Dowagiac basketball coach Danum Hunt called the Chieftains’ 71-58 Wolverine Conference non-divisional boys basketball game “ugly.”

That is probably because Dowagiac turned the ball over too much and missed 19 free throws on a night when it shot 39 of them.

“This game to me was ugly pretty much all the way around,” Hunt said. “We started out doing some good things. We got some inside baskets. We had some good inside cuts and made some things happen.

“Then for some odd reason, the guys went away from what worked. I didn’t go away from it. I was calling for it the entire time from the sidelines. Sometimes, I guy kids get it in their minds what they want to do. That is discipline. We need to work on our discipline.”

The Chieftains were to put enough plays together early to get out in front of the Wildcats.

Dowagiac (3-0) led 22-18 after one quarter, but was outscored 14-13 in the second quarter as Three Rivers cut the lead to 35-32 at the intermission.

In the second half, the Chieftains found the range from outside, forced enough turnovers to slowly pull away from the Wildcats.

Dowagiac took a 51-42 lead into the final quarter and then outscored Three Rivers 20-16 to earn the victory.

“One positive out of tonight was that we were young coming into the season, but I did see they did have a little fight tonight,” Hunt said. “When we needed to make some things happen at the end, they picked up the intensity and played with a little pride.

“We got some finishes, the ball bounced our way a couple of times and we pulled out the win.”

Brandon Winchester-Jones after a slow start, got hot in the second half and finished with a game-high 23 points. Dowagiac also got 16 points from Leroy Lewis and nine points from Daquan Brooks.

Tate Ellifritz led the Wildcats with 14 points. Cameron Cottingham finished with eight points, Johnel Stewart and Elijah Hamilton both had seven points.

Dowagiac will host Paw Paw in a Wolverine West Division contest Friday night. Tip-off is set for approximately 7:15 p.m.

 

DOWAGIAC 71, THREE RIVERS 58

THREE RIVERS 58

Cameron Cottingham 8, Tanner Blyly 2, Johnel Stewart 7, Zakary Zagon 4, Zach Turner 3, Jacob Ross 2, Tate Ellifritz 14, Gavin Golembiewski 3, Chad Sage 2, Isaiah Smith 0, Adam Reed 6, Elijah Hamilton 7. TOTALS: 22 7-9 58

DOWAGIAC 71

Daquan Brooks 9, Bryce Dodd 3, Brandon Winchester-Jones 23, DeYonte Sullivan 0, Leroy Lewis 16, Josh Lamphere 0, Tevin Fowlkes 11, Keoante Blackamore 9. TOTALS: 23 21-39 71

 

Three Rivers 18       32       42       58

Dowagiac        22       35       51       71

3-point baskets: Three Rivers 7 (Stewart, Turner, Ellifritz 4, Hamilton), Dowagiac 4 (Winchester-Jones 3, Lewis). Total fouls (fouled out): Three Rivers 29 (Reed), Dowagiac 13 (none). Technical foul: Dowagiac (Dodd). Varsity records: Three Rivers 0-4, Dowagiac 3-0