BROOKLYN, NY- Everywhere that Bishop Loughlin head coach Phinnigan Edwards has been its been year three that has been where everything begins to click. From his third year when he coached at Paul Robeson, to his third year with his AAU program the Brooklyn Stars it's been that third year where everything truly comes together.

It's now year three for Edwards at Bishop Loughlin and he was hoping that Saturday evenings opening game of the season against a good Harry Truman team from the PSAL at the Lion’s Den Classic would be the launching platform for another big third season.

That's exactly what happened as well as Ariel Jackson '22 finished with 23 points, while Phinnette Edwards '20 had 17 points including going 5-8 from behind the three-point line as the Lions raced out and never truly looked back in a dominating 59-42 victory over the Mustangs.

When Edwards was in his third year with his AAU team the Brooklyn Stars it was when this senior class at Loughlin now were all 8th Graders, and they won nearly every tournament there is to win around New York. Year three with Robeson they were two minutes away from playing for the PSAL championship at Madison Square Garden, and because it's now year three with the Lions, Edwards says expectations in his eyes are high.

"It's always been year three for me with the Brooklyn Stars, or with Robeson, and now hopefully it will be that way with Loughlin," Edwards stated. "We got a great crew here to make it happen."

Both teams struggled to get going in the opening quarter with it being nearly 3 minutes until the first basket was put in, but once Jackson was able to get going it was a more consistent offensive showing for Jackson as she had 6 in the opening quarter to help Loughlin to a 13-7 lead.

Truman didn't get off to the best start they could've and when Ariana Seawell '21 picked up her third foul midway through the second quarter she was forced to the bench meaning others would have to try and pick up the slack. Shakira Hester '20 did a good job at the basket on second and third chances to get within a point with under 3 minutes to go in the half, but that's when the girl they call "Buckets" got going.

Being the coach's daughter is never easy with expectations always a bit higher for you but Edwards scored the last 8 points off the second quarter including a pair of near NBA range three balls to give the Lions the momentum heading into halftime up 22-13 at the break.

Coming out of the locker room saw Loughlin continue to expand their lead as Seawell continued to sit for the Mustangs with her foul trouble. Kennedy Grady '22 was able to knock down her third three ball of the game as the lead ballooned up to 19 for the Lions before Truman finally put Seawell back into the game with just over 4 to go in the third.

With Seawell back on the floor it seemed that the Mustangs were doing a better job breaking the Loughlin press and that led to easier buckets up the floor for Truman as they closed the third on an 11-2 run to get within 36-26.

Even with a 10 point lead it wasn't anywhere near the performance to close out the quarter that Edwards wanted with the head man saying he felt that Truman was getting too accustomed to the pressure that the Lions were showing them, knowing at that point it was going to be instrumental to change things up if they wanted to stay on top.

"I think they got a little comfortable breaking our press there so we had to make an adjustment on that," Edwards explained. "We wanted to take away the inbounder in the fourth quarter and we wanted to play more of a diamond instead of the 2-2-1 we were playing and that ended up working well for us."

Well would be an understatement as against the new look defense that Bishop Loughlin began to show the Truman guards struggled to get the ball across midcourt. Turnover after turnover would occur and once again it was "Buckets", the coaches daughter who would put the game away with a couple more triples from the outside as she and Jackson down the stretch carried the day.

A 10 point lead after three expanded on the back of a 14-2 run to begin the fourth as the shots from the outside fell in a big way for Bishop Loughlin down the stretch as in their Lion’s Den Classic is was the Lions showing those in New York City that they are a team to reckon with this season, easily cruising past one of the PSAL finalists from a year ago in Truman 59-42 to take the season opener.

Leading all scorers was Jackson as she had 23 points, with Edwards adding 17, and Grady scoring 11 in the win for Loughlin, while in the loss for Truman it was Seawell who in just 18 minutes because of foul issues scored 21 points in a strong effort.

Year three for Edwards at Loughlin got off to as strong and impressive a start as he could've hoped for with his belief in this team extremely high as he hopes this is just the start of his Lions setting out to prove themselves to be among New York's best this season.

"They have been playing for years now a little undergirled if that's a word but I think we have all the pieces here now. It's year three for one of my teams again and we really are coming together so yes I do think it's our time," Edwards said with a smile.