses, including a flu that sidelined Charlie Burkhardt for three weeks, forced Slagle to shuffle his lineup even more. Burkhardt, a 6-3 senior who was moved from the backcourt to power forward, returned in time to help Edgewood to consecutive victories over county front-runners Aberdeen (70-59), C. Milton Wright (42-28) and Fallston (54-48) -- all within an eight-day period.
"We all knew that we could get back to Cole [Field House] if we put our minds to it," said Burkhardt, another guard turned forward. "Things were going down at the beginning of the year but we knew that once we got back into the county play, we would take care of business."
The Rams got the job done and compensated for their height deficiency by scoring and rebounding. Edgewood has four players averaging between four and six rebounds and eight players who have scored in double digits.
"Everything has to be a team effort. If it isn't, we're in trouble," said Slagle. "We have a fairly fragile team and everyone has to play well for us to succeed. This group does some things that aren't very smart sometimes but they're good at doing what it takes to win and I'll never question their effort or desire."
Finlay agreed. "It may not be pretty at times but, we get the job done," he said. "As long as we're winning, no one is complaining."