By By JEFF FISHER / Vigilant/Argus
EDWARDSBURG - The Edwardsburg Eddies put together the right mixture of defense, a dominant inside game, as well as a three-point attack that led to a 91-48 thrashing of Constantine Saturday night at Edwardsburg High School.
The first quarter opened with both teams exchanging back-to-back three-pointers. By the end of the first quarter, both teams had hit four three-pointers each, with the Eddies taking a 22-18 lead.
An up tempo offense and a tough inside game was the theme for the second quarter, as the Eddies used their inside muscle and quickness. The Falcons did not give up, as they were able to close the gap to nine points. The Eddies took a 39-30 lead into the locker room.
The Eddies came out of the locker room with all guns blazing, featuring a third quarter scoring explosion. They outscored the Falcons 27-7, by stepping up their intensity, with offensive rebounding, excellent perimeter shooting, and creating turnovers that led to easy fast break lay ups converting into points. The Eddies led 66-37 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter consisted of much of the same, including a six-point play for the Eddies. By then the Eddies had already sealed the victory.
Nick Roth led the Eddies with 26 points, 13 in the first quarter, and 11 during the third quarter outburst. Doug Shuttleworth added 16, and Anthony Hayes netted 12.
The Falcons were led by Kyle Kline with 11. Sean Wolf with 10, and Aaron Baker and Jeff Nihart each with nine points.
In their first two games for the season, the Eddies have outscored their opponents 176-104.
The Eddies will now embark on a four game road trip beginning with New Buffalo on Tuesday night. They will return home again Jan. 4 to host River Valley in a conference matchup.
The Eddies junior varsity team also posted a 50-34 victory over Constantine in which was played earlier.
CONSTANTINE 48
Sean Wolf 4 1-2 10, Kyle Kline 4 0-0 11, Aaron Baker 3 0-2 9, Matt Stears 2 2-4 6, Tom Ray 1 0-2 2, Brad Smagala 0 1-2 1, Nick Hale 0 0-1 0, John Nellum 0 0-0 0, Jeff Nihart 4 0-0 9, Josh Russell 0 0-0 0, Bill Bell 0 0-0 0, Jason Switalski 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 4-13 48.
EDWARDSBURG 91
Steve Gowen 3 0-0 9, David Daniels 3 1-1 8, Branden Muszynski 0 0-0 0, Pat Huggett 0 0-0 0, Robbie Sevison 0 4-6 4, Tony Hayes 5 2-3 12, Doug Shuttleworth 5 5-5 16, Nick Roth 10 2-5 26, Matt Horvath 4 0-0 8, Alex Antoniu 0 0-2 0, Ted Pietrzak 0 0-0 0, Rick Finley 2 0-0 4, Zac Rooney 2 0-1 4. Totals: 34 14-23 91.
Constantine 18 12 7 11 - 48
Edwardsburg 22 17 27 25 - 91
Three-point baskets: Wolf (C), Kline (C) 3, Baker (C) 3, Nihart (C), Gowen (E) 3, Daniels (E), Shuttleworth (E), Roth (E) 4. Total fouls: Constantine 17, Edwardsburg 12. J.V. score: Edwardsburg 50, Constantine 34. Varsity records: Edwardsburg 2-0, Constantine 0-1
Edwardsburg…52
New Buffalo…53
NEW BUFFALO - Edwardsburg tasted defeat for the first time this season as host New Buffalo held the high-scoring Eddies offense in check.
Edwardsburg, which was averaging better than 85 points a game after two contests, were held under 60 in a 53-52 non-conference loss.
Edwardsburg (2-1) led 19-18 after the first period, while the two teams were tied at 32 at halftime.
The Eddies grabbed a two-point lead (46-44) after three periods of play, but were unable to hold on.
The Bisons (2-1) outscored Edwardsburg 9-6 in the final eight minutes to pull out the victory.
Nick Roth, who scored 26 points in Edwardsburg's victory over Constantine on Saturday night, finished with a game-high 19 points.
Edwardsburg also got 15 points from Doug Shuttleworth and nine points from Zac Rooney.
New Buffalo was led by Chris Bullard's 18 points. Bryan Rogel added 12 points.
EDWARDSBURG 52
Steve Gowen 0 0-0 0, David Daniels 0 0-0 0, Branden Muszynski 1 0-0 2, Pat Huggett 0 0-0 0, Robbie Sevison 0 0-0 0, Tony Hayes 3 0-0 6, Doug Shuttleworth 6 1-1 15, Nick Roth 7 4-5 19, Matt Horvath 0 1-2 1, Alex Antoniu 0 0-0 0, Ted Pietrzak 0 0-0 0, Rick Finley 0 0-0 0, Zac Rooney 4 1-2 9. Totals: 21 7-10 52.
NEW BUFFALO 53
Dominic Cortese 0 0-0 0, Brian Adamec 3 0-0 7 , Bryan Rogel 6 0-0 12, Sean Baker 2 0-0 4, Connor Lijewski 3 1-1 8, Chris Bullard 8 2-2 18, Jordan Topinka 0 0-0 0, Matt Parker 2 0-2 4. Totals: 24 3-5 53.
Edwardsburg 19 13 14 6 - 52
New Buffalo 18 14 12 9 - 53
Three-point baskets: Shuttleworth (E) 2, Roth (E), Adamec (NB), Lijewski (NB). Total fouls: Edwardsburg 14, New Buffalo 13. Varsity record: Edwardsburg 2-1