Edwardsburg High School

Friday night at Edwardsburg in front of a near-capacity crowd, the Niles boys basketball team was just able to hang on down the stretch and pull out a three point win on the road. The Eddies maintained control of the game throughout the first half and well into the third, when the Vikings pulled even with the Eddies and the game took on the feel of a heavyweight bought as teams traded shots back and forth on each possession. Nothing came easy at either end but in the fourth quarter the Vikings began to build a lead and with 1 minute & 34 seconds left in the game, the visitors were up eight points (58-50) on the Eddies. That's when junior guard Blaise Crist, got the ball in the middle of the Viking defense and with defenders closing around him, kicked the ball out to Senior Maverick Gates who drilled a three pointer with 58 seconds left to cut the lead to five. A Michael Wright steal at mid-court on the Vikings following inbounds, gave the home team a shot to make it a one possession game. That's where Maverick Gates had the ball find its way back to him deep on the right wing but this time his three point attempt was just off and an Eddie foul sent the Vikings to the FT line with 30 seconds left where they converted one and saw the lead go back to six points (59-53). The Eddies pushed the ball up court where senior guard Michael Wright immediately found Gates again, cutting off a screen on the left side where he buried his third three pointer of the contest to draw the Eddies within reach. Following a home team time out, full court pressure from the Eddies, in front of a roaring Eddies student section, resulted in a tipped pass where Michael Wright beat several opponents to the ball and threw the ball off of a Viking player, giving the Eddies the ball back. With 14.7 seconds left and down three points, the inbound pass went to Blaise Crist who was fouled with 8.1 left in the game. The Eddies then inbounded the ball to Crist who caught it and passed to a cutting Liam Sieggreen on the right side. Covered, the sophomore guard immediately threw it back to Crist and cut into the defense, then back out as Crist got Sieggreen the ball where he let a shot go from deep on the right wing where it just hit the back of the rim and rolled around to the side, half in, and then back out as time expired. It was a great effort for Eddies who sit at 8-5 in the conference and 13-5 overall heading into the last week of the regular season. Blaise Crist and and Reed Gates led the Eddies with 16 and 14 points, while Maverick Gates added 9 and Law Gates 7 points. The Eddies play at home again on Tuesday as the Lancers from Lakeshore HS visit Edwardsburg. Tip off time is scheduled for 7pm following the freshman & jv games at 4 & 5:30