DOWAGIAC — For the first time in 28 years, Dowagiac has won a district championship.

The Chieftains came into the post season wanting to compete for a title. Following Friday night’s 72-56 victory over Buchanan in the Class B District championship game, Dowagiac can cross that off their wish list.

Now the sky is the limit for the Chieftains, who head to Three Rivers Monday night for the Regional Tournament and a first round date against Wolverine Conference foe South Haven, which upset Parchment for the district crown Friday night.

Also gone from the regional wrong were previously undefeated Gull Lake and Wolverine runner-up Otsego, which tied with Dowagiac for second place in the final league standings.

Dowagiac used another quick start to put the visiting Bucks behind the eight ball early and force them to chance points the entire evening.

Dowagiac after going up 2-0 on a Dontel Highsmith coast-to-coast basket off the opening tip, traded buckets with the Bucks for the first three minutes of the first quarter.

But another basket by Highsmith and back-to-back 3-pointers from D.J. Hunt off the bench had the Chieftains (17-6) up 16-10 with 1:52 showing in the clock.

The two teams again traded baskets and Dowagiac took a 20-14 advantage to the second quarter.

Buchanan (15-7) was unable to make up any ground on the Chieftains in the second quarter as both teams finished with 16 points.

Buchanan did cut the lead somewhat during the second eight minutes of action, but Dowagiac always seemed to have an answer.

The Chieftains led by as many as 10 points (28-18) in the quarter and by as little as five, but in the end, the lead remained six points as the first half elapsed.

The start of the third quarter might have singled the beginning of the end for Buchanan Dowagiac came out and got a pair of 3-pointers from Jason Turner, which helped the Chieftains outscore the Bucks 17-11 to take an 11-point advantage into the final quarter.

Leading 53-41 as the fourth quarter began, Dowagiac again got off to a quick start and a bucket by Highsmith and a pair of free throws from Darius Wilson and the lead was 57-41 with seven minutes to play.

Buchanan tried to make a run at the Chieftains as a 3-pointer from Savon Brown temporarily stopped the bleeding, but the advantage was too much for Buchanan to overtime.

Dowagiac continued to pull away with a combination of free throws and lay-ups as the Bucks had to gamble for steals and eventually try to force the Chieftains to beat them at the free throw line.

Wilson led a balanced Dowagiac attack with 13 points. Highsmith, Turner and Hunt all finished with 10 points.

Jalen Brown led all scorers with 17 points for Buchanan, which also got 15 ponits from Andrew Hearington.

BUCHANAN 56

Dylan Arnold 3 0-0 7; Savon Brown 3 0-0 7; Thomas Lymon 0 0-0 0; Andrew Hearington 7 0-0 15; Dalice Reynolds 0 0-0 0; Kevin Dey 0 0-2 0; Ryan Catalano 2 0-0 4; Justin Henderson 0 0-0 0; Brandon Jackson 2 1-2 6; Blake Graber 0 0-0 0; Izaih Dorsey 0 0-0 0; Jalen Borwn 8 1-2 17. TOTALS: 25 2-6 56

DOWAGIAC 72

Dontel Highsmith 4 2-2 10; Troy Butcher 4 0-1 8; Craig Zebell 0 0-0 0; Jason Turner 2 4-6 10; Chris Craft 2 0-0 5; Brian DeLong 0 0-0 0; Tremail Butcher 3 2-2 8; D.J. Hunt 4 0-0 10; Brendon Murray 2 0-0 6; Darius Wilson 4 5-6 13; Tyler Clark 0 0-0 0; Eric Charles 1 0-2 2. TOTALS: 26 13-19 72

Buchanan 14 30 41 56

Dowagiac 20 36 53 72

3-point baskets: Buchanan 4 (Arnold, S. Brown, Hearington, Jackson), Dowagiac 7 (Turner 2, Craft, Hunt 2, Murray 2). Total fouls: Buchanan 16, Dowagiac 8. Fouled out: None. Varsity records: Buchanan 15-7, Dowagiac 17-6