By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
THREE RIVERS – It wasn't pretty, but the Dowagiac varsity basketball team escaped an upset bid by the host Wildcats on Tuesday night.
The Chieftains, coming off another lengthy delay, this time due to weather related cancellations, looked rusty against Three Rivers in their Wolverine Conference match-up.
Dowagiac played well at the start of the game, struggled in the middle two quarters, and then warmed up late in the contest to pull out a 54-49 victory.
The win moved Dowagiac into a tie with Gull Lake for first place in the league. Both teams are now 8-1. The Chieftains improved to 9-2 overall with the victory.
"It's a win," sighed Dowagiac coach Greg Blomgren following the game. "Any win on the road is a big win. We had a good start and a good finish, but in between was questionable."
Dowagiac shot the ball well throughout most of the game, but struggled with some turnovers in the second and third quarters which kept the Wildcats (7-6, 6-5 Wolverine) in the game.
Dowagiac led 13-12 after one quarter and 25-18 heading into the locker room at halftime.
The Chieftains opened up the third quarter quickly, grabbing a 30-20 lead with 6:53 on the clock when Oscar Wilson hit the third of his four 3-pointers.
Three Rivers turned up the pressure on the Chieftains, who didn't handle it well.
The Wildcats cut the lead to 35-33 with 2:27 to play in the quarter and then took a 36-35 lead on a 3-pointer by Drew Bosma.
Dowagiac reclaimed the lead, 38-36, when Wilson hit his final triple of the evening.
The Wildcats managed to force a 38-all tie with 44.6 seconds left when Jordan Evans scored.
"They got us a little bit out of sync in the second and third quarters," Blomgren said. "When Amos Clark was controlling the tempo of the game in the first and fourth quarters we were a solid team. When we let them control the tempo they hurt us."
The final eight minutes of the contest were quite a battle as both teams tried to gain control.
Three Rivers opened up a 3-point advantage on the Chieftains twice, but were never able to hit that big basket that would put the game away.
Dowagiac on the other hand, continued to turn up the defensive pressure and in the end, it was the defense that won the game.
With the Wildcats leading 49-46 with 2:52 to play, Dowagiac got a pair of free throws from senior Chris Primley to cut the lead to 49-48 with 2:25 to play.
Dowagiac reclaimed the lead with 1:19 remaining when Primley scored inside. Primley then extended the Chieftains' lead to 52-49 with a pair of free throws with just 38.7 ticks left on the clock.
Still, with the Wildcats just a 3-pointer away from tying the game, the outcome was up for grabs.
That was until Jamie Simpson stole the ball from Three Rivers' Jason Evans around mid-court and scored.
"When we got the ball inside to Chris we were effective," Blomgren said. "Oscar had a good night shooting the ball outside."
Primley finished with a game-high 17 points, while Wilson added 16 points. Dowagiac also got 10 points from Clark and nine points from Simpson.
Bosma's 15 points led Three Rivers. Jordan Evans finished with 13.
Dowagiac continues a busy two weeks as it travels to Plainwell on Friday night. The Chieftains, who will play six games in 10 days, will entertain South Haven on Saturday night.
DOWAGIAC 54
Chris Primley 6 5-7 17, Jamie Simpson 3 1-2 9, Amos Clark 2 5-8 10, Andrew Cuthbert 1 0-0 2, Oscar Wilson 6 0-0 16, Chuck Mersereau 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 11-17 54
THREE RIVERS 49
Tyler Kiewiet 4 0-0 8, Drew Bosma 5 0-0 15, Justin Tabanguil 0 0-0 0, Robbie Scheuer 2 2-2 6, Jordan Lawson 0 0-0 0, Jordan Evans 5 3-3 13, Jason Evans 3 0-0 7. Totals: 19 5-5 49
Dowagiac 13 25 38 54
Three Rivers 12 18 38 49
3-point baskets: Wilson (D) 4, Simpson (D) 2, Clark (D), Bosma (TR) 5, Jason Evans (TR). Total fouls: Dowagiac 11, Three Rivers 12. Fouled out: None. Records: Dowagiac 9-2, 8-1 Wolverine; Three Rivers 7-6, 6-5 Wolverine