No. 7 Brandywine rolls to easy win over Dowagiac

Published 12:36 pm Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NILES — Host Brandywine exploded out of the gate Tuesday night as it scored 25 first-quarter points on their way to a 77-34 Lakeland Conference boys basketball victory over Dowagiac.

The win helps prepare the Bobcats for the toughest stretch of their season as they head to Benton Harbor to face the No. 5-ranked (Division 2) Tigers on Thursday for a battle of conference unbeaten, take on No. 2-ranked (Division 3) Schoolcraft on Saturday and the face one-beaten Watervliet on Monday.

The Benton Harbor game has been moved up to Thursday night due to a potential strong winter storm expected to hit southwest Michigan starting Friday. The Schoolcraft game could also be affected by the weather.

The Bobcats (9-1, 3-0 Lakeland) scored off the opening tip and never looked back, Brandywine scored the first seven points of the opening quarter and led 25-10 after eight minutes of play.

Brandywine did not slow down from there against a Chieftain team that struggled all night to get into any sort of offensive flow.

By halftime the Bobcats’ lead was 45-17. After three quarters of play, Brandywine had a 36-point (66-30) advantage. Part of the third quarter and all of the fourth quarter were played with a running clock.

Jaremiah Palmer led a balanced scoring attack for Brandywine with a game-high 18 points. Nylen Goins added 17, Jamier Palmer 11 and Byron Linley 10 points.

Dowagiac was led by Gianni Villalobos’s 17 points. Christian Wheaton added 12 points and Joshua Wincheter Jones six point.

The Chieftains (5-5, 1-2 Lakeland) is scheduled to host Berrien Springs in a conference contest Friday night.