By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
RICHLAND—Sophomore Hannah Fitzpatrick joined seniors Kaitlyn Payseno and Cali Miller to form quite the terrific trio for the Otsego girls basketball team in its non-league game against Gull Lake on Tuesday, Feb. 1.
Those three Bulldogs combined for 45 points as Otsego claimed the 54-46 win, improving to 13-2 in the process.
“It was a good win for us against the type of team we have struggled against earlier in the year,” Otsego coach Tony Koshar said. “Gull Lake was tall and athletic, starting two 5-10 girls and a 5-11 girl.”
Fitzpatrick led the offensive charge with 17 points, followed by Payseno with 15 and Miller had 13. Payseno and Miller also tied for team-high honors with six rebounds, while Miller had five assists and four steals to lead in those categories.
The second quarter proved to be the difference, as Otsego used a 17-6 scoring edge to snap what had been a 6-6 deadlock at the end of the first quarter.
“We had a great second quarter and that ultimately was the difference,” Koshar said. “We really locked down defensively in the first half and started attacking the basket, which led to free throw opportunities and we took advantage.”
Indeed the Bulldogs did take advantage of those chances at the line, going 21-of-26 as a team.
Fitzpatrick went 7-of-7 at the charity stripe, while Payseno went 5-of-6 and Aly Aldrich went 5-of-7.
Gull Lake held a 34-31 scoring edge in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Otsego’s halftime lead.
“They picked up their pressure game in the second half and we did a nice job of countering with smart decisions that led to layups,” Koshar said.