By John Raffel
Correspondent
PAW PAW — Paw Paw’s boys basketball team defeated Edwardsburg 57-52 on Jan. 15.
Paw Paw had quarter leads of 14-11 after the first quarter and 39-38 after the third. The Red Wolves trailed 29-23 at halftime.
For Paw Paw, Truman Brennan had 17 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal.
Kaelin Tate had 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and eight steals.
Caden Bowen had 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and one steal
Barron Marinich had 6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and four steals.
“The Red Wolves came out firing in the first quarter,” coach Aaron Beery said. “We struggled a little through the last four minutes of the second quarter which allowed the Eddies to catch up and take the lead going into half time. The Red Wolves came out and let their defense do the talking in the 2nd half. They caught and passed the Eddies leading by as much as 10 until some late shots by the Eddies pulled it to the final margin.
Otsego beat visiting Paw Paw 59-49 on Jan. 17. Paw Paw led 20-18 after the first but trails 33-30 and 39-36 after the next two quarters
Truman Brennan had 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
Caden Bowen had 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and three steals
Barron Marinich had 8 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
“The Red Wolves fall in this one to Otsego, a team we have not beat since 2021,’” Beery said. “We did not come out with the same effort, energy, or intensity that we did on Wednesday and it cost us. We were out worked and out hustled by a hungry opponent who is eager to turn their season around. We allowed Otsego to shoot 28 free throws and missed 23 layups which led to the loss.”
The Red Wolves are now 9-2 on the season and 6-2 in the Wolverine Conference (2nd Place) with lots of games ahead. Paw Paw will be back in action on Tuesday Jan. 21 at Hackett Catholic Prep (9-3).
