By Staff
PLAINWELL – The Dowagiac boys' varsity basketball team dropped a 54-38 Wolverine Conference decision to host Plainwell Tuesday night.
The loss dropped the Chieftains to 1-7 overall and 1-6 in the league.
Plainwell improved to 3-4 on the season and 3-2 in the conference.
The Trojans trailed Dowagiac 6-4 after a period of play, however, But Plainwell outscored the Chieftains 36-14 in the middle two quarters to put the game away.
The Trojans tallied 18 points in the second period while holding Dowagiac to eight points to build up a 22-14 halftime lead.
Eighteen more points in the third quarter for Plainwell and just six points for the Chieftains turned the game into a rout.
Trailing 40-20 heading into the final stanza, Dowagiac turned in its best offensive output of the contest as it scored 18 points.
Plainwell finished with 14 points in the period.
Ray Johnson led a balanced Plainwell scoring attack with 16 points. Keaton Adams added 13 points and Frank Whitney nine.
Dowagiac, which had six 3-pointers in the contest, was led by Romero Reed and Drew Cooper, both of whom scored 12 points.
The Chieftains will return to action on Friday when they host Gull Lake in another Wolverine Conference contest.
The Dowagiac freshmen and junior varsity squads were both winners on Tuesday night.
The Chieftain freshmen squad improved to 5-3 with a 45-42 victory over Plainwell.
Dowagiac trailed the entire contest until the final two minutes when it took its first lead and went on to victory.
Eric Charles led the way with 14 points. Chris Gantt and Craig Zebell scored 12 and 11 points respectively.
In the junior varsity contest, Dowagiac posted a 62-58 victory to improve to 6-2.
Chris Craft scored 19 points for the Chieftains, who also got 13 points from Corey Rodgers.
Dowagiac was 24-of-40 from the free throw line in the contest.
DOWAGIAC 38
Jalen Nickens 1; Troy Butcher 2; Romero Reed 12; Shaun Bruens 0; Michael Filley 3; Drew Cooper 12; Dre Kiser 0; Pierre Reed 2; Andrew Cripe 3; Damone Huff 3; Tanner Melvin 0; Tremail Butcher 0. TOTALS: 12 8-16
PLAINWELL 54
Justin DeBruyne 0; Mike Tomak 4; Frank Whitney 9; Keaton Adams 13; Billy Robert 2; Kyon Dorsey 0; Matt Carrier 0; Ray Johnson 16; Mike Westendorp 2; Tyler Swinehart 0; Kyle Areaux 0; Zach O'Heran 2; Mitch Marshall 6. TOTALS: 21 9-12 54
Dowagiac 6 14 20 38
Plainwell 4 22 40 54
3-point goals: Dowagiac 6 (Reed 2, Filley, Cooper 2, Cripe), Plainwell 3 (Whitney, Adams, Johnson). Total fouls (fouled out): Dowagiac 13, Plainwell 19. Varsity records: Plainwell 3-4, 3-2 Wolverine; 1-7, 1-6 Wolverine