By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
STEVENSVILLE—With his team playing for the first time in nearly three weeks following Christmas break, Otsego girls basketball coach Tony Koshar knew it might take some time to get into an offensive rhythm.
What he wasn’t expecting were struggles on the defensive side of the ball.
The Bulldogs allowed at least 11 points in each quarter—included 15 or more in two quarters—and suffered the 55-40 defeat at the hands of the Lancers.
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Otsego, which slipped to 5-2. The 55 points by Lakeshore was 11 more than any other team had scored against the Bulldogs this season.
“At the end of the night, I was disappointed in our defensive effort,” Koshar said. “We were not as connected as we had been before break. We struggled on the ball and when we got beat the help was slow to get there. Combine that with 21 turnovers and you have a recipe for defeat.”
Otsego struggled offensively to start the game, falling behind 13-3 before making it 15-9 at the end of the first quarter. The deficit remained at six before Aly Aldrich hit a buzzer-beater at halfcourt to pull the Bulldogs to within three at halftime at 26-23.
But Lakeshore used an 18-10 edge in the third quarter to push the lead to double digits and the Bulldogs were unable to recover.
Koshar praised the play of Brooke Smalldon, who tied Audrey Lingbeek for the team lead with eight points to go with 11 rebounds, six steals and three assists.
“Brooke had a great game,” Koshar said.
Tessa Prough and Aldrich added seven points each.