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BLUE ASH — A slow start doomed the Middies early as Middletown dropped a Greater Miami Conference contest Saturday night at Sycamore. The Aves controlled from the opening tip and held on for a 61-53 win.

"The biggest key was to keep their big guy off the boards and we didn't do that," said Middletown coach Bob Ronai.

DeAnte Johnson led Sycamore with 25 points, with several of his buckets coming off of offensive rebounds.

Not to take anything away from the Aviators, but Middletown's biggest opponent on this night was itself. Costly turnovers and missed opportunities prevented the Middies from making a serious threat until the fourth quarter. After they were able to cut the lead to six points with five minutes to play in the game, the Middies missed easy shots and threw the ball away.

"Every time we forced a turnover in the last five minutes, we turned it back over," Ronai said. "We tried too much to make the perfect play instead of just making the simple play. We have to work so hard to force teams into turnovers, then we hand it right back to them. It's frustrating."

Ronai continues to tinker with his starting lineup, putting four sophomores on the court to open the game.

"Terell Ramsey I thought did a great job in his first start for us," Ronai said.

Sophomore Bill Edwards scored 13 points for the Middies. Junior Phillip Barnett came off the bench to lead the team with 14 points.

The Middies were held scoreless for the first six minutes of the game, trailing 11-0. After Ronai called a timeout, his team went on quick run to close the quarter down only 11-6.

"In the first half, we were not matching Sycamore's intensity," Ronai said. "We can't seem to get our kids pumped up to match our opponent's intensity. Sycamore outhustled us."