By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
EDWARDSBURG—The Otsego girls basketball team fell behind early in its Wolverine Conference clash with Edwardsburg on Friday, Feb. 9, and never fully recovered.
The Bulldogs fell behind 15-8 after one quarter and eventually fell by a 50-28 final score.
“As the final score shows, points were hard for us to come by,” Otsego coach Tony Koshar said. “We were even more shorthanded than normal with some sickness going around and although we battled hard, we just couldn’t sustain anything.”
Trailing 36-26 after three quarters, Otsego still had hopes of a mounting a late comeback. But the Bulldogs were limited to two points in the final frame to seal their fate.
“We went ice cold in the fourth, which led to the lopsided final score,” Koshar said. “But I told the girls I was proud of the effort and the way we have dealt with all of the adversity thrown at us this year.”
Audrey Lingbeek scored 11 points to pace Otsego, while Brooke Smalldon and Hannah Fitzpatrick added seven each. Smalldon also had 10 rebounds.
On Tuesday, Feb. 6, Smalldon and Tessa Prough each scored 17 points to lead Otsego past Marshall.
“It was a really good night us as Marshall has been playing some good basketball as of late,” Koshar said.
The Bulldogs jumped out to leads of 13-4 after one quarter and 26-14 at halftime. But Marshall made a run in the third quarter, using a 25-13 advantage to knot the score at 39-39.
The teams exchanged leads several times in the final frame, but a layup by Fitzpatrick put Otsego up 52-51. The Bulldogs tacked on a pair of free throws to secure the win.
In addition to her points, Smalldon had 11 rebounds for the double-double. Lingbeek added eight points, with Olivia Dennis going for five points and seven rebounds.