By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
OTSEGO—With less than a minute to play in the first half, the Wolverine Conference North boys basketball contest between Otsego and Vicksburg couldn’t have been any closer. Literally.
The teams were locked in a 22-22 tie after going back and forth throughout the opening half.
But Otsego scored the final five points of the second stanza and carried that momentum into the second half as it claimed the 69-43 win.
The win was the third in a row for Otsego (8-4) after dropping two of its three previous games.
“We started a little slow against Vicksburg and we didn’t take care of the ball,” Otsego coach Matt Dennis said. “Once we got organized against their press, we found good shots and were able to get our defense set.”
The senior duo of Jacob Zartman and Ashton Atwater combined for 41 points to nearly match the offensive output of Vicksburg. Zartman led with 23 points.
Carson Miller gave Otsego a third double-digit scorer with 12 points courtesy of four 3-pointers.
Kalei Bryant, Cooper Smalldon and Andrew Chambers added three points each, with Tyler Norris, Kyle Lingbeek and Blake Marks going for two each.
“Overall, I thought we played a tremendous defensive game,” Dennis said. “Off the bench, we received great minutes from Carsen Miller and Kyle Lingbeek on the offensive end and Andrew Chambers came in and was really solid on defense.”
Otsego put the game out of reach in the third quarter, outscoring Vicksburg 29-10 to take a 56-32 lead.
The win came without starting forward Sam Bronkema, who has been nursing an injury.
“The team is going in the right direction and I’m excited to get Sam back soon to see just how good we can be with a complete roster,” Dennis said.