A slow start was too much for the Dowagiac girls basketball team to overcome Tuesday night.

Visiting Buchanan outscored Dowagiac 40-19 through the first three quarters on its way to a season-opening 51-29 non-conference victory over the Chieftains.

Dowagiac trailed Buchanan 8-0 early in the first quarter before the Bucks hit a bit of a drought themselves.

The Chieftains’ lone basket came from Jensis Green, who finished with a team-high 13 points.

Buchanan (1-0) and Dowagiac (0-1) played pretty evenly through the first five minutes of the second quarter before a late surge by the Chieftains closed the gap to 17-10 at the half.

It was all Buchanan in the third quarter as the Bucks outscored Dowagiac 23-9 to open up a 40-19 advantage heading to the final stanza.

Like the second quarter, the two teams were competitive in the final eight minutes, but this time there was no late surge by the Chieftains to close the gap.

Brooke Wesner led all scorers with 14 points for the Bucks, who also got 12 points from Jade Mosier.

Asyria Geegan and Riley Daly both had four points for Dowagiac, which hosts South Haven in its Wolverine Conference West Division opener Thursday night.

 

BUCHANAN 51, DOWAGIAC 29

BUCHANAN 51

Brooke Wesner 14, Chelsey Bennett 4, Selicia Jones 2, Sammy Luzadre 1, Ali Kyle 2, Jayla Bibbs 9, Nikki Mucha 0, Jade Mosier 12, Myeshia Mayo 2, Antoinette Moore 5. TOTALS: 21 7-16 51

DOWAGIAC 29

Taylor Hulett 2, Angel Parker 4, Jensis Green 13, Asyria Geegan 4, Alyssa Allen 0, Mara Nelson 2, Vivi Lucio 0, Riley Daly 4, Olga Dickson-French 0. TOTALS: 12 5-16 29

 

Buchanan 8 17 40 51

Dowagiac 2 10 19 29

3-point baskets: Buchanan 2 (Wesner 2), Dowagiac 0. Total fouls (fouled out): Buchanan Buchanan 19 (none),, Dowagiac 13 (none). Varsity records: Buchanan 1-0, Dowagiac 0-1