Edwardsburg boys, girls sweep rival Dowagiac

Published 11:56 am Saturday, February 5, 2022

By Max Harden

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EDWARDSBURG — Sixty-one proved to be the magic number for the Edwardsburg boys and girls basketball teams against visiting rival Dowagiac Friday night.

Both teams scored 61 points as the girls won 61-20 to remain undefeated, and the boys earned a 61-47 victory.

The girls overcame a slow start to the game. Leading 20-10 at halftime, the Eddies outscored the Chieftains 41-10 to run away with their ninth win by more than 40 points.

Macey Laubach led the team with 14 points, while Caitlin Tighe and Kenzie Schaible scored nine points apiece. Alanah Smith led Dowagiac with nine points.

“In the first half, we had a hard time knocking down shots,” said Edwardsburg Girls Coach Jon Pobuda. “I think we shot 26 percent. While we didn’t shoot particularly well, we played good defense. Our bench came in the second quarter and provided a spark for us, and in the second half, we were able to knock down some shots and I think that was the difference. We were able to get some of those outside shots to fall.”

Dowagiac falls to 2-13 on the season and will look to get back in the win column against Allegan at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Eddies aim to remain undefeated when they host Plainwell at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.

The Eddies controlled the paint on the boys side and used a solid second half to overcome the Chieftains.

Jacob Pegura scored a team-high 21 points for the Eddies, who left by as many as 17 in the game.

A Henry Weller basket trimmed the Chieftains’ deficit to 49-40 in the fourth, but the Eddies responded with an 8-0 run to pull away.

“We didn’t play well tonight,” said Dowagiac Boys Coach Danum Hunt. “We never really got in rhythm offensively and defensively, we lost some assignments. We got beat on the boards. We just didn’t show up tonight, and they outplayed. They wanted more.”

Edwardsburg JV Boys Coach Todd Tighe, who is replacing Head Coach Steve Wright due to illness, was proud of his team’s defense on Henry and Cole Weller. Henry finished with a team-high 21 points and Cole had six after battling foul trouble.

“We had great guard play,” he said. “We had great pressure on the Weller twins tonight, which I think is key to stopping Dowagiac. They’re two great players; Henry’s probably the best player in the conference, and I don’t know what he got tonight, far less than what he’s been scoring. The defensive ever effort kind of set the tone and we were able to control the paint inside and get a lot of and -one’s in there.”

Edwardsburg improves to 9-4 overall and is 4-2 in the Wolverine Conference South Division, a half-game behind Three Rivers, which is 4-1. The Eddies face Plainwell at 7:15 p.m.

“That’s a big game for us,” Tighe said. “I think right now we’re probably tied with Three Rivers on our side of the division. We’ve got to go up there and we’ve got to be mentally prepared because that’s could be a battle.”

Dowagiac will try to pick up its eighth win of the season when it travels to Allegan at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.

“We’ve been resilient all year,” Hunt said. “I believe we’ll just go back to the journal and we’ll come ready for next week, and hopefully, we can finish out this season strong.”

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