Otsego girls’ basketball coach Tony Koshar was hoping for an early Christmas present in the form of a victory when his team hosted St. Joseph on Thursday, Dec. 21.
St. Joe had other ideas.
Doing their best Grinch impersonation, the Bears held a scoring advantage in every quarter as they handed the Bulldogs a lump of coal in the form of a 49-33 setback.
Koshar knew St. Joe would pose a challenge for team.
“St. Joe is a quality opponent and the length at the top of their zone really bothered us,” he said.
At the same time, much of the damage done to Otsego was self-inflicted, as turnovers were an issue for the Bulldogs throughout the game.
“We have to value the basketball more,” Koshar said. “We committed 27 turnovers and most of them were of the silly variety and led to breakaway baskets.”
Otsego also had some issue on the defensive end.
“We had a lot of confusion on defense, which led to easy baskets on their offensive sets,” Koshar said. “That is ultimately on me as a coach. I need to do a better job of preparing our team.”
Offensively, Jaycie Callaway and Mattison Rayman each had nine points to tie for team-high honors in the scoring department. Rayman also snagged five rebounds and came up with three steals to lead the Bulldogs in both of those categories.
Callaway added four rebounds.
Otsego trailed 13-9 after one quarter and 25-19 at the end of the first half. The deficit stood at 34-25 entering the final period.
Although disappointed with the loss, Koshar still sees much to like about his team as it relates to the remainder of the season.
“We’re still trying to find our way and I’m optimistic that we will be a really good team as the season progresses, we get healthy and all of our players are eligible,” he said.
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