Dowagiac played one of its most complete games of the season just when it needed it most.

Coming off a 52-37 loss to Lakeshore Tuesday night, the Chieftains rebounded with a 32-minute performance that overwhelmed host Edwardsburg 61-43 in a Wolverine Conference South Division match-up before a homecoming crowd of nearly 1,800.

“It was probably the most complete game we’ve played this year,” Dowagiac coach Danum Hunt said. “We were focused and played a whole 32 minutes. We have a few things to work on, but I think we’ve started to turn the corner and get prepared for tournament time.”

The Eddies (5-7, 1-5 South) hung with the Chieftains (11-2, 5-1 South) for the first eight minutes, but their inability to put the ball in the basket allowed Dowagiac to start pulling away.

Edwardsburg was just 7-of-21 in the first half. The Eddies led 2-0 to start the game, but found themselves down 14-10 after one and 30-18 at halftime thanks to an 11-2 run by Dowagiac in the second quarter.

Things did not get any better in the second half.

Edwardsburg was at one point in the third quarter 0-for-9 as the Chieftains continued to build on their lead.

Dowagiac would take a 48-25 advantage into the fourth quarter.

“They’re incredibly athletic and a difficult matchup for us,” Edwardsburg coach Steve Wright said. “They were high energy tonight and they attacked the basket. (Brandon) Winchester-Jones is really tough because he’s so quick off the dribble. We try to keep him in front of us, but they have such weapons on the wings that it’s tough to help out. You can’t leave (Harry) Reed open and then you have (Keonate) Blackamore on the weak side and he can jump out of the gym. Our guys did what they could to stay in it, but we needed to make some shots.”

Winchester-Jones and Blackamore both finished with 17 points. Jones also had three assists and three steals, while Blackamore added 10 rebonds.

Winchester-Jones agreed with his coach that the team played a complete game.

“I think it was our best 32 minutes,” added guard Brandon Winchester-Jones, who also had 17 points to go with three assists and three steals. “We all played together, everybody was having fun and we had no attitudes. It was a good all-around game for everybody. We attacked the rim and drew fouls and got our shooters open.”

Edwardsburg was led by Adam Kozinski’s 12 points. Dante Razzano finished 11 points.

The Chieftains hosts South Haven tonight in a make-up game. The Rams are the top team in the Wolverine North and enter tonight’s action with an 11-1 record. South Haven’s lone loss was a 68-47 season-opening setback at the hands of Lakeshore.

 

DOWAGIAC 61, EDWARDSBURG 43

At Edwardsburg

DOWAGIAC 61

Jamin Hunt 0 2-2 2, DeYonte Sullivan 3 0-1 6, Keoante Blackamore 7 3-4 17, Harry Reed 3 1-2 9, Brandon Winchester-Jones 6 4-4 17, Leroy Lewis 1 0-2 2, Adrien Bucha-Moore 2 0-2 5, Mack Charles 1 0-0 2, Jeffery Holloman 0 1-2 1, Zach Davis 0 0-2 0. TOTALS; 23 11-21 61.

EDWARDSBURG 43

Dante Razzano 4 2-5 11, Ben Robertson 1 1-2 3, Nate Brown 0 0-0 0, Jon Albrecht 1 0-0 3, Shane Streb 3 2-2 9, Chase Tarwacki 0 0-2 0, Dylan Layher 0 3-5 3, A.J. Rosebush 0 2-2 2, Adam Kozinski 5 0-0 12, Kev’on Taylor 0 0-0 0. TOTALS; 14 10-18 43.

 

Dowagiac                    14       30       43       61

Edwardsburg            10       18       25       43

3-point baskets: Dowagiac 4 (Reed 2, Winchester-Jones 1, Bucha-Moore 1), Edwardsburg 5 (Kozinski 2, Razzano 1, Streb 1, Albrecht 1). Total fouls (fouled out): Dowagiac 18 (none), Edwardsburg 22 (Tarwacki). Field goal shooting: Dowagiac 23-of-47 (49 percent), Edwardsburg 14-of-44 (32 percent). Rebounding: Dowagiac 39 (Blackamore 10), Edwardsburg 26 (Razzano 7, Layher 7). Turnovers: Edwardsburg 16, Dowagiac 19. Varsity records: Dowagiac 11-2, 5-1 Wolverine Conference South Division; Edwardsburg 5-7, 1-5 Wolverine Conference South Division.