Dowagiac’s Rayven Brown blocks the shot of Buchanan’s Alicia Lilley during first half action of the Bucks’ 33-27 win Tuesday night. (Leader photo/SCOTT NOVAK)

The Floyd Foston era at Dowagiac didn’t get off to the kind of start he wanted, but the new Chieftain girls coach didn’t fault his team’s efforts.

Visiting Buchanan used a 7-0 run late in the third quarter to open up an 11-point lead en route to a 33-27 non-conference victory Tuesday night.

The Bucks scored the games first 10 points to take a 10-5 lead after one period of play.

The Chieftains (0-1) trailed Buchanan (1-0) 20-12 at halftime.

Dowagiac whittled away at the Bucks’ lead, getting it down to 20-16 with 3:09 to play in the third quarter when Ciera Smith grabbed an offensive rebound and scored.

The Bucks would score the next seven points to open up a 27-16 advantage with 2:32 remaining in the period. Buchanan would take a 27-18 lead into the final quarter.

“I thought we played hard defensively tonight,” Buchanan coach Dave Cleveland said. “We stayed aggressive throughout. That’s what I was worried about when they started coming back. I was worried they would hang our heads, but I saw that we kept them up and kept getting after it.”

From there, Buchanan was able to maintain the lead, although the Chieftains kept coming after them, closing the Bucks’ lead to the final margin in the closing seconds.

“The girls played extremely hard,” Foston said. “They picked up the intensity on defense. It’s a new system, and they’re still learning. We are going to get better. We are going to fix our mistakes and we are going to be after teams.”

Madison Prillwitz led Buchanan and all scorers with 10 points. MacKenzie Orphanidis added nine and Maddy Vorrath eight for the Bucks.

Crieona Rodgers and Smith both scored six points for the Chieftains.

BUCHANAN 33

Tateanna Hinds 3 0-0 6; Robyn Clark 0 0-0 0; Alexis Meahl 0 0-0 0; Alia Dobrzykowski 0 0-0 0; Alicia Lilley 0 0-0 0; Maddy Vorrath 4 0-2 8; MacKenzie Orphanidis 4 1-3 9; Madison Prillwitz 4 2-2 10; Kaitlynn Enders 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15 3-11 33

DOWAGIAC 27

Crieona Rodgers 2 2-8 6; Kristyn Turner 1 0-0 2; Jessica Herthoge 0 1-3 1; Angel Parker 1 2-4 4; Kylee Williams 1 0-0 2; Amanda Craft 1 0-0 2; Rayven Brown 1 0-0 2; Riley Daly 0 0-0 0; Jenesis Green 0 0-0 0; Ciera Smith 3 0-0 6; Brianna McCuddy 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 11 5-15 27

Buchanan 10 20 27 33

Dowagiac 5 12 18 27

3-point baskets: Buchanan 0, Dowagiac 0. Total fouls (fouled out): Buchanan 21 (None), Dowagiac 14 (None). Technical fouls: None. Varsity records: Buchanan 1-0, Dowagiac 0-1