Keoante Blackamore scored a career-high 22 points and pulled down 17 rebounds as Dowagiac defeated Edwardsbug 69-56 Friday night. (Leader photo/AMELIO RODRIGUEZ)

It was a special night for the Dowagiac basketball team as it faced Edwardsburg with first place in the Wolverine Conference West Division at stake.

A standing room only crowd of 1,500-plus watched the Chieftains earn a share of the division title with a 69-56 win over the Eddies, which was not as close as the final score would indicate.

It was “Operation Orange” in the Dowagiac Union High School Gym as the MHSAA made its final stop on its tour of the five finalists for the Battle of the Fans IV title.

The energy being provided by the Chieftain fans helped Dowagiac dominate Edwardsburg for three quarters.

“That’s the most people that I’ve seen in this gym ever,” said junior point guard Brandon Winchester-Jones, who scored 23 points, had 10 assists and eight steals. “They made an impact on the game. We started out great and the fans were a big part of it.”

Brandon Winchester-Jones was two assists shy of a triple-double Friday night against Edwardsburg. (Leader photo/AMELIO RODRIGUEZ)

Dowagiac used its inside game to help build a 31-16 halftime lead on the Eddies.

Junior center Keoante Blackamore, who had a career-high 22 points, also had 17 rebounds, including eight in the first quarter when the Chieftains outscored Edwardsburg 20-5.

“It was crazy,” Blackamore said. “It felt like a district or regional atmosphere. It was loud. You couldn’t hear anything even when we were on offense. I like that kind of atmosphere. It was pretty cool. It helped us a lot. They gave us energy. We fed off that. Every time I walked by the fans during a dead ball, they encouraged me and that just pushed me to go harder.”

Edwardsburg tried to make a game out of it at the start of the second half, but the Eddies could not make a dent in the Chieftains’ lead and trailed 53-37 heading into the final quarter.

Edwardsburg (11-4, 5-3 West) finally got things going in the fourth quarter, cutting Dowagiac’s lead to 63-56 with 2:20 remaining.

However, a steal and score by Winchester-Jones ignited a 6-0 run for the Chieftains, who put the Eddies away.

“Dowagiac is really good at coming out with a full head of steam and getting off to a fast start,” Edwardsburg coach Steve Wright said. “We needed a lot to go right early and it didn’t. The shots we did get didn’t go and they turned those missed shots into points.”

Dowagiac coach Danum Hunt was not surprised his team jumped on the Eddies early on.

“It was a fantastic start,” Hunt said. “We talked all week about getting off to a good start. We figured if we could jump out quickly, with the crowd, the game would come easy to us. And it did come easy at the start. We were able to jump out and put the pressure on them to have to play from behind and it worked to our favor.”

Besides the offensive efforts of Blackamore and Winchester-Jones, junior Harry Reid helped Dowagiac get rolling early with 10 first quarter points, including a trio of 3-pointers.

Edwardsburg’s Isaac Vite and Derek Pierce tried to keep the Eddies in it as they scored 21 and 18 points respectively, but is was not enough as the Eddies shot 36 percent (19-of-53) from the field and committed 21 turnovers.

Dowagiac hit 48 percent (29-of-61) of its shots and held a slim 37-35 advantage in rebounding.

In the girls game, Edwardsburg (6-10, 5-4 West) led 29-6 at the half and went on to defeat Dowagiac 43-21.

The Chieftains fell to 4-12 overall and 2-7 in the West.

Savannah Dixon led the Eddies with 17 points, while Noelle Kraus had 11 and Katelynn Rogers 10.

Dowagiac was led by Taylor Hulett’s eight points.

BOYS

DOWAGIAC 69, EDWARDSBURG 56

Edwardsburg 56

Dante Razzano 2 2-2 6, Dalton Raymond 0 0-0 0, Jackson Gaideski 3 2-2 9, Derek Pierce 6 2-2 18, Isaac Vite 8 2-3 21, Joe Queener 0 2-3 2, Jon Albrecht 0 0-0 0, Adam Kozinski 0 0-0 0, Ben Robertson 0 0-4 0. TOTALS 19 10-16 56

Dowagiac 69

Keoante Blackamore 11 0-1 22, Bryce Dodd 1 0-0 2, Harry Reed 3 1-2 10, DaQuan Brooks 3 0-0 6, Brandon Winchester-Jones 8 5-7 23, Tevin Fowlkes 2 0-0 4, Leroy Lewis 1 0-0 2, DeYonte Sullivan 0 0-2 0, Josh Lamphere 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 29 6-12 69

Edwardsburg                        5          16       37       56

Dowagiac                               20       31       53       69

3-point baskets: Edwardsburg 8 (Pierce 4, Vite 3, Gaideski 1), Dowagiac 5 (Reed 3, Winchester-Jones 2). Total fouls (fouled out): Edwardsburg 16 (Gaideski), Dowagiac 18 (Brooks). Varsity records: Edwardsburg 11-4, 5-3 West; Dowagiac 13-2, 7-1 West

GIRLS

EDWARDSBURG 43, DOWAGIAC 21

Edwardsburg 43

Michaela Ritschard 1, Maria Esquirel 0, Alaina Gaideski 0, Savannah Dixon 17, Katelynn Rogers 10, Noelle Kraus 11, Erzsebet Widman 0, Lile Blough 0, Alise Markel 0. TOTALS: 16 4-6 43

Dowagiac 21

Taylor Hulett 8, Angel Parker 0, Jenesis Green 3, Riley Daly 4, Lucio 2, Rayven Bowen 0, Kandice Coleman 0, Nelson 4. TOTALS: 9 3-9 21

Edwardsburg                        13       29       38       43

Dowagiac                               2          6          15       21

3-point baskets: Edwardsburg 7 (Dixon 5, Rogers 2), Dowagiac 0; Total fouls (fouled out): Edwardsburg 13 (none), Dowagiac 10 (none). Varsity records: Edwardsburg 6-10, 5-4 West; Dowagiac 4-12, 2-7 West