Forest Hills High School Boys Basketball Tops Thomas Edison, 85-71

A revved-up team jumped out to a big lead in the first few minutes of its first home game of the season on Thursday night and never looked back, cruising to an 85-71 victory over Thomas Edison High School.

With the standing-room only crowd filling the gym, screaming on every basket, the Rangers seemed to outplay the Inventors in every aspect of the game.

When the buzzer ended the first quarter, the Rangers had a 28-9 lead.

The team went to the locker room with a 48-28 halftime lead. Edison started the third quarter more determined and fought back in the early third quarter with a few three-pointers, chipping away nine points from the lead. However, the visitors never got to within 10 points of the home team and Edison even lost its collective cool in the fourth quarter, getting called for two technical fouls for rough play.

Hero: The entire team looked good, even the second stringers who got a lot of playing time. But Denzel Dulin, who had 23 points, was particularly ustoppable. He sunk a string of three-pointers and slashed to the hoop at will. Nick Padgett was a close second with 22 points.

Turning Point: Within the first few minutes, the Rangers had built an insurmountable lead. The Inventors played catch-up, but never put together a significant run to get back in the game.

Quotable: "We were on fire ...We could score whenever we wanted to," coach Ben Chobhaphand said of his team in the first quarter. Dulin, Nick Padgett and Rudy Collins "took over the game."

Not everything was praise. "We lost energy from the first half," Chobhaphand lamented. "My kids gotta get used to playing at home."

Bottom Line: After such a dominant first quarter, no amount of effort from the Inventors was going to be enough to take back the game, especially with the Forest Hills home crowd involved.

Key Stat: Forest Hills owned the glass, with 42 team rebounds and two players with 11. With so many second-chance points, the Rangers were able to secure an insurmountable lead very early.

Next Up: Forest Hills will play the boys from Campus Magnet High School in Cambria Heights at home at 5 p.m. on Dec. 9.

Box Score: