By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
A balanced scoring attack and pressure defense kept the Dowagiac varsity basketball team atop the Wolverine Conference standings Tuesday night.
Dowagiac forced visiting Plainwell into 21 turnovers en route to a 72-49 victory.
The Chieftains (2-1, 2-0 Wolverine) raced out to a 22-7 first quarter lead and never looked back. Dowagiac was able to maintain a comfortable lead throughout the final three quarters as it rolled to its second straight victory.
Plainwell was never really able to solve the Dowagiac pressure defense, which allowed the Chieftains to create easy scoring opportunities.
Dowagiac went cold over the final four-plus minutes of the first half, or the final score could have been much worse.
The Chieftains increased their lead to 30-10 on a basket by Chris Primley with 4:27 remaining in the second quarter. Dowagiac would not score again until Jamie Simpson scored with 1.5 seconds left on the clock.
During that stretch, the Trojans were only able to outscore Dowagiac 4-2.
Both teams scored 17 points in the third quarter before the Chieftains exploded for 23 points in the final eight minutes.
"Our defense really set the tone for us," Dowagiac coach Greg Blomgren said. "I attribute the past three years of playing in the SMAC (Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference) to our early success in the Wolverine. Our kids have learned to play at a higher level in the SMAC. No disrespect to the Wolverine, but just for us to compete the last three years in that other conference has made us tougher, both mentally and physically."
Dowagiac grabbed an early 9-2 advantage, which it stretched to 13-4 midway through the first eight minutes. The Chieftains increased their lead to 18-5 with 1:41 to play in the period, forcing Plainwell to call another time out.
Dowagiac built its lead with a combination of scoring from the outside and inside. The Chieftains crashed the boards and used its defense to create easy baskets.
The lead reached 24-7 early in the second quarter and then 20 points midway through the period before foul troubles forced Dowagiac to scale back its aggressiveness.
The result was a cold streak, but not a loss of the lead it had worked so hard to build.
Plainwell tried to make a run at the Chieftains in the second half, but each time it would get the lead under 20 points, Dowagiac would come up with a steal and a basket or drill a jumper.
The Chieftains went inside early and often to Primley, who finished the night with a season-high 21 points. Primley also grabbed five rebounds.
Dowagiac shot the ball well from the field, hitting 49 percent of its attempts. The Chieftains were not so good from the free throw line where they hit just 55 percent.
"That's one thing we are going to have to work on," Blomgren said of the missed free throws.
Dowagiac's defense limited Plainwell to 34 percent shooting. The Trojans weren't much better from the free throw line where they hit just 61 percent.
Dowagiac held a 30-25 rebounding advantage, while the Chieftains turned the ball over just 14 times.
Besides Primley's totals, Dowagiac also got 14 points and 10 assists from leading scorer Amos Clark. Jamie Simpson chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Oscar Wilson netted 12 points and grabbed five rebounds.
Andrew Cuthbert finished with five points and five assists.
Garrett Salinas' 12 points led Plainwell. Colin Yake added 10 points.
Dowagiac heads back into Wolverine Conference play on Friday night as it heads up to South Haven to take on the Rams. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
PLAINWELL 49
Lee Janson 0 0-0 0, Garrett Salinas 5 2-3 12, Anizo Pedrolini 0 0-0 0, Colin Yake 4 2-4 10, Louis Klein 3 1-1 8, Ray Johnson 0 1-2 1, Cedrick McBride 1 0-0 2, Tom Olinger 1 2-2 4, Dylan McGregor 0 2-4 2, Mitch Fiebiger 0 4-7 4, Ryan Mollitor 0 0-0 0, Josh Jackson 3 0-0 6. Totals: 17 14-23 49
DOWAGIAC 72
Kevin Mitchell 0 1-2 1, Andrew Cuthbert 1 2-6 5, Ronnell Grady 0 1-2 1, Glenn Hammond 0 0-0 0, Jamie Simpson 5 3-4 13, Romero Reed 1 1-2 3, Oscar Wilson 5 0-0 12, Amos Clark 5 4-10 14, Chuck Mersereau 1 0-0 2, Chris Primley 8 5-6 21. Totals: 26 17-32 72
Plainwell 7 14 31 49
Dowagiac 22 32 49 72
3-point baskets: Klein (P), Cuthbert (D), Wilson (D) 2. Total fouls: Plainwell 23, Dowagiac 20. Fouled out: Jackson (P). Technical fouls: Plainwell bench (wrong number in scorebook). Records: Plainwell 1-2, 0-2 Wolverine; Dowagiac 2-1, 2-0 Wolverine