OTSEGO, Mich. — After the program's first Wolverine Conference loss since December 8, 2017 against Paw Paw last week, the Otsego boys basketball team is dialing back in.
The Bulldogs had to battle for a full 32 minutes to hold off crosstown rival Plainwell on Monday night, 50-47 the final.
Jakson Dentler led the way for the Bulldogs with 17 points while fellow senior Trae Knight added 15.
"Going into this game we always know it's going to be a close one due to recent history," said Dentler, "we all know each other."
It was a back-and-forth fourth quarter after the Trojans took a 44-42 lead with 5:10 left in the game on a three-pointer from sophomore Nick Marlow.
However, Knight would respond with a go-ahead bucket and Dentler would add two late free throws while the Trojan attempt to tie was unsuccessful in the final seconds.
"It's always super intense, it doesn't matter what your record is or what's going into the game, it's a rivalry, there's always so much energy," Knight added.
And head coach Matt Dennis says he's proud of his team and their ability to adapt to a tough gameplan.
"We haven't had many games like this," Dennis admitted, "Plainwell had a great gameplan against us, to have to come out and try to kill some clock, we didn't make free throws, everything to keep them in the game, we did but we'll learn from this."
The Bulldogs improve to 5-1 in conference play as they look for a fourth consecutive Wolverine title.
