By By SCOTT NOVAK and ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - It has been a decade since the Dowagiac girls' basketball team has stepped onto the court to play in a district championship game.
But that is exactly what will happen tonight when the Chieftains take the floor against eight-time defending district champion Niles.
Dowagiac (7-14) faced Lake-shore back in 1995 for the district title.
Niles has dominated the Class B district tournament for nearly a decade.
The Lady Vikings (18-3) and Chieftains have met two times this season with Dowagiac scoring 37 points in both contests.
Niles took the first game 63-37.
Just eight days ago, the Lady Vikings scored a 52-37 decision that was much closer than the final score indicates.
Dowagiac trailed Niles by just three points at halftime and by five entering the fourth quarter, 33-28.
Dowagiac quickly cut the lead to 33-31 with 7:17 remaining in the game.
That would be as close as the Chieftains would get as Niles outscored Dowagiac 18-3 over the final seven minutes.
Dowagiac advanced to tonight's final with a 55-46 victory over Lakeshore on Wednesday night.
Niles struggled for a half with St. Joseph on Wednesday night before pulling away to a 44-25 win over the Lady Bears.
The winner of tonight's district championship game advances to the regional semifinals on Monday in Vicksburg against the winner of the Paw Paw district at 7:15 p.m.
The winners of the Sturgis and Coldwater districts play in the other semifinal.
Class C finals at Watervliet
Buchanan and Watervliet will meet on the floor at 7 p.m. tonight for the Class C finals, held on the Panthers home court.
Buchanan snuck by River Valley on Wednesday evening, taking the 44-41 win, to advance the Bucks to tonight's game.
Danielle Bachleda was the difference for the Bucks in the second half of Wednesday's game when she bombed two three-pointers and racked in a total of 13 points.
The winner of tonight's game will advance to regional action, which begins on Monday evening at Bridgman High Schol.
There, they will face the winner of the Cassopolis-White Pigeon game, which is being held on Saturday evening in Cass at 6 p.m.