By SCOTT NOVAK
Dowagiac Daily News

It was quite the debut for new Dowagiac boys’ varsity basketball coach Damun Hunt and Chieftain freshman Dontel Highsmith.

Hunt unveiled a new up tempo game for the Chieftains, which seemed to be firing on all cylinders right out of the box en route to an 81-54 Wolverine Conference win over visiting Allegan Friday night in Dowagiac’s season opener.

Highsmith was spectacular as he scored a game-high 31 points from seemingly all over the court.

He hit a trio of 3-pointers, made driving layups, hit pull-up jumpers and floaters in the lane.

Dowagiac roared out of the gates, outscoring the Tigers 18-8 in the first quarter.

A little bit of a lull in the second quarter allowed Allegan, behind the play of Caleb Byers, who scored seven of his 17 points in the period, to cut the Chieftains’ advantage to 37-29 at halftime.

But that would be as close as the Tigers would get.

Dowagiac came out of the locker room at halftime and poured in 27 points, while holding Allegan to 14 points to open up a 64-43 advantage heading to the final quarter.

Highsmith, who tossed in 12 points in the first quarter, spearheaded the attack in the third period as well. He connected for eight points, while Damone Huff chipped in with six points to help the Chieftains blow the contest wide open.

Dowagiac scored 17 points in the final eight minutes to make sure there would be no comeback by the Tigers.

“It was a good showing for our first game,” Hunt said following the game. “I’m not surprised though. During the preseason we went up and scrimmaged Albion and Jackson and the boys were very competitive. We beat Albion twice with the same style of play, so I’m not shocked. I think the boys are buying into the system, but we need to keep working hard.

“I believe he has the potential to break every basketball record here at Dowagiac High School, whether it’s scoring, assists or steals,” Hunt said of Highsmith. “The thing is, we have to keep him motivated to work. He’s going to be a player here. He is something special.”

Hunt also said that up and down the roster, the Chieftains played well in their first contest.

“In the preseason and even now, we go really, really hard in practice,” he said. “Conditioning is a key component for what we do. I try to prepare the guys for the mental game as well as the physical game. Regardless of who is in there, be mentally prepared because you are going to play. If you go hard, you will see a lot of time.

“We ran the floor well, we took care of the ball and we shared the ball well. I am just proud of the whole team overall,” he added.

Besides Highsmith’s total, Dowagiac also got 13 points from Huff and six points each from Troy Butcher and Cody Cox. Chris Craft, Tremail Butcher and Pierre Reed all chipped in with five points.

C.J. Jackson was the only other player to reach double digits for Allegan with 13. Steve Rasmussen finished with eight.

Dowagiac is back in action on Tuesday night as it faces Plainwell.

ALLEGAN 54
Lucas Bartz 0 0-2 0; Spencer Vazquez 0 1-2 1; Dylan Van Liere 0 0-0 0; Ethan Eichinger 2 0-0 4; C.J. Jackson 5 1-1 13; Anton Jackson 1 4-5 6; Cole Hoyer 1 0-1 2; Steve Rassmussen 3 0-4 8; Jon Veenkant 0 0-2 0; Tanner Boissen 0 3-4 3; Caleb Byers 7 3-7 17. TOTALS: 19 12-28 54
DOWAGIAC 81
Dontel Highsmith 14 0-0 31; Troy Butcher 3 0-0 6; Andrew Cripe 0 0-0 0; Jason Turner 1 0-0 2; Chris Craft 2 1-2 5; Brian DeLong 0 2-4 2; Tremail Butcher 2 0-0 5; Buddy Newman 0 0-0 0; Pierre Reed 2 0-1 5; Darius Wilson 2 1-3 6; Damone Huff 5 0-0 13; Cody Cox 3 0-0 6. TOTALS: 34 4-10 81

Allegan 8 29 43 54
Dowagiac 18 37 64 81
3-point baskets: Allegan 4 (C.J. Jackson 2, Rassmussen 2), Dowagiac 9 (Highsmith 3, Tremail Butcher, Reed, Wilson, Huff 3). Total fouls: Dowagiac 20, Allegan 13. Fouled out: None. Varsity record: Dowagiac 1-0, 1-0 Wolverine

Allegan…53
Dowagiac…62
The combination of Torie Lowe and Kaisha Martin are becoming tough for opposing defenses to handle.

Lowe hits from all over the floor, while Martin slashes through defenses on her way to the basket.

The two combined for 46 points Friday night to lead the Chieftain girls’ varsity basketball team to a 62-53 Wolverine Conference win over visiting Allegan.

Lowe scored 23 of her game-high 30 points in the opening half, including 15 points in the second quarter as Dowagiac opened up a 32-23 halftime lead.

Martin took over in the second half, netting 11 of her 16 points in the final two quarters.
The Chieftains built up a 17-point cushion at one point only to have the Tigers claw their way back into the contest.

Dowagiac took a 10-point lead (47-37) into the final eight minutes of play, but could never really stretch it out.

“It was a lot closer than it should have been,” Dowagiac coach Dick O’Day said. “We should have been a little bit more prepared defensively than we were. I told these girls in the locker room that they (Allegan) were a second half team. So if we were going to do anything, we better get out and get it down in the first half.”

Dowagiac did build a nice lead in the first two quarters and then came out to start the second half and rolled its advantage up to nearly 20 points before withstanding the Allegan comeback bid.

“We got that lead up to 17 at one time and then the air just came out of it,” O’Day said. “We couldn’t keep them off the free throw line and Miss (Jasmine) Wright when crazy on us. What’d she finish with, 21? I thought we missed too many layups, missed too many free throws and too many opportunities.”

Dowagiac (2-0, 2-0 Wolverine) ended up 15-of-26 from the free throw line.

Besides the totals of Lowe and Martin, the Chieftains also got eight points off the bench from Breenesha Jones and four points from Britnee Allerton.

Cori Steinman also reached double figures for the Tigers with 11 points.

Dowagiac is back in action on Tuesday night as it takes on Plainwell.

ALLEGAN 53
Sarah Kracatavich 1 0-0 3; Shelby Smith 2 1-3 5; Rachel Cook 0 0-0 0; Kailey Kent 0 0-0 0; Tanesha Weems 0 2-3 2; Hope Thompson 2 3-9 7; Jasmine Wright 6 9-15 21; Deidra Smith 1 0-0 2; Cori Steinman 5 1-2 11; Shanel Smith 0 0-0; Kristin Pennock 1 0-3 2. TOTALS: 18 16-35 53
DOWAGIAC 62
Cierra Mattix 0 0-0 0; Correshia Rogers 1 0-1 2; Marcie Enneser 1 0-0 2; Torie Lowe 8 11-15 30; Kaisha Martin 6 4-10 16; Andrea Bradshaw 0 0-0 0; Britnee Allerton 2 0-0 4; Breenesha Jones 4 0-0 8; Cassie Stone 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22 15-26 62

Allegan 12 23 37 53
Dowagiac 14 32 47 62
3-point baskets: Allegan 1 (Kracatavich), Dowagiac 3 (Lowe 3). Total fouls: Allegan 21, Dowagiac 26. Fouled out: Wright (A)