By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
NILES—With a road win over Niles on Friday, Jan. 31, the Otsego girls basketball team would remain in second place in the Wolverine Conference standings behind Vicksburg.
A loss? Well, that would drop the Bulldogs into fourth place.
Fortunately for Otsego coach Tony Koshar and his team, it was the first of those scenarios that played out as the Bulldogs secured the 45-37 victory.
The win moved Otsego to 8-5 overall and 6-2 in league play. Vicksburg maintained its place atop the conference at 8-1, with Edwardsburg and Paw Paw tied for third place at 6-3.
“We had to overcome a little adversity tonight, but we got it done,” Koshar said.
The adversity stemmed from the fact that both senior Tessa Prough and sophomore Brooke Smalldon found themselves in foul trouble early in the third quarter.
Prough eventually fouled out a couple of minutes into the fourth quarter. That helped Niles cut what had been a 35-27 Otsego lead at the end of three quarters to five points.
But the Bulldogs executed down the stretch and hit some free throws to put the game away.
Smalldon led the charge at the line, finishing 7-of-7 for the evening. That accounted for more than half of her team-topping 13 points.
Smalldon also had six rebounds.
Audrey Lingbeek joined Smalldon in double figures with 10 points to go with five rebounds and three steals.
Madden Fitzpatrick chipped in with four points and, even more importantly, a team-topping 12 rebounds.
“Those rebounds including a couple of huge offensive rebounds down the stretch to keep possessions alive,” Koshar said.
Otsego led 26-12 at halftime.
“We got off to a solid start and really clamped down in the second quarter to build a nice lead,” Koshar said.
The road win was the second of the week for the Bulldogs, who stepped outside of league play to defeat Gull Lake 43-28 on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
Otsego held a 11-7 lead after one quarter, pushing that advantage to 29-14 at halftime and 37-18 entering the final frame.
“After a little bit of a slow start, we picked up the pace and started to pull away in the first half,” Koshar said. “We slowed down the pace a little bit in the second half as we had some girls a little under the weather and a couple of injuries we were dealing with.”
Prough had a huge game, collecting the double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. She also had three blocks to match Mya Engbers for team-high honors in that category.
Smalldon joined Prough in double-digit points with 11.
“The girls are playing hard and really playing great defense,” Koshar said.
