By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
Dowagiac finished seventh in the Big 16 Conference following Saturday's league tournament in Battle Creek.
The Chieftains had a goal of moving up one spot from eighth place heading into the tournament held at both Battle Creek Lakeview and Harper Creek High Schools.
Mattawan won the Gold Division tournament with 51 points.
Battle Creek Lakeview was second with 44 points, while St. Joseph took third with 42 points. Portage Central and Portage Northern tied for fourth with 41 points each.
Sturgis finished sixth (39), Dowagiac seventh (17) and Coldwater eighth (13).
Over in the Silver Division, Battle Creek Central was the winner with 60 points.
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix was second with 53 points and Marshall third with 45 points.
Lakeshore finished fourth (42), Battle Creek Harper Creek fifth (35), Kalamazoo Central sixth (27) and Niles seventh (24).
Lisa Rubino and Ann O'Keefe both went 2-1 to finish fifth on Saturday. For Rubino it was her second straight top five finish at the league tournament.
Amelia First went 1-2 to finish sixth at No. 4 singles, while Taylor Townsend was also 1-2 to finish seventh at No. 3 singles.
Calie Daniels and Lindsay Tyler took seventh as they went 1-2 on the day at No. 1 doubles.
Dowagiac's other three doubles squads all were 0-3, but played well according to coach Chuck Rubino.
Dowagiac will try to defend its Division 4 regional title on Thursday at Leeper Park in South Bend, Ind.