By By DON EDEN / Edwardsburg Argus
NILES – Another gym in the area had the battle for first place in the Lakeland Conference, but the players, coaches and fans at Brandywine watched a fought hard for sixth place.
All seniors started for the Bobcats (7-12; 4-9) and a trio of classmates replaced three teammates, three minutes into the game with the score knotted at seven apiece.
The eight Brandywine hoopsters left the home court for the final time with a 51-35 victory over the Eddies.
Edwardsburg (4-15; 3-10) turned the ball over a single time in the first quarter and trailed only 14-12 until the first pass of the second stanza was intercepted by Bobcat Doug Rockett, who quickly increased the lead with a layup.
Danny Williams hit a trey with 4:30 on the clock to increase Brandywine's advantage to 21-12 until a missed Williams missle at the end of the half was rebounded by Caleb Frazier, who turned under the basket to left hand two points at the buzzer for a 26-17 intermission score.
"After the first quarter I was disheartened by the lack of concentration and lack of executing fundamentals properly," Edwardsburg mentor Steve Austin said. "It was nice to see Korey Moore play better though because of illness."
Moore, a senior, shot the ball with success on all four attempts to lead the Eddies with 10 points and seven were before halftime. Williams had all but one of his points before the half and finished eight to lead Brandywine.
Rebounding missed shots were controlled by the hosts as they increased a 13-3 advantage after two periods to 29-10 for the game.
Matthew Harvey and Frazier each had five caroms in the first half, with Noah Udell pulling down seven rebounds after intermission.
"All the kids made me real happy with how they rebounded and played hard," Bobcat coach Nathan Knapp stated. "We are starting to get in the right direction with a lot better shot selections by being more patient."
The closest the Eddies could achieve to threaten Brandywine was 33-25 with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter, but Brandywine netted 15 of 21 shots inside the arc to dissolve any threat.
"Except for John Rosol, we didn't battle hard for any rebounds," Austin concluded.
Bill Bussey led the Bobcats with eleven markers and made all but one charity tosses out of six attempts.
"The team is together as one and with hard work can take it as far as possible in the tournament starting next week," an optimistic Knapp noted.
Brandywine also won the junior varsity contest by a 52-41 conquest, with junior Dominique Pompey pumping in 15 points for the victors. Sophomores Daniel Holston and Zach Eggleston of Edwardsburg scored 14 and 11 points respectively, with DaKoda Udell assisting Pompey with eight tallies.
The frosh game went to the Eddies, 39-29, with Chad Tevlin scoring 10 points for the winners. Dustin Sater, Joe Godfrey and Jason Andrews contributed with eight, seven and six points respectively for the Bobcats.
EDWARDSBURG 35
Brian Sevison 2 0-0 5, Mike Rangel 2 1-2 6, Korey Moore 4 0-0 10, John Rosol 0 1-2 1, Matt Boesler 0 0-2 0, Adam Young 1 1-2 4, Brent Shuttleworth 0 2-2 2, Derrick James 0 1-2 1, Corey Johnson 1 2-2 4, Jake Harroff 0 2-2 2, Nick Muir 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 10-16 35
BRANDYWINE 51
Bill Bussey 3 5-6 11, Matt Harvey 3 1-4 7, Caleb Frazier 4 0-0 8, Noah Udell 0 0-0 0, Josh Benjamin 2 1-2 5, Danny Williams 3 1-2 9, Doug Rockett 2 3-4 8, Jacob Frazier 1 0-0 2, Lance Prescott 0 0-0 0, Shane Bankston 0 1-2 1. Totals: 18 11-20 51.
Edwardsburg 12 5 9 9 – 35
Brandywine 14 12 9 16 – 51
3-point baskets: Williams (B) 2, Rockett (B), Moore (E) 2, Rangel (E), Young (E), Sevison (E). Total fouls: Edwardsburg 15, Brandywine 21. Fouled out: J. Frazier (B)