By By MICHAEL BASHARA / Niles Daily Star
BRANDYWINE -- The Edwardsburg basketball team defeated Brandywine 70-58 in Lakeland Conference action on Friday night.
Phil Bretschneider scored first to put Edwardsburg up 2-0 on the Eddies' first possession. They held a lead for most of the game.
Brandywine took its only lead of night, at 3-2, when Danny Rauch hit one free throw. From that point on Edwardsburg went on a 7-0 run with Nick Roth and Derek Tighe joining Bretschneider with the scoring.
In the second period, Edwardsburg put on a press that gave Brandywine fits. The Eddies got good balanced scoring in the second period as they outscored Brandywine 24-13 to take a 39-26 lead into halftime.
In talking about the press, Brandywine coach Dave Sidenbender said, "Our decision making hasn't changed all year. We've seen tougher pressure than that and not turned the ball over."
The third quarter was played to an 8-8 tie with neither team generating much excitement.
In the fourth quarter, the Eddies opened up a 25-point lead at 67-52 with less than two minutes to go. Then each team emptied its bench, and the Bobcats put on a little run. Casey Udell had four baskets in the fourth quarter with one being a 3-pointer. Gene McDonald also hit a three in the fourth period.
Actually Brandywine didn't hit a 3-pointer until the final period. In the first half the Bobcats were 0-of-6 from 3-point land. Brandywine also had a lot of unforced turnovers in the first half.
The Eddies scored more consistently on each possession. They got a lot of offensive rebounds and second shots. The Eddies also hit 2-of-7 from the 3-point line in the first half.
Edwardsburg also won the junior varsity game, 59-26. Chris Casey scored 11 for Brandywine.
The freshmen game was won by Brandywine, 52-42. Matt Duckett had 17 points for Brandywine's freshmen, and Cody Smith added 13 points.
Brandywine travels to Berrien Springs on Tuesday with the freshmen game starting at 4:30 p.m.
Edwardsburg….70
Brandywine……58
Edwardsburg: Chris Nugent 0 2-2 2, Derek Tighe 5 1-2 11, Ryan Haines 0 0-0 0, Robbie Sevison 0 0-0 0, Nathan Peak 2 0-0 5, Phil Bretschneider 4 11-14 19, Nick Roth 8 2-3 20, Matt Horvath 0 0-0 0, Anthony Peak 0 0-0 0, Rick Finley 0 0-0 0, Zach Rooney 3 0-0 6. Totals: 24 17-23 70
Brandywine: Mike Nagey 1 0-0 2, Andy Low 4 5-6 13, Casey Udell 7 1-2 16, Gene McDonald 3 0-0 7, Alex Newman 1 0-0 2, Mike Beauchamp 3 2-4 8, Matt Weiger 0 0-0 0, Zach Bennett 1 0-0 2, Danny Rauch 2 2-5 6, Justin Sobecki 0 0-0 0, Brett Shoemaker 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 10-17 58
Edwardsburg 15 24 8 23--70
Brandywine 13 13 8 24--58
3-point shooting: Edwardsburg 3 (Roth 2, N. Peak), Brandywine 2 (Udell, McDonald). Team Fouls (fouled out): Edwardsburg 18 (none), Brandywine 17 (none). Team records: Edwardsburg 7-9 (4-7 Lakeland), Brandywine 4-12 (2-9)