RICHLAND – For one half Friday night it looked like Dowagiac was going to be in the hunt for its third straight victory.

But in the second half the host Gull Lake Blue Devils dispelled that thought.

Gull Lake handed Dowagiac its first loss of the season.

The Blue Devils poured in 51 points in both halves and defeated the Chieftains 102-69 in Wolverine Conference boys’ basketball action.

Dowagiac (2-1, 2-1 Wolverine) and Gull Lake were neck and neck through the first two quarters.

The Blue Devils (2-1, 2-0 Wolverine) grabbed a 24-21 advantage after one period of play and stretched it to a 10-point advantage at halftime, 51-41.

Dowagiac was unable to keep up in the final two quarters and the lead continued to grow throughout the second half.

After being outscored 22-16 in the third quarter, Gull Lake had an insurmountable 73-57 advantage going to the final stanza.

Mistakes and a lopsided rebounding difference were the keys, especially in the second half.

“We turned the ball over too much,” Dowagiac coach Danum Hunt said. “We committed 27 turnovers and they only had 10. We didn’t do a good job on the boards and we lost our defensive intensity.”

Gull Lake poured in 29 points in the final eight minutes, while holding the Chieftains to 12 points.

Darius Wilson led Dowagiac with 15 points, with Tremail Butcher and Damone Huff both finishing with eight points. Chieftain leading scorer Dontel Highsmith was held to just seven points.

Highsmith came into the game averaging 23 points per game.

Trenton Messer led all scorers with 20 points, while Adrian Zuidweg added 19 points. The Blue Devils also got 12 points each from Xavier Prather, John Jacobson and Adam Peters.

Dowagiac did shot 58 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range, but it was the defensive effort that was most concerning to Hunt. The Chieftains were outrebounded by the Blue Devils 38-10.

“We will go back to the drawing board, get back to work and fix the things we need to fix,” Hunt said.

Dowagiac doesn’t return to action now until Jan. 8 when it faces Three Rivers.

DOWAGIAC 69

Tremail Butcher 10, Troy Butcher 0, Cody Cox 8, Chris Craft 8, Andrew Cripe 3, Brian DeLong 1, Dontel Highsmith 7, Damone Huff 10, Henry Neumann 1, Pierre Reed 4, Jason Turner 2, Darius Wilson 15. TOTALS: 25 12-20 69

GULL LAKE 102

Taylor Schultz 9; Xavier Prather 12; L.J. Pauletic 2; Jalen Ford 1; Adrian Zuidweg 19; Jason Schau 7; John Jacobson 12; Taylor Morrison 2; Trenton Messer 20; Adam Peters 12; Joe Walbridge 6. TOTALS: 37 22-31 102.

Dowagiac	21	41	57	69
Gull Lake	24	51	73	102

3-point baskets: Dowagiac 6 (Cripe, Craft 2, Tre. Butcher 2, Wilson 1, Huff 1); Gull Lake 7 (Prather 2, Zuidweg 4). Total fouls: Dowagiac 28, Gull Lake 15. Fouled out: None. Varsity records: Dowagiac 2-1, 2-1 Wolverine; Gull Lake 2-1, 2-0 Wolverine