Chieftains regroup to knock off South Haven, 50-29
Published 5:51 am Monday, February 12, 2007
By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
The Dowagiac varsity basketball team got down right defensive Saturday night and as a result closed to within a game anda a half of Wolverine Conference leading Gull Lake.
The Chieftains held visiting South Haven to 24 percent field goal shooting in a 50-29 victory.
The win improved Dowagiac's record to 9-2 in the conference and 10-3 overall. Gull Lake remains a top the league standings with an 11-2 mark.
Dowagiac blew open a close game in the second half.
The Chieftains led 23-16 at halftime, but outscored the Rams 27-13 in the third and fourth quarters to cruise home with the victory.
South Haven may have had trouble finding the range on Saturday night, but the Chieftains didn't have any trouble from the field.
Dowagiac connected on 19-of-42 field goals (45 percent) and was 5-of-8 from the free throw line. The Chieftains also held a 28-19 advantage on the backboards after trailing by three rebounds at halftime against the much taller Rams.
Dowagiac grabbed a 14-6 lead after one period of play and held a seven-point advantage heading into the locker room at the intermission (23-16).
The Chieftains came out on fire in the second half, especially from 3-point range. Dowagiac hit 5-of-10 attempts to put the game away.
The Chieftains outscored South Haven 17-7 in the third quarter and 10-6 in the final period.
Oscar Wilson led the way offensively for the Chieftains as he scored a game-high 17 points, which included a trio of 3-pointers.
Dowagiac also got 11 points from Amos Clark, who was still under the weather. Chris Primley and Jamie Simpson each finished with eight points, while Andrew Cuthbert chipped in with seven points, five of which came in the first quarter.
Primley led Dowagiac with nine rebounds. He also had a pair of assists. Clark finished with five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Cuthbert and Simpson both finished with three assists, while the pair combined for seven rebounds.
Jerome Perry's nine points led South Haven. Isiah Grimes finished with six points.
The Rams' top scorer, Kale Wasso was held to just five points as Dowagiac played a box-and-one defensively with Cuthbert playing man-to-man on the 6-foot-7 guard.
"The defense was better tonight and our rebounding in the end was better," Dowagiac coach Greg Blomgren said. "I think we recognized the guys we had to guard in order to be successful tonight. The kids did a great job with it.
"I was pleased, not knowing how we would respond to the situation of last night (Friday) and how we played," he continued. "To play three games in a week and to play the way we did in the last of those games was a pretty good outcome for us. I think it was a statement about what we have accomplished and are doing with our home court advantage now."
Dowagiac will have to use that home court advantage if it wants to contend for a league title.
The Chieftains have only one more road game (at Otsego). Dowagiac will play five in a row and seven of its last eight games at home.
South Haven was also able to control Primley on the interior, but was unable to stop Dowagiac from beyond the 3-point arc.
The Chieftains continued to knock down shots from the outside, which will in time open up the middle more for its leading scorer.
"For him (Primley) to become open again we are going to have to start consistently knocking down shots," Blomgren said. "I thought we have done a pretty good job of that here as teams have started to guard Chris more."
Dowagiac is back in action on Tuesday as it hosts Vicksburg, which defeated Dowagiac back in January on a last-second 3-point shot. The Chieftains will then host Gull Lake on Friday night. Both games are scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m.
"I don't think I am going to have to do much motivating for Tuesday night's game," Blomgren said.
SOUTH HAVEN 29
Kale Wasso 2 1-1 5, Isiah Grimes 2 2-2 6, Daniel Jackson 2 0-0 5, Jerome Perry 3 3-5 9, Alex Eberle 1 0-0 2, Doug Raak 0 0-0 0, Carleton Hunter 0 0-0 0, Stacy Harrington 0 0-0 0, Damien Ross 1 0-0 2, David Flower 0 0-0 0, Clyde Lavondo 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 6-8 29
DOWAGIAC 50
Chris Primley 3 2-2 8, Jamie Simpson 3 0-0 8, Amos Clark 4 2-3 11, Andrew Cuthbert 2 0-0 5, Oscar Wilson 7 0-0 17, Romero Reed 0 0-0 0, Kevin Mitchell 0 1-2 1, Ronnell Grady 0 0-1 0, Glenn Hammond 0 0-0 0, Chuck Mersereau 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 5-8 50
South Haven 6 16 23 29
Dowagiac 14 23 40 50
3-point baskets: Jackson (SH), Wilson (D) 3, Simpson (D) 2, Cuthbert (D), Clark (D). Total fouls: South Haven 14, Dowagiac 11. Fouled out: Jackson (SH). Technical fouls: None. Record: Dowagiac 10-3, 9-2 Wolverine