EDWARDSBURG — What was expected to be a showdown for the Wolverine Conference championship turned out to be a blowout last Thursday night.

The defending league champion Eddies took advantage of poor shooting by visiting Otsego to blow out the Bulldogs 55-30 for its second consecutive league title.

It was close through the first two quarters with Edwardsburg (18-1) leading 23-14 at halftime.

Edwardsburg defensively appeared to frustrate the Bulldogs early on.

“Our defense set the tone,” Edwardsburg coach Jon Bobuda said. “They are a lot longer than use and bigger than us. We just need to make sure we took care of the ball and did the things we needed to do. It all starts with our defense. We got pressure on them early.”

The Eddies exploded for 32 second-half points and put the game away midway through the third quarter.

Edwardsburg led 44-24 heading into the final eight minutes of the contest.

Despite a slow start, junior point guard Kaitlyn Zarycki scored a game-high 20 points, which included her surpassing the 1,000 point plateau early in the fourth quarter.

“While Zarycky was held in check for most of the first three quarters, Abbey Krugh, Claire Bartz and Erzebet Widman helped put the Eddies out in front of the Bulldogs and kept them there.

Krugh finished with 12 points, of which nine came on 3-pointers, Bartz finished with 10 points and Widman contributed six points off the bench.

“Abby can go all game without scoring and then she will knock a shot down for us,” Pobuda said. “It always seems to be at a moment when we need her. Erzebet came in off the bench and did some good things offensively and defensively. In that first half when we had girls in foul trouble she came in and did an excellent job.”

The Eddies defeated Berrien Springs 59-37 last Friday night.

Zarycki had 24 points, while Krugh had 10 and Widman eight.

The Eddies faced Paw Paw in the district opener Wednesday.