By Travis Smola
The Vicksburg varsity boys’ basketball team is off to a bit of a rough start in its 2022 campaign. The team is 1-5 through their first five games with their only victory coming on a nail-biting 65-64 victory over Paw Paw at home.
The other games haven’t been close against Schoolcraft, Charlotte, Niles, and Three Rivers. However, the boys didn’t go down without a fight against their rivals the Wildcats on the road. Grant Anderson was the leading scorer for the Bulldogs with 11 points and some key rebounds in the contest. Three of his points came on free throws. R.J. Vallier was the next highest scorer with eight points, six of those coming from threes.
Carter Brown, Garrett Schramer both had six points in the contest. Austin Androsky and Luke Bainter had four. Gabe Ryder had a single three. Cohen Carpenter had two, and Cody Hatridge and Lucas Johnson both had a single free throw to round out the scoring.
Despite the final score, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead in the first by about six points before Three Rivers came roaring back. From there, the Bulldogs had a hard time matching the speed and rebounding ability of the Wildcats.
Vicksburg lost their last game before the break against Plainwell 53-40. However, the good news is that the boys will have a chance to get some of those wins back after winter break is over. The first three games include winless Portage Northern before they face off against 2-2 Sturgis.