STURGIS — When a team is chasing a championship, there is always a game or two that it will look back on and say, “that was the one that made the difference.”

If the Dowagiac boys basketball team goes on to capture the Wolverine South Division title, it may very well look back at its 57-51 come-from-behind victory over host Sturgis as the one that made a difference.

Trailing nearly the entire contest, the Chieftains rallied late in the fourth quarter to win the teams seventh consecutive game and remain undefeated in the South Division.

The Trojans (7-5, 2-3 Wolverine South) gave Dowagiac everything it had through three and a half quarters behind the play of standout Thomas Kurowski, who missed the first meeting with the Chieftains due to illness.

Kurowski scored a game-high 26 points, but it was not enough down the stretch as Dowagiac railed from a 32-24 halftime and a 49-44 fourth-quarter deficit in the game’s final four minutes.

The Chieftains (9-4, 5-0 Wolverine South) were able to tie the game at 42-42 late in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Trae Brookins, but ended up trailing the Trojans 49-44 heading into the final eight minutes of play.

Dowagiac took its first lead on a pair of D.J. Lanier free throws. He would give them the lead for good with 1:44 remaining on two more free throws after Sturgis scored its final points of the night to take a 51-50 lead.

The Chieftains executed down the stretch, intensified their defensive pressure in the halfcourt, and hit key shots and free throws when it counted most.

Lanier finished with 12 points, while Cailyn Murphy’s 14 points led the Chieftains. Brookins finished with eight points, and Dashawn Brooks finished with seven.

Dowagiac returns to action Friday as it heads to Edwardsburg for another key Wolverine Conference South Division contest.

Girls basketball

Visiting Dowagiac jumped out to an 8-4 lead midway through the opening quarter, but could not continue the momentum as host Sturgis rallied to defeat the Chieftains 47-25 in Wolverine Conference South Division girls basketball Friday night.

The Trojans (7-7, 3-3 Wolverine South) responded to the quick Dowagiac start with a 10-0 run that allowed Sturgis to take a 14-8 lead after one quarter, which it extended to 21-12 at halftime.

The Trojans outscored the Chieftains 26-13 in the second half to earn the easy victory.

“We have spurts of really good basketball,” said Dowagiac coach Jason Turner. “We just need to play a full 32 minutes. We got off to a lot better first quarter. We played 25 really good minutes of basketball tonight, but the other seven minutes were the difference in the game.”

Allie Conner led Dowagiac with game-high 16 points. Sierra Carpenter added five points, and Jaleana Payne added three.

Korin Whitcomb led the Trojans with 13 points.

Dowagiac will host Bridgman in a non-conference contest Tuesday night before heading to Edwardsburg for a South Division clash with the Eddies on Friday.