Roundup: Bobcats top Chieftains; Eddies upset Otsego

Published 2:11 pm Tuesday, February 14, 2023

By Scott Novak

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DOWAGIAC — Visiting Brandywine kept its Lakeland Conference boys basketball championship alive with a 67-36 win over Dowagiac last Friday night.

The Bobcats (14-1, 6-1 Lakeland) remain a game behind Benton Harbor in the standings with the two scheduled to play in Niles Friday night.

Brandywine did not overlook a Dowagiac team which was coming off snapping its 12-game losing streak in its previous contest. The Bobcats raced out to an 18-7 lead after one quarter and never looked back.

Brandywine led 43-10 at halftime and 58-24 heading to the fourth quarter.

“I am really happy with the effort,” said Brandywine Coach Nathan Knapp. “We have had some really great practices. We have been playing great defense. I love those kids. They sell out and do everything we ask them to.”

Knapp said his team may have lost a bit of focus to start the second half, but some of that was on him because they dialed back the defensive pressure as to not run up the school on Dowagiac.

“Those kids [Dowagiac] practice hard too, I am not one of those coaches that is going to do that,” he said. “But our kids have to be ready for that too. We always tell them there are two halves.”

Jamier Palmer scored 12 points to lead Brandywine, while Michael Palmer added 10 points and Nylen Goins nine points.

Dowagiac (2-14, 0-6 Lakeland) was led by Gianni Villalobos, who scored 13 points. Lamone Moore Jr. added 12 points and Isaiah Fitchett seven points.

“They [Brandywine] shot the ball really, really well tonight,” Dowagiac Coach Danum Hunt said. “I did not anticipate that. When a team is hitting like that and it is everybody, they are hard to stop and beat.”

 

Edwardsburg at Otsego

Brody Schimpa hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer as visiting Edwardsburg upset Wolverine Conference leader Otsego 48-46 last Friday night.

The Bulldogs came into contest the lone undefeated team in the league at 8-0. With the win, the Eddies close the gap between themselves and Otsego to one game as Edwardsburg improved to 7-2.

The Eddies jumped out to a 15-9 lead after one quarter, but trailed 27-24 at halftime. The Bulldogs (12-3) took a 38-33 lead into the final eight minutes of play, but was outscored by Edwardsburg 15-8.

Schimpa scored a game-high 20 points as the Eddies improved their record to 9-4. Mason Crist added 13 points.

Cooper Smalldon led Otsego with 14 points.

 

Niles at Sturgis

Visiting Niles squared its season record at 8-8 with a 54-35 win over Sturgis in Wolverine Conference action last Friday.

The Vikings jumped out to a 21-8 lead and was never challenged by the Trojans, who fall to 4-11 on the season. Niles led 31-16 at halftime and 43-21 after three quarters.

Mike Phillips scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Vikings, who also got nine nine points from Jayson Johnson.

Jacob Thompson scored 10 points to pace Sturgis.

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