PAW PAW — Battle-tested was the word used by coach Steve Wright for the year the Edwardsburg boys basketball team had.

The Eddies faced another battle in the opening round of the Class B district at Paw Paw as they took on Wolverine Conference South Division foe Three Rivers.

Edwardsburg and Three Rivers each other twice during the season with Three Rivers winning both games by a combined 11 points.

Ultimately, the Eddies did all they could Wednesday night, but came up short in an 49-48 overtime loss to the Wildcats.

The first quarter had both teams trading baskets with the Wildcats taking a 14-13 lead at the end of the frame.

Three Rivers’ Tanner Blyly had five of his 20 points in the opening eight minutes.

Using some key Edwardsburg turnovers, Three Rivers opened up to a 25-21 lead at halftime.

Edwardsburg senior Dante Razzano had five points and eight rebounds in the first half.

Still down by four points at 35-31 starting the fourth quarter, the Eddies used a 3-pointer from Razzano with four minutes left to tie the game 40.

Ninety seconds and three offensive rebounds later, fellow Eddies’ senior Nate Brown made a free throw to give Edwardsburg its first lead since the opening quarter.

Then things started getting interesting.

Three Rivers scored quickly to take the lead back before Edwardsburg senior Jon Albrecht scored his only basket of the night to give the Eddies the advantage once again.

A Wildcat free throw and an Eddies’ turnover gave Three Rivers the opportunity to win it at the buzzer.

Blyly was unable to make the basket as time expired.

The Eddies’ Adam Kozinski got the scoring started in overtime with his second 3-pointer of the game, giving Edwardsburg a 46-43 lead.

Three Rivers did not waste any time reclaiming the lead back with two quick baskets before Razzano scored his 14th point of the game.

Blyly gave the lead back to Three Rivers on a floater with five seconds left.

With no more timeouts left, Razzano fired a ball to Brown and he was fouled on the layup attempt with 0.5 seconds remaining.

Brown was unable to convert and Three Rivers advanced to the district finals Friday.

“This was a game that featured two tough teams,” Wright said. “Games like these are difficult to take. We came back in this game. But I couldn’t be more proud of these guys.  High school basketball is a long season and these kids faced tons of adversity. This was a battle-tested season. These seniors played their hearts out in tonight’s game. Next year it is the younger guys turn.”

The Eddies finished their season at 11-10, while Three Rivers moves to 14-7.

 

EDWARDSBURG 48, THREE RIVERS 49

At Paw Paw

Edwardsburg 48

Jon Albrecht 1 2-5 4, Dylan Layher 0 0-0 0, Dante Razzano 6 1-2 14, Cameron Ekanayake 0 0-0 0, Chase Tarwacki 3 0-0 6, Tre Harvey 0 0-0 0, Shane Montoya 0 0-0 0, Shane Streb 3 3-4 9, KeVon Taylor 0 0-0 0, AJ Rosebush 0 0-0 0, Ryan Pabreza 0 0-0 0, Adam Kozinski 3 0-0 8, Ben Robertson 0 0-0 0, Nate Brown 3 1-4 7, Zach Plummer 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19 7-13 48.

Three Rivers 49

Cameron Cottingham 4 0-0 8, Tanner Blyly 8 2-3 20, Sam Hawkins 0 0-0 0, Austin Wright 0 0-0 0, Alex Minger 0 0-0 0, Esden Stafne 0 0-0 0, Tate Ellifritz 1 0-0 3, Gavin Golembiewski 0 0-0 0, Carson Charvat 1 0-0 3, Max Chapman 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Smith 0 0-0 0, Adam Reed 2 3-4 8, Tirrell Hausmanis 3 1-4 7. TOTALS 19 6-11 49.  

 

Three Rivers                         14            25            35            43            49

Edwardsburg                        13            21            31            43            48

3-point baskets: Edwardsburg 3 (Kozinski 2, Razzano 1), Three Rivers 5 (Blyly 2, Ellifritz 1, Charvat 1, Reed 1). Rebounds: Edwardsburg 32 (Razzano 13, Brown 5), Three Rivers 29 (Cottingham 7, Blyly 6, Hausmanis 6). Assists: Edwardsburg 10 (Albrecht 2, Razzano 4), Three Rivers 13 (Blyly 3, Reed 6). Steals: Edwardsburg 13 (Albrecht 2, Razzano 2, Streb 2, Kozinski 3), Three Rivers 5 (Blyly 2). Blocks: Edwardsburg 6 (Razzano 3), Three Rivers 4 (Ellifritz 2, Reed 1). Turnovers: Edwardsburg 15, Three Rivers 15. Fouls (fouled out): Edwardsburg 11(none), Three Rivers 15 (none). Varsity records: Edwardsburg 11-10, Three Rivers 14-7.