Unbeaten Gull Lake netted a lunker victory over host Dowagiac Friday night by a score of 77-56 in a Wolverine Conference boys’ basketball contest.

Blue Devils seniors Trenton Messer and Adrian Zuidweg each collected 23 points, with the latter scoring the first seven points. His second 3-pointer gave Gull Lake (4-0, 3-0 Wolverine) a 12-4 advantage after 2:35 of playing time.

“Zuid (Zuidweg) did the same thing in our last game by scoring seven early points and Trent (Messer) is a tremendous player and We are blessed to have him, but I have four seniors who started for me last year,” noted Gull Lake coach Gary Sprague. “I am also really happy for my sophomore (Dean Kolstad), who jumps higher than anybody and its is sweet having him come off the bench.”

Dowagiac (1-2, 1-2 Wolverine) was led by a trio of sophomores in the first quarter as a 22-11 deficit changed to 22-19 after eight minutes of play with the help of Brendon Murray, D.J. Hunt and Dontel Highsmith. Highsmith was played his first game of the year after injuring his knee (meniscus) in the first week of practice.

“Dontel (Highsmith) should be back to full strength after the break as his calf and ankle need to get stronger,” commented Dowagiac coach Danum Hunt. “We were just not disciplined enough to follow the defensive scheme, so we need to work better as a team.”

The Chiefs did not score until the second stanza was more than half complete and the Blue Devils had a 30-19 lead, which grew to 37-23 with Messer doing most of the work including grabbing a defensive rebound to hustle down the court for the ensuing fast break offensive tip-in.

Kolstad, who is 6-4 and growing, hit a shot at the buzzer for a 41-30 Gull Lake intermission lead.

Gull Lake’s dynamic duo of Zuidweg and Messer (also nine rebounds) scored 15 and 11 points respectively in the first half with Hunt and senior Darius Wilson having six points apiece with the latter grabbing four missed shots to lead the Chiefs.

“Darius (Wilson) had his share of rebounds, but needs help for us to win, since we have athletic guys who depend too much on their jumping ability for rebounds instead of boxing out.” stated Hunt. “(Trenton) Messer plays and goes hard all the time and our plan was not to put him on the free throw line, but he still went there 11 times in the game.”

Dowagiac made only six of its 18 short-range field goals in the first half and 3-of-13 from behind the arc, but the Chieftains made 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.

The third quarter proved to be even worse as only eight points were scored altogether without a successful 3-point shot or a trip to the free throw line as the visitors took a commanding 57-38 lead going into the final stanza.

“We discussed about penetrating to the basket and get to the line instead of depending so much on our outside shot even though Turner (Jason) showed something late in the game,” explained Hunt.

Wilson had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Turner hit four 3-pointers in the closing minutes to lead Dowagiac in scoring with 14 points.

Messer, who is seriously considering continuing his hoop career at Grand Valley next year, grabbed 15 missed shots.

“I like Darius a lot, who is bigger and stronger than last year, so we need to prepare more for him the next time we play,” said Sprague. “Dontel will be healthy, so that will also be a big difference. It was good to get Dowagiac before they get rolling.”

Gull Lake had three more rebounds and turnovers than the Chieftains with 23 and 17 respectively. Dowagiac finished with 20 rebounds and 14 turnovers.

“Gull Lake showed why they are a championship team,” concluded Hunt. “It is killing me to wait until February and looking forward to the rematch.”

GULL LAKE 77

Trenton Messer   8  7-11   23; Adrian Zuidweg   8  3-5  23; Dean Kolstad   4  0-0  8; Lucas Hamelink 2  2-3  7; Adam Peters  3  0-0  6; Jalen Ford  2  0-0  4; Brian Bennett  1  0-0  2; Jason Schau  0  2-4  2; Jason Shivley  0  2-2  2; Jake Stap  0  0-1  0. TOTALS: 28    16-26 77

DOWAGIAC 56

Jason Turner   4  2-2  14; Darius Wilson  4  2-3  10; D.J. Hunt  2  4-6  9; Dontel Highsmith  3  1-3  7; Troy Butcher  3  0-3  7; Tremail Butcher  1  2-2  4; Brendon Murray  1  0-0 3; Chris Craft  1  0-0 2. TOTALS: 19   11-19 56

Gull Lake 22 41 57 77

Dowagiac 19 30 38 56

3-point baskets: Dowagiac 7 (Turner 4, Troy Butcher, Hunt, Murray 1), Gull Lake 5 (Zuidweg 4, Hamelink 1). Total fouls: Dowagiac 19, Gull Lake 18 (none).  Fouled out: Charles (D). Rebounding: Dowagiac 20 (Wilson 10), Gull Lake 23 (Messer 15). Turnovers: Dowagiac 14, Gull Lake 17. Shooting: Dowagiac  12-34, 7-22 3-point, Gull Lake  23-45, 5-11 3-point. Varsity records: Dowagiac 1-2, 1-2 Wolverine; Gull Lake 4-0, 3-0 Wolverine Conference.