By Travis Smola
The Vicksburg defense bent but didn’t break in an especially physical road matchup with Conference rival Three Rivers.
Ultimately, the Bulldogs came away with a 55-47 win of the year. The Wildcats took an early lead at the start of the contest, as the first few minutes were a defensive struggle. Ultimately, the Bulldogs took a 10-9 lead after the first. That was the narrowest lead Vicksburg had in the whole game. They never relinquished the lead after that.
One key to the game was the Bulldogs’ improved free-throw shooting, an area in which they struggled last season. The Wildcats’ physical play style came back to bite them as Vicksburg made 13 free throws.
Anthony Marchese was responsible for three free throws on his way to a team-leading 13 points. Mitchell Beyer wasn’t far behind him with 10 points. He scored five of those from the free-throw line.
The Wildcat defense seemed to key in on Jordan Diekman early in the contest, but he still came away with nine points. Lucas Johnson had seven points, and Brady Young knocked down a couple of three-pointers. Austin Androsky and Donnie Yant each had four points. Gage Schiedel rounded out the Bulldogs’ scoring with a field goal.
Vicksburg led 39-28 at the half, but Three Rivers strongly surged in the second half. However, the Wildcats seemed unable to cut the lead to less than five or six points. Every time they got a run going, it was short-lived.
Three Rivers eventually cut the lead to 51-44 with about a minute and a half remaining in the game. They were ultimately forced into intentional foul mode, but the Bulldogs converted most of the subsequent free throws, leaving no room for a late comeback.
The Bulldogs are 3-5 at the winter break. They started off the season 2-0 with strong 72-54, and 76-47 wins over Otsego and Dowagiac. Their record evened to 2-2 after challenging games against Paw Paw and Niles. After Three Rivers, Vicksburg dropped three straight games to Battle Creek Pennfield, Stevensville Lakeshore, and Plainwell.
