By SCOTT NOVAK
Niles Daily Star

DOWAGIAC – A 23-4 run to open Monday night’s Class B District basketball game allowed St. Joseph to roll on to a 76-56 win over Edwardsburg in the first game of a doubleheader.

In the nightcap, Lakeshore rallied to defeat Dowagiac 46-43.

The Bears now advance to Wednesday night’s semifinal where it will take on Buchanan at 7:30.

The Lancers will face Berrien Springs in the first game on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Edwardsburg vs. St. Joseph
Kaitlin Mavis scored a game-high 25 points, including four 3-pointers as St. Joseph defeated Edwardsburg with ease.

The Bears used that 23-4 run to start the game, which led to a 27-8 advantage after one period of play.

The Eddies did play better in the final three quarters of the game, but the damage had already been done by that point.

Edwardsburg actually outscored St. Joseph in the second quarter 13-11 to trim the lead to 38-21 at the intermission, but the Eddies were never able to seriously threaten the Bears’ advantage in the final 16 minutes of play.

The Bears were able to increase their lead by three points in the third quarter and took a 58-38 advantage into the final period.

Both teams finished with 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Besides Mavis, St. Joseph also got double digit efforts from Erika Priebe with 12 and Lindsay Peirce with 11.

Sarah D’Amico paced the Eddies with 16 points. Emily Kozinski and Rachel Vite both finished with 14 points.

EDWARDSBURG 56
Rachel Vite 5 4-5 14; Leslie Boyles 0 0-0 0; Emily Kozinski 4 4-4 14; Jill Blough 0 0-1 0; Sarah D’Amico 6 2-4 16; Ashley Streb 4 0-2 8; Mariah Murphy 1 0-0 2; Brandi Fleischaur 0 0-0 0; Brooke Portwood 1 0-0 2; Heather Phillips 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21 10-16 56
ST. JOSEPH 76
Alesya Schalk 1 0-0 2; Christina Valentine 3 0-0 8; Leanne Priebe 3 1-6 7; Lindsay Peirce 3 4-4 11; Kaitlin Mavis 9 3-4 25; Courtney Caid 0 0-0 0; Sydney Weisser 0 0-0 0; Jasmine Williams 2 1-2 5; Erika Priebe 5 1-2 12; Hayley Knuth 2 2-4 6. TOTALS: 28 12-22 76

Edwardsburg 8 21 38 56
St. Joseph 27 38 58 76
3-point baskets: Edwardsburg 4 (Kozinski 2, D’Amico 2), St. Joseph 8 (Valentine 2, Peirce 1, Mavis 4, E. Priebe 1). Total fouls: Edwardsburg 16, St. Joseph 15. Fouled out:  None. Varsity records: Edwardsburg 11-10, St. Joseph 14-7

Dowagiac vs. Lakeshore
For the second time this season the Chieftains and the Lancers played a nail biter.

Lakeshore edged Dowagiac 51-50 earlier in the year, but on Monday night, the Lancers had to rally from an early deficit to defeat the Chieftains 46-43.

Lakeshore didn’t lead in the contest until there was just 2:26 remaining in the game.

The Lancers’ Kaitlin Cornwell connected on a 3-pointer to give Lakeshore a 42-41 advantage.

Dowagiac would answer with its final basket of the game 13 seconds later as Torie Lowe lobbed a pass over the top of the Lakeshore defense for Britnee Allerton, who caught the ball and scored with 2:07 showing on the game clock.

Lakeshore then reclaimed the lead for the final time with 1:54 to play and then added one more insurance basket in the closing seconds to earn a trip to the district semifinals on Wednesday.

The Chieftains (7-14) got off to a great start against Lakeshore.

Dowagiac scored the first five points of the contest on a 3-pointer by Lowe and a bucket by Allerton off an assist from Lowe.

Following a Lakeshore basket by Cam Tyler almost three minutes into the contest, Dowagiac scored the next four points to take a 9-2 lead after Allerton scored her third straight basket.

Allerton finished the quarter with eight of her game-high 16 points. She also grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds.

Dowagiac would open up a 13-4 advantage on the Lancers before Lakeshore finished with a flurry to cut the lead to 15-10.

The Chieftains continued to play well in the second quarter as Lowe connected for five points and Allerton scored four more to help Dowagiac build a 29-21 halftime advantage.
Lakeshore came out in the second half and began to whittle away at the Chieftains’ lead.
The Lancers scored the first six points of the third quarter to cut the lead down to two points, 29-27.

The Chieftains put together a bit of offense late in the period and ended up with a 37-31 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

Dowagiac was unable to hold off the Lancers as it managed just six points in the period, while giving up 15 to Lakeshore.

The Chieftains finished with three players in double figures as Lowe finished with 10 and Kaisha Martin 10.

Stephanie Eagle led the Lancers with 14 points, while Christina Welch finished with 12 points.

DOWAGIAC 43
Cierra Mattix 0 0-0 0; Marcie Ennesser 0 0-0 0; Torie Lowe 3 6-9 14; Kaisha Martin 4 2-3 10; Andrea Bradshaw 0 0-0 0; Katie Lorenz 1 0-0 3; Britnee Allerton 8 0-0 16; Breneesha Jones 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16 8-12 43
LAKESHORE 46
Emily Lamanna 0 0-0 0; Kaitlin Cornwell 2 2-4 7; Regan Gollehur 0 0-0 0; Heather Gosse 0 0-0 0; Lindsay McNair 0 0-2 0; Cam Tyler 3 1-2 7; Christina Welch 6 0-1 12; Taylor Maas 2 1-2 6; Stephanie Eagle 6 2-7 14; Colleen Carlson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19 6-18 46

Dowagiac 15 29 37 43
Lakeshore 10 21 31 46
3-point baskets: Dowagiac 3 (Lowe 2, Lorenz 1), Lakeshore 2 (Cornwell 1, Maas 1). Total fouls: Dowagiac 16, Lakeshore 14. Fouled out: Ennesser (D). Varsity records: Dowagiac 7-14, Lakeshore 6-15