COLDWATER — Defensive coverage and clutch free throw shooting helped Edwardsburg beat Vicksburg 49-36 in the semifinals of the Coldwater Class B District girls basketball tournament Wednesday.

The Eddies (14-7) will play Coldwater (14-8) in the district championship at 7 p.m. Friday.

“We knew they wanted to get the ball in the post and in the first half we defended that really well,” Edwardsburg coach Jon Pobuda said after his team played Vicksburg for the third time in 2015-16 (splitting two regular-season contests). “They had four 3s in the first half — three in the first quarter — and we talked about contesting (3-point shots) and trusting our bigs (Brayden Curits and Noelle Kraus) to do their job.

“Both of them did a fantastic job of just being there for each other and switching when they were coming across and fronting the post. They followed the game plan.

“Defensively, we did a great job on the perimeter and we did a great job in the paint. Defense wins and we did a nice job of being where we were supposed to be and doing our job.”

The game was close throughout the first half. The biggest differential in the first quarter was a 12-7 by the Eddies. Neither team led by more than two in the second period and the score was 20-all at halftime.

Edwardsburg scored two quick baskets — a driving layup by Kaitlyn Zarzycki followed by a steel by Zarzycki and dish to Alexa Markel for a lay-up — to give the Eddies a 24-20 lead in the first 35 seconds of the second half and never trailed the rest of the way.

After taking a 32-26 lead into the fourth period, the Eddies took advantage of getting in the bonus then double bonus and made 13-of-16 foul shots in the fourth quarter, including 9-of-10 by Savannah Dixon.

“The girls had a little chip on their shoulder tonight,” Pobuda said. “They really wanted this game and they’re looking forward to the next one.”

Dixon finished with a game-best 17 points (10 in the fourth quarter) while Kraus canned 10 (six in the second half) and Zarycki nine (five in the second half).

The Bulldogs (11-10) were led offensively by Layna Steele with 14 points (10 in the first half with three 3-pointers), Alicia Cagney nine (seven in the first half) and Grace Welch eight (six in the second half).

Coldwater beat Three Rivers 45-33 in Wednesday’s other semifinal.

 

EDWARDSBURG 49, VICKSBURG 36

At Coldwater

EDWARDSBURG 49

Brayden Curtis 2 2-2 7, Noelle Kraus 3 4-5 10, Savannah Dixon 3 10-14 17, Kaitlyn Zarycki 4 1-4 9, Alexa Markel 2 0-0 4, Michaela Ritschard 0 0-0 0, Gabi Fonseca 0 0-0 0, Chloe Bartz 0 0-0 0, Samantha Ekanayake 0 2-2 2. TOTALS: 14 19-27 49.

VICKSBURG 36

Amy Kosiba 0 0-0 0, Kennedy Nabozny 2 0-0 4, Layna Steele 4 3-4 14, Raquel Rice 0 0-0 0, Olivia Holmes 0 0-0 0, Taylor Dent 0 1-2 1, Grace Welch 4 0-0 8, Alicia Cagney 3 2-2 9, Grace Stock 0 0-0 0, Makayla Harris 0 0-0 0, Carly Debault 0 0-0 0, Faith Morris 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13 6-8 36.

Edwardsburg           12       20       32       49

Vicksburg                 10       20       26       36

3-point baskets: Edwardsburg 2 (Curtis, Dixon); Vicksburg 4 (Steele 3, Cagney). Total fouls (fouled out): Edwardsburg 11 (none), Vicksburg  (Kosiba). Technical fouls: Vicksburg (bench). Shooting: Edwardsburg 14-of-44 for 31-percent, Vicksburg 13-of-40 for 32-percent. Rebounding: Edwardsburg 23 (Curtis 6, Kraus 4, Dixon 4, Zarycki 4); Vicksburg 26 (Steele 5). Turnovers: Edwardsburg 15, Vicksburg 19. Varsity records: Edwardsburg 14-7, Vicksburg 11-10.