From staff reports

DOWAGIAC – The perimeter shooting of the Dowagiac boys’ basketball team has been outstanding the past two games, both victories for the Chieftains.

Last Friday night, Dowagiac drained 11 3-pointers in a victory over Paw Paw.
On Tuesday night, the Chieftains connected on 10 triples in a 57-44 Wolverine Conference victory over visiting Plainwell.

Dowagiac had just four 2-point baskets in the contest, but it didn’t matter.

When the Chieftains weren’t hitting the open player for a 3-pointer, Dowagiac was headed to the free throw line where it connected on 19-of-23 attempts.

“We’re starting to learn how to win,” Dowagiac coach Danum Hunt said. “We are learning how to value the ball more. We only had nine turnovers tonight and that’s a season low for us.”

If there was one flaw in Tuesday night’s victory is was on the defensive glass where Dowagiac gave up way too many second chances.

Fortunately for the Chieftains, Plainwell wasn’t very adept at putting the ball back in the basket off of those chances.

Dowagiac (6-13, 6-11 Wolverine) was in control most of the night.

The Chieftains opened up a 10-point advantage after the first quarter, 14-4, but were outscored by the Trojans 21-15 in the second quarter as Plainwell cut the deficit to 29-25.

Dowagiac regrouped at halftime and came out and stretched its advantage in the third quarter as freshman Dontel Highsmith tossed in a pair of 3-pointers, while Jason Turner and Tremail Butcher also knocked down triples to help the Chieftains open up a 45-35 advantage heading to the final quarter.

“We have been working in practice on finding the open guy and knocking down the shots,” Hunt said. “We work hard every day working on shooting. We work on becoming consistent and finding the open guy and hitting him in rhythm. That’s starting to come together for us late in the season.”

Dowagiac put the game away at the free throw line in the final eight minutes.

The Chieftains hit 9-of-13 charity stripe tosses in the fourth quarter.

Highsmith finished with a game-high 20 points, including four 3-pointers. Turner added 12 points on four 3-pointers, while Chris Craft and Butcher both chipped in with seven points, which included a 3-pointer each.

Billy Roberts scored 12 points to lead Plainwell before fouling out.

He was the only Trojan to reach double figures.

Dowagiac will wrap up the regular season Thursday night when it hosts Comstock. The Chieftains will then open up Class B District Tournament action on Monday night in Buchanan against St. Joseph and former Dowagiac coach Greg Blomgren.

PLAINWELL 44
Justin Debroyne 3 0-0 7; Michael Tomak 3 1-2 8; Kyle Areaux 0 0-0 0; Keaton Adams 1 2-3 4; Billy Roberts 6 0-4 12; Matt Carrier 1 1-2 3; Mason Goostry 3 0-0 6; Zach Oheran 0 0-0 0; Seth Vincent 0 0-0 0; Zach Verhage 1 0-0 2; Adam Meier 1 0-2 2; Adam Tustin 0 0-0 0; Tyler Tran 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19 4-13 44
DOWAGIAC 57
Dontel Highsmith 5 6-7 20; Andrew Cripe 0 0-0 0; Jason Turner 4 0-0 12; Chris Craft 2 2-2 7; Tremail Butcher 1 4-6 7; D.J. Hunt 0 0-0 0; Pierre Reed 1 0-0 2; Darius Wilson 1 2-2 4; Cody Cox 0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 14 19-23 57

Plainwell 4 25 35 44
Dowagiac 14 29 45 57
3-point baskets: Plainwell 2 (Debroyne 1, Tomak 1), Dowagiac 10 (Highsmith 4, Turner 4, Craft 1, Butcher 1). Total fouls: Plainwell 18, Dowagiac 16. Fouled out: Roberts (P).
Varsity records: Plainwell 8-11, 6-11; Dowagiac 6-13, 6-11 Wolverine