It was youth versus experience when the girls’ basketball team from Otsego hosted Plainwell on Friday, Jan. 17.
Chalk one up to experience.
With a roster that features eight seniors, the Trojans held the seniors-less Bulldogs to single digits in each quarter en route to the 45-28 victory.
The win kept Plainwell unbeaten in the Wolverine Conference North at 4-0, while upping its overall record to 6-2.
“We obviously had a huge advantage when it came to experience and I thought we did a good job of exploiting that,” Plainwell coach Tim Rieman said. “I was really happy with the way we played defensively. We really got after it on that end of the floor.”
Senior Alivia TerMeer led the defensive charge for the Trojans, coming up with nine steals. She also had seven points, seven rebounds and six assists as part of a strong overall performance.
“Liv is a difference-maker,” Rieman said. “She can do so many things to help us.”
The loss dropped Otsego to 3-6.
“We knew we were going to have our hands full coming into this game,” Otsego coach Tony Koshar said. “During the past several years, we’ve been the more experienced team in this rivalry. Now the pendulum has swung in the other direction when it comes to that and the tables have been turned a little bit.
“We were going to have to play a nearly perfect game to beat them and we weren’t able to do that.”
After the team’s exchanged baskets to open the game—Plainwell getting a bucket from Paige Timpe and Otsego getting one from Olivia Stam—the Trojans went on an 8-2 scoring run to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Vannessa Robinson scored the first four points of that Plainwell run as part of her game-best 16-point effort. All but two of those points came in the first half as the Trojans took a 25-12 lead to halftime.
“Vannessa was huge for us,” Rieman said. “She hit some big shots, especially early.”
Plainwell got its lead to double digits at 18-8 on a basket from Rebecca Gibson midway through the second quarter. Otsego used a 3-pointer to cut the deficit back to single digits at 21-12 later in the stanza, but Gibson responded with a triple of her own to stop any potential momentum shift.
“(Otsego) made a few little runs at us, but each time we were able to answer,” Rieman said. “That was good to see.”
Otsego kept the score closer in the second half, getting outscored by only two points in each of the final two frames. Taking better care of the ball was a key to that improved play.
“We had 16 turnovers in the first half and we cut that to eight in the second half,” Koshar said. “We just gave away too many possessions in the first half. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. That’s what killed us.”
Stam matched Kendra Vanderlugt for team-high honors with six points for Otsego, with Ava Davis and Kaitlyn Payseno adding five points each.
Gibson finished with eight points to place second on Plainwell’s scoring list behind Robinson. Timpe and 21 each had six points.
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