By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC – A 17-point first half deficit wasn't big enough for undefeated Dowagiac to overcome Monday night against rival Lakeshore in girls' varsity basketball.
The Chieftains rallied from a 30-13 deficit in the second quarter by outscoring the Lady Lancers 41-22 in the second half to pull out a 64-54 non-conference victory.
"We weren't ready to play," Dowagiac coach Greg Blomgren said. "We didn't come out with the intensity level that was necessary to compete against a bigger and stronger team."
Trailing Lakeshore 38-36 heading into the fourth quarter, Dowagiac poured in 28 points to pull away to the 10-point victory to remain undefeated at 6-0.
The Lady Lancers led by five points with 4:40 remaining, but couldn't stop Dowagiac, which used its pressure defense to create numerous turnovers and easy baskets.
Dowagiac's Torie Lowe and Kristy Cooper both hit free throws with 4:33 and 4:30 remaining to close the gap to 44-41.
After a Lakeshore basket again extended the lead to five points, Katy Stuppy connected on a 3-pointer with 3:47 showing on the clock to cut the lead down to 46-44.
Lowe followed with a 3-pointer 30 seconds later to give Dowagiac a 47-46 advantage.
Once the Chieftains got ahead there was no catching them.
Stuppy hit a jumper to increase the lead to three points with 2:50 remaining and Lowe put Dowagiac back up by three, 51-48, with two and a half minutes left in the contest.
The lead increased to six points with just under two minutes remaining when Sada Nealey scored following a Lakeshore turnover to make it 56-50.
Stuppy's two free throws made it 58-50 with 1:13 to go.
Dowagiac hit four out of five free throws in the final minute to ice the game.
Lakeshore (2-4) gave Dowagiac all it wanted in the first half, leading 19-13 after one period of play and 32-21 at halftime.
The Chieftains were trailing the Lady Lancers 30-13 when Lowe made five straight defensive plays that allowed Dowagiac to cut the lead down to 11 point by halftime.
"For confidence and our belief we could get back in the game, it was huge," Blomgren answered when asked about scoring the final eight points of the first half.
Stuppy led all scorers with 28 points, including 12-of-15 from the free throw line. Dowagiac also got 16 points from Lowe and seven points each from Cooper and Britnee Allerton. Allerton finished with six rebounds.
Sydney Radde led the Lady Lancers with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Taylor Maas had 13 points.
Dowagiac returns to Wolverine Conference play on Thursday as it travels to Comstock.
LAKESHORE 54
Kari DeBoer 0 0-0 0; Heather Moore 0 0-0 0; Amy Knapp 2 2-2 6; Johanna Barz 2 2-2 7; Ashley Brown 0 2-2 2; Taylor Maas 3 4-4 13; Chelsie Kenworthy 0 0-0 0; DeeDee Fleetwood 0 0-0 0; Katie O'Connor 2 0-0 4; Jody Eagle 4 0-0 8; Sydney Radde 7 0-3 14. Totals: 20 10-13 54
DOWAGIAC 64
Tasia Diaz 1 0-0 2; Torie Lowe 5 4-8 16; Kristy Cooper 1 4-8 7; Sada Nealey 2 0-1 4; Katy Stuppy 7 12-15 28; Britnee Allerton 3 1-2 7; Shardatsha Fitchett 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 21-34 64
Lakeshore 19 13 8 16 – 54
Dowagiac 13 8 15 28 – 64
3-point baskets: Barz (L), Maas (L) 3, Lowe (D) 2, Cooper (D), Stuppy (D) 2. Total fouls: Lakeshore 23, Dowagiac 14. Fouled out: Brown (L). Records: Dowagiac 6-0, Lakeshore 2-4