Most of our area girls’ basketball teams have at least a game under their belt and its only  the first week of the season.

All of our area teams that have played picked up victories on opening night.

The Brandywine Bobcats, who reached the Class C state semifinals last year, have played two games, winning both in lopsided fashion to capture the Centreville Invitational.

The Niles squad pounded visiting Kalamazoo Central Tuesday night, scoring an amazing 27 points in the third quarter to turn the game into a rout.

The Vikings showed that they are going to be more than guard Nichole Sly. Alexis McIntee, Savannah Wolnik and especially Maureen Craig stepped up in a big way in the opening game and if they can continue to contribute like they did last night and show that great balance, I see big things for Niles this season.

The Bobcats are as good as advertised, but in order for Brandywine to accomplish the things its wants to this season, they will have to get better each and every time they take the floor.

Edwardsburg and Cassopolis also opened up with big wins as the Eddies defeated White Pigeon and the Rangers defeated River Valley.

Although not the toughest opponents they will play this season, it’s important to get off to a good start because confidence is a key for any time and drilling your first opponent right out of the box helps build that confidence.

I am looking forward to seeing what Dowagiac and new head coach Emily McLoughlin will do when the season opens tonight against Comstock.

The Chieftains must find a way to score now that second all-time leading scorer Torie Lowe has moved on to college.

If Dowagiac can find some offensive balance and play good defense, the Chieftains may surprise some people.

So the season is under way. Make sure you follow all the action at dowagiacnews.com, nilesstar.com, edwardsburgargus.com and cassopolisvigilant.com.

That’s where you will find the latest information about the local sports teams.

Scott Novak is sports editor of for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com