By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
It's showdown time at the Berrien Springs Class B District Basketball Tournament tonight.
Undefeated and No. 2 ranked Lakeshore will take on rival Dowagiac at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to Saturday night's championship game.
Tonight's game is a rematch of a Dec. 5, 2006 contest between the Chieftains and the Lancers.
Lakeshore (20-0) took the season-opening victory over the Chieftains (18-3), 54-40.
The final score is a little misleading as Dowagiac trailed by just four points with approximately four minutes remaining.
The Chieftains were unable to finish against the Lancers and made some crucial mistakes down the stretch.
Despite the loss, Dowagiac coach Greg Blomgren learned some things about his team and had a pretty good idea that better things were to come.
"I thought our kids showed a lot tonight," Blomgren said back in December. "We didn't give in to them. We played basketball tonight with a very good team. Two or three possessions made the difference."
Dowagiac grabbed a quick 4-0 lead in the game, but trailed 12-8 at the end of the first quarter.
Lakeshore outscored Dowagiac 18-16 in the second period to go up by six points at halftime, 30-24.
The Chieftains outscored the Lancers 7-6 in the third quarter as both teams had trouble finding the range offensively. Still, Dowagiac trailed 36-31 heading into the final period.
The game stayed close through the first half of the final quarter, but a 13-2 scoring run in the final eight minutes proved to be the difference.
Troy Peters, a transfer from Iowa, and Matt Schatz led the Lancers with 14 points each.
Amos Clark and Chris Primley, who scored 16 and 10 points respectively, led Dowagiac.
Since that game in December, the Chieftains have learned to finish off opponents and have won nearly every close game they have been in.
Dowagiac will need to keep the Lancers in check throughout the contest and hope to take them in the final quarter just as it did Berrien Springs on Monday night.
"We are better at finishing games now," Blomgren said on Monday. "We have won all the close games."
Blomgren said that while Monday night's victory over the Shamrocks was big, his team really wanted another shot at Lakeshore.
"We just wanted the opportunity to play Lakeshore," Blomgren said. "They're rated as the second best team in the state and we don't question it. They're a solid team worthy their record. But we're looking forward to playing them."