By SCOTT NOVAK
Dowagiac Daily News

In a showdown between two of the Wolverine Conference’s top scorers, Molly Sleeman and the visiting Otsego girls’ basketball team defeated Torie Lowe and Dowagiac.

Sleeman scored a game-high 27 points as the Bulldogs defeated the Chieftains 56-47 despite 25 points from Lowe.

A quick start proved to be the difference for Otsego, which improved to 11-5 overall and 9-5 in conference play.

The Bulldogs grabbed a 20-9 first quarter lead, which included a 7-0 start, and cruised home to the victory.

Dowagiac (5-12, 5-10 Wolverine) chipped away at the lead throughout the contest, but never seriously threatened Otsego’s advantage.

The Chieftains trailed 34-20 at halftime and 45-29 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Chieftains did manage to outscore the Bulldogs 18-11 in the final eight minutes to cut the final margin of victory to nine points.

Sleeman was consistent throughout the contest. She opened up with eight points in the opening quarter and added six in the second, seven in the third and finished with six in the fourth.

Lowe finished strong for Dowagiac with 11 points in the final quarter. She netted five in the first, four in the second and five in the third period.

No other players from either team reached double figures.

Kelsey Kuipers had nine points and Jamie Ross eight points for the Bulldogs.

Katie Lorenz and Kaisha Martin finished with eight and seven points respectively for the Chieftains.

Dowagiac will travel to Vicksburg on Friday night.

OTSEGO 56
Taylor Smith 1 1-2 3; Shannon Nichols 2 0-0 5; Jamie Ross 4 0-0 8; Molly Sleeman 12 1-2 27; Hannah Stevenson 0 0-0 0; Shelby Slaughter 0 0-0 0; Charity Potter 0 0-1 0; Kim Moran 0 0-0 0; Alice Tiller 1 0-2 2; Renee Marcum 1 0-1 2; Kelsey Kuipers 2 5-6 9. TOTALS: 23 7-14 56
DOWAGIAC 47
Cierra Mattix 0 0-0 0; Marcie Ennesser 0 0-0 0; Torie Lowe 7 8-11 25; Kaisha Martin 3 1-1 7; Andrea Bradshaw 1 0-2 2; Katie Lorenz 3 1-4 8; Krista Green 0 0-0 0; Britnee Allerton 1 1-2 3; Breneesha Jones 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 16 11-20 47

Otsego 20 34 45 56
Dowagiac 9 20 29 47
3-point baskets: Otsego 3 (Nichols 1, Sleeman 2), Dowagiac 4 (Lowe 3, Lorenz 1). Total fouls: Otsego 14, Dowagiac 14. Fouled out: None. Varsity records: Otsego 11-5, 9-5 Wolverine; Dowagiac 5-12, 5-10 Wolverine