Washington's Edwards gets the message

NAFECE EDWARDS liked Important Message No. 2 from coach Calvin Jones, of George Washington High's basketball team, a whole lot better than No. 1.

Completely understandable, since the first put him into mothballs and the second removed him.

Fresh off a 2-week stretch of academic ineligibility, Edwards yesterday totaled 22 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals as the Eagles topped visiting Abraham Lincoln, 49-42, in the preliminary round of the Public League Class AAAA playoffs.

"Coach told me the bad news right before I was going to suit up for our game with Strawberry Mansion," Edwards said. "It not only hurt me to have that happen, but I was worried about how it would be hurting our team.

"Then, when I came to practice [Monday], coach only said to me, 'You're OK for tomorrow.' No real explanation past that. I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I thought he might use me off the bench since I hadn't been playing. But he let me start and that meant a lot to me."

Edwards, a 6-3, 170-pound junior swingman, shot 6-for-11 (two treys) and 8-for-13. Two of his buckets were posted on dunks and the second headlined the game-winning burst.

Washington trailed, 42-41, with 1 minute, 49 seconds remaining. Edwards then hit two free throws, turned a steal into a wolf-down ("The crowd went crazy," he said), and dished to William Davis for a layup.

"I feel I can do it all," Edwards said. "I can put the ball on the floor and shoot it. In the second half, Lincoln was playing 3-2 or 1-2-2 zones and I was looking to penetrate, so I could drop it down low or kick it back out for jumpers. If they didn't play me, I created my own shot."

During his inactivity, well, Edwards was very active.

"I practiced every day," he said. "Since I wouldn't be out there for the games, coach had me working with the second-line guys so I could push them real hard and make them better.

"For the games, I'd go into the stands and be the No. 1 fan or stay right there on the bench. I'd say little things that I thought would help my teammates and then make suggestions in the halftime room. We cut back on the rotation a little today, but those bench guys did a great job when I was out."

Kendale Truitt added 14 points, 11 rebounds and three apiece of assists/steals for the Eagles, while Davis had eight points, six rebounds and three blocks.

For Lincoln, Michael Bowlers hustled for nine points, 14 boards and three blocks and Ismail Wilson tallied 15 points.

Though Edwards lived near 17th and Brown in his youth, his home base for going on 5 years has been Torresdale and Cottman. Basketballwise, he hopes to feel at home in uniforms forever.

"Not playing was very tough," he said. "My grades were fine in the beginning of the season, but then they went down and down. If you want to do something with basketball, you have to do your schoolwork. I really get it now."