EDWARDSBURG — Edwardsburg couldn’t have asked for a better start to its boys basketball season.

The Eddies improved to 2-0 on Friday after rolling past Three Rivers, 72-46, in Wolverine Conference action.

It was the second straight impressive win for Edwardsburg, which cruised to a 65-32 win over White Pigeon on Tuesday.

Eddies coach Dan Gunn didn’t expect a letdown from his team after the White Pigeon win.

“I really think that this group isn’t going to have (a letdown) problem,” said Gunn. “We have enough depth that if one guy is a little down somebody is going to be there to pick him up. That’s going to make this team a little bit better for us.”

Along with depth, Gunn can count on standout guard Josh Kozinski. Kozinski, who has signed to play next year at Central Michigan University, scored 30 points, including five 3-pointers, and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Eddies against the Wildcats.

“That’s just a normal Josh game,” Gunn said about Kozinski, who scored 18 points against White Pigeon. “He has a sweet stroke. He missed some shots that he would normally make. But, it’s neat to coach a player like that. He also has a lot of assists. He finds the open guy and is willing to give the ball up to open people. It’s fun to watch him play.”

Gunn had fun watching his team at the start against Three Rivers. Edwardsburg made seven of its first eight shots in jumping out to a 15-5 lead with 3:58 left in the first quarter. That lead continued to grow as the Eddies led 21-7 after the first quarter and 27-10 after getting a layup from Grant Szalewski with 5:45 left in the second quarter.

“I thought that we did a good job of finding the open man and then hitting the shot,” Gunn said. “We did a good job defensively getting up in their face. We did a better job, early, rebounding. Later on, in the game, their big guy (Connor Smith) was pretty tough inside.”

Three Rivers shot only 30 percent (18-of-60) from the field and were outrebounded by Edwardsburg, 41-26.

Edwardsburg finished the first half on a 7-0 run, which gave them a 36-18 halftime lead. The Wildcats never got closer than 16 points in the second half. The Eddies led by as many as 28 points in the second half.

Off the bench, Dante Razzano scored 12 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for the Eddies. Patrick Harvey and Jason Schimpa each added eight points.

“I heard (Edwardsburg) had some really good shooters,” said first-year Three Rivers coach Mike Carhart. “I underestimated their ability to drive and kick the ball, which they did just phenomenally.”

The game marked the debut in the Wolverine Conference for Edwardsburg. Gunn was asked about making the move from Lakeland Conference to the Wolverine Conference.

“I knew that tonight would be important because we were playing Three Rivers and then we got Otsego on Tuesday night,” Gunn said. “(Otsego) might be one of the better teams in the Wolverine. On Tuesday night we’ve got to be on top of our game.”

Brady Reeves scored 15 points and and Smith added 13 to lead Three Rivers, which fell to 0-2.

Three Rivers returned three starters from last year’s team, which finished 7-16.

“We’re still getting to be a cohesive unit out there,” Carhart said.

 

THREE RIVERS 46

Brady Reeves 15, Anderson Goff 2, Conner Smith 13, Corry Brown 2, Alex Cottingham 11, Ryan Satkoski 0, Kyle Walczak 0, Kendall James 1, Austin Pratt 2. TOTALS: 18 7-13 46

EDWARDSBURG 72

Josh Kozinski 30, 8, Eric Richardson 5, Matt Griesinger 2, Jason Schimpa 8, Dylan Hulett 0, Jackson Gaideski 3, Dante Razzano 12, Grant Szalewski 2, Joe Queener 2. TOTALS: 25 15-19 72

 

Three Rivers 7 18 38 46

Edwardsburg 21 36 57 72

3-point goals: Three Rivers 3 (Reeves), Edwardsburg 7 (Kozinski 5, Razzano 2). Total fouls (fouled out): Three Rivers 15 (Corry Brown), Edwardsburg 14 (none). Shooting: Three Rivers 18-of-60 for 30-percent, Edwardsburg 25-of-55 for 45-percent. Rebounding: Three Rivers 26 (Smith 7), Edwardsburg 41 (Razzano 7). Turnovers: Three Rivers 7, Edwardsburg 9.