AUGUSTA – Mt. Ararat did all it could to stop Edward Little’s Bo Leary, but it just wasn’t enough Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.

Leary poured in 28 points to lead the No. 3 Eddies to a 65-48 win over the Eagles in an Eastern Class A quarterfinal.

“That guy’s a stud,” Mt. Ararat Coach Aaron Watson said. “We designed an entire defense to stop the guy, and he goes off for 28 points.”

The Eagles (10-9) tried to use 2-3 zone defense to keep Edward Little’s guards from getting the ball inside to Leary. That worked for a time, but Mt. Ararat couldn’t keep the 6-foot-4 senior off the boards.

Leary dominated the offensive rebounding and even put back a few of them for points. When Leary didn’t score, he often was fouled and connected on 14 of 16 free throws.

It was the Eddies’ third win of the season over the Eagles.

“Ararat played really well, I thought,” Edward Little Coach Mike Adams said. “They lost to us twice and we knew they were going to do different things. I thought their zone was effective, and it took our post (play) away. But we responded.”

The Eagles may have made it tough on Edward Little on the defensive end, but they couldn’t do much against the Eddies’ tight man-to-man defense, especially during the first half.

The Eddies forced the Eagles to commit seven turnovers during the first quarter, enabling them to take an early 14-8 lead.

Less than three minutes into the second quarter, Tim Mains hit his second 3-pointer of the game and Leary converted an offensive rebound to start a 11-2 run that propelled Edward Little to a 29-15 lead at the end of the first half.

“We tried to muck it up on defense, show different looks,” Watson said, “but the bottom line: If you can’t score you can’t win games.”

Mains, who sank three 3-pointers, finished with 14 points for the two-time defending regional champions.

Mt. Ararat’s Josh Walker scored 17 of his 23 points during the second half as the Eagles tried to rally.

“We knew we had to step up on (Walker),” Leary said. “He’s a big threat. I think we did a good job on that, but he hit some crazy shots. He’s going to do that because he’s a great player.”

Edward Little’s experience playing at the Civic Center made a difference in its approach to the game.

“Over the past two seasons, we’ve played more games on this floor than we have any other floors in our conference with the exception of our own,” Adams said. “This is not new to (the players), so they don’t play nervous or uptight.”

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com