By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
OTSEGO—A strong first half helped carry the Otsego girls basketball team to the 44-31 win over visiting Niles in the opening game of Wolverine Conference play on Friday, Dec. 6.
The Bulldogs, who evened their record at 1-1 following a 53-28loss to Portage Cen-tral three days earlier, led 10-4 after one quarter and 26-11 at halftime.
“We came out and pres-sured Niles with some suc-cess in the first half,” Otsego coach Tony Koshar said. “That helped us build that 15-point lead.”
The third quarter didn’t go quite as well for Otsego, which was outscored 7-2 and saw its lead cut to 28-18.
Niles narrowed the gap to seven points in the final frame, but a 6-for-6 effort at the free throw line by Audrey Lingbeek helped secure the victory for Otsego.
“We’re a young team this year, and as part of our growing pains we came out a little flat in the third quarter give Niles some hope,” Koshar said. “They didn’t get closer than seven, but too many turnovers and missed shots kept them in the game.
“We did do a nice job of closing the game out, as Audrey Lingbeek really stepped up at the line when Niles was forced to foul.”
Tessa Prough and Madden Fitzpatrick tied for team-high honors with 11 points. Prough also had 12 points for the double-double.
Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, added team highs of four steals, two blocks and two assists.
“Madden Fitzpatrick had a good all-around performance with 11 points with a lot of nice stats,” Koshar said.
Lingbeek added nine points.
In the loss to Portage Cen-tral, the game got away from Otsego in the middle two quarters.
Down just 11-8 after the opening frame, the Bulldogs trailed 23-11 heading to halftime and were down 41-15 after three quarters.
That span included a 16-0 run by Portage Central, which scored the final eight points of the first half and the first eight point of the second half.
“Some silly turnovers led to most of the points during the run,” Koshar said. “We are really young and it was evident that six of the nine available girls were seeing their first varsity action.”
Peyton Johnson led Otsego with 10 points, followed by Reagen Engbers with seven points and six rebounds. Fitzpatrick led the team with seven rebounds.
