By By ADAM FISHER / Niles Daily Star
Early in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's first round game of the Holiday Basketball Classic at White Pigeon, it looked as though Dowagiac would break its winless streak and claim its first victory of the year.
Though the Chieftains came as close to victory as they had all season, they couldn't maintain an eight point lead in the final period and fell 50-47 to host White Pigeon.
Edwardsburg beat Cassopolis 68-52 in the other first round game to advance to tonight's final game.
Dowagiac went up 41-33 early in the fourth quarter on two Chris Primley free throws, but they couldn't hold White Pigeon down.
A 16-5 run gave the Chiefs a 49-46 advantage and a lead they would not let slip away in a 50-47 victory. In fact, the game featured 11 lead-changes and 10 ties.
White Pigeon took an initial lead after the first period, 14-12. Dowagiac tied the game at 22 at halftime on a late basket. The Chieftains went up 39-33 at the end of three, but lost that lead in the fourth quarter.
Isaiah Jones led Dowagiac with 15 points. He was the only Chieftain to reach double figures. Dowagiac falls to 0-5 this year with the loss.
Edwardsburg fell behind early to Cassopolis, but was able to use a big second quarter charge to claim a 68-52 victory.
Late in the first quarter, Cass' Neal Bullocks hit a free throw to give the Rangers an eight-point advantage at 17-9. The Eddies' Matt Horvath, however, scored the first five points of the second period to help his team climb back.
The Eddies came alive in the second, outscoring Cass 21-5 and taking a 31-22 lead into halftime. The lead would only balloon from there, as Edwardsburg went up by as many as 24 points in the victory.
The win puts the Eddies at 3-2 early this season, but is the first Edwardsburg victory since dropping two straight games. Cass falls to 2-3.
Roth led all scorers in the game with 28 points, including hitting 8-of-11 free throws. Two other Eddies reached double figures scoring. Matt Horvath scored 11 points, while Doug Shuttleworth added 10.
After the first quarter, Cass was held in check by the Eddies' defense. No Ranger scored more than eight points. Kevin Luckey, Cass' leading scorer at nearly 17 points per game, was held to considerably less with eight points.
White Pigeon….50
Dowagiac….47
Dowagiac (47) - Chris Primley 1 5-5 7, James Simpson 1 0-0 3, Amox Clark 3 0-0 7, Isaiah Jones 6 3-5 15, David stuppy 1 0-0 2, Michael DeRose 3 0-0 9, Kenneth Franz 0 -12 1, Shawn Irviri 1 1-2 3. Totals: 16 10-17 47.
White Pigeon (50) - Dan Schutter 1 0-0 2, Simon Cholometes 3 1-4 9, Nathan Saunders 3 0-0 6, Troy niblock 3 3-6 10. Michael Severns 1 0-0 2, Ryan McFail 3 5-7 11, Adam Hillman 5 0-0 10. Totals: 19 9-17 50.
Edwardsburg….68
Cassopolis…….52
Edwardsburg (68) - Steve Gowen 1 0-0 3, Pat Huggett 0 0-2 0, Tony Hayes 4 0-0 8, Doug shuttleworth 3 4-4 10, Nick Roth 9 8-11 28, Matt Horvath 5 1-2 11, ZZac Rooney 4 0-0 8. Totals: 26 13-17 68.
Cassopolis (52) - Ashton Danzy 2 0-0 4, Mike Evans 3 0-0 6, Cordero Wiliams 1 0-0 2, Will Loux 3 1-2 7, Dan Stanage 0 0-0 0, Kevin Luckey 3 0-0 8, Derron Thomas 2 1-3 6, John Young 3 1-3 7, Reynard MacNeil 3 0-0 6, Neal Bullocks 2 2-2 6. Totals: 22 5-10 52
3-pointers - Edwardsburg 3 (Roth 2, Gowen), Cassopolis 3 (Luckey 2, Thomas). Fouls (fouled out) - Edwardsburg 10 (none), Cassopolis 13 (none).