Sturgis High School junior Chance Stewart has already signed with the University of Wisconsin to continue his football career.

Edwardsburg found out on Monday that Stewart is also a pretty good basketball player.

Stewart scored 32 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to lead the Trojans past the Eddies, 54-39, in Class B district opening round action at Edwardsburg High School.

“Too much Chance Stewart,” said Edwardsburg coach Dan Gunn, whose team finishes at 15-6. “Whew, he’s a man. He does a nice job inside.”

Defensively, Sturgis used a variety of defenders to shut down Edwardsburg standout Josh Kozinski. Kozinski was held to a season-low 10 points with eight of those points coming in the second half. Kozinski, who has signed to play basketball next year at Central Michigan University, came in averaging 24 points a game.

“Just a lot of physical contact,” Gunn said about Sturgis’ defensive approach against Kozinski. “That was the way the game was called.”

The 6-foot-5 Stewart scored Sturgis’ first 10 points in the game as the Trojans, who never trailed in the game, jumped out to a 12-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“We just needed to be more physical and (Stewart) was just a load inside and we were just a step late getting up on him,” Gunn said. “He had his arms on us and he got control of us.”

Edwardsburg did its best defensive job on Stewart in the second quarter as he was held to one point and Sturgis missed 13 of its 16 shots in the second quarter.

“We switched up and put Eric (Richardson) on (Stewart),” Gunn said. “(Richardson) has a little more length and I think that helped us a little bit.”

That defense helped the Eddies trail only 19-14 at halftime. Patrick Harvey’s two free throws for Edwardsburg with :01.5 left were the final points in the first half. The Eddies missed 13 of their 17 shots in the first half.

“We just missed a couple shots there,” Gunn said.

Edwardsburg pulled within 19-16 on a basket from Harvey 10 seconds into the third quarter, but the Eddies weren’t able to get any closer the rest of the way.

An 11-3 run by the Trojans to start the fourth quarter gave Sturgis a commanding 43-29 lead with 3:35 left in the game. Stewart’s three-point play off a rebound basket highlighted that run. Stewart grabbed the rebound in between two Edwardsburg players.

Sturgis made five of its six shots and went 12-for-14 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Stewart made all nine of his free throws in the fourth quarter. Edwardsburg went 3-for-21 from the field in the fourth. For the game, the Eddies shot 21-percent (11-for-51) from the field.

“We missed some shots that we normally make,” Gunn said. “They just didn’t go in the basket.”

Dante Razzano came off the bench to score 10 points for the Eddies, who were also outrebounded, 36-23.

“(Stewart) would shoot and get his own rebound because he was so physical and aggressive,” Gunn said. “We didn’t have an answer for that.”

Gunn reflected on his team’s season after the game and the loss of Kozinski, who finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer for a career with 1,575 points.

“This was a great group of seniors,” the Eddies coach said. “They kind of brought a little bit of respect back to Edwardsburg basketball. I’m proud of them for that and I’ve enjoyed working with them. You know 15-6 is nothing to hang your head about.

“(Kozinski) has been a positive influence on the other players. He’s helped a lot of people along the way and that’s a pretty good start for a young man and his life.”

 

STURGIS 54

Chance Stewart 32, Eduardo Portillo 6, Carl Limburg 3, Tyler Bennett 2, Patrick Haas 5, Jalen Cox 4, Jack Scheske 2, Tyler Ater 0, Kerry Vaughn 0. TOTALS: 18 17-22 54

EDWARDSBURG 39

Josh Kozinski 10, Patrick Harvey 6, Matt Griesinger 4, Eric Richardson 3, Jason Schimpa 4, Jackson Gaideski 2, Dante Razzano 10, Dylan Hulett 0, Joe Queener 0, Grant Szalewski 0. TOTALS: 11 15-19 39

 

Sturgis 12 19 32 54

Edwardburg 4 14 26 39

3-point goals: Sturgis 1 (Haas), Edwardsburg 2 (Kozinski, Richardson). Total fouls (fouled out): Sturgis 17 (Bennett), Edwardsburg 21 (none). Shooting: Sturgis 18-of-40 for 45-percent, Edwardsburg 11-of-51 for 21-percent. Rebounding: Sturgis 36 (Stewart 20), Edwardsburg 23 (Harvey 5). Turnovers: Sturgis 18, Edwardsburg 11