By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
A fast start wasn't enough for the Dowagiac varsity basketball team Tuesday night as visiting Battle Creek Central rallied for a 40-34 Big 16 Conference non-divisional victory.
The Chieftains (4-9) held a 22-16 lead at halftime, but was outscored 24-12 in the second half by the Lady Bearcats (10-4).
Dowagiac played its best first half of the season against the Lady Bearcats.
The Chieftains came out with an aggressive attitude and it showed.
Battle Creek Central led 1-0 before Brittney Reist scored with 6:07 to play in the first quarter to give Dowagiac a lead it would not relinquish until the third quarter.
The Chieftains upped their advantage to 5-1 with a three-point play by freshman Katy Stuppy a minute later.
Stuppy connected again seconds later to make it 7-3 contest.
The Lady Bearcats cut the lead to 5-3 before Holly Lowe hit the first of two, three-pointers in the opening quarter to make it 10-5.
Dowagiac on Lowe's second triple of the period upped its advantage to 13-7 with 1:02 to play in the quarter.
The Chieftains took a 15-9 advantage in the second period and quickly made it a 17-10 lead on a basket by Amy Wood.
Battle Creek Central cut Dowagiac's lead to 17-14 with 1:41 remaining in the first half before Kim Luthringer turned an offensive rebound into a basket with 1:22 to play to give Dowagiac a 19-14 advantage.
Lowe's third, three-pointer of the first half lifted Dowagiac to a 22-14 lead with just 21.4 seconds remaining.
Battle Creek Central cut the lead to 22-16 heading into the intermission on a basket in the closing seconds.
The Lady Bearcats fell behind 27-20 midway through the third quarter, but began to tighten up the defensive pressure and slowly, but surely closed the gap.
By quarter's end, Battle Creek Central had cut Dowagiac's lead to 29-27 and opened the fourth quarter by taking a 30-29 lead.
The Lady Bearcats opened up a seven-point lead on the Chieftains before Lowe dropped in another three-pointer in the final minute to cut the lead to four points.
with 26 seconds remaining.
That would be as close as Dowagiac would get as the Lady Bearcats were able to score the final four points of the contest.
Good man-to-man defense in the second half was the difference for the Lady Bearcats.
At one point in the second half, Dowagiac had just five shot attempts.
Lowe finished with 14 points to lead all scorers. Stuppy finished with 10 points.
Battle Creek got 10 points from standout Jocelyn Powell.
Dowagiac travels to St. Joseph Thursday night for another Big 16 Conference West Division contest.
BATTLE CREEK 40
Terrica Drisker 1 0-0 2, Sherrell Newton 3 0-0 7, Megan Pulley 0 1-2 1, Jamie Cotton 3 2-4 8, Erica King 3 0-0 6, Seria Mullen 3 0-0 6, Jocelyn Powell 4 2-4 10. Totals: 17 5-10 40
DOWAGIAC 34
Holly Lowe 5 0-0 14, Amy Wood 1 0-0 2, Brittney Reist 2 0-0 4, Kim Luthringer 1 0-0 2, Sarah Ostyn 0 0-0 0, Katy Stuppy 3 3-5 10, Valerie Johnson 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 3-5 34
Battle Creek 9 7 11 13 - 40
Dowagiac 15 7 7 5 - 34
Three-point baskets: Newton (BCC), Lowe (D) 4, Stuppy (D). Total fouls: Battle Creek 10, Dowagiac 7. Fouled out: None.