The Christmas holiday break is just around the corner and it is coming at a perfect time for some of our area sports teams.

The 2018-19 winter sports season has not gotten off to a very good start for some teams. Others have gotten out of the gate rather quickly and I am sure they wish the break at the end of the week would not come.

There have been a few surprises in the opening two weeks of the winter sports season.

Edwardsburg boys basketball, despite getting a late start due to the football team winning the school’s first state football championship, got off to a quick start with wins over Allegan and Three Rivers.

On the other end of the spectrum, Dowagiac, which won the Class B district last season, opened this year with a one-point loss to defending state champion Benton Harbor.

They defeated Paw Paw in the second game of the season, but have now lost three consecutive games heading into tonight’s non-conference game against Lakeshore.

The Chieftain girls team is also struggling after a season-opening victory over Cassopolis.

Dowagiac is hoping to get healthy over the winter break and get the season back on track.

Area wrestling teams are off to a good start with the exception of Cassopolis, which has once again struggled to fill its line up and is currently down to just a couple of wrestlers.

I am hoping the Rangers can get some youth out for the team before the new year gets started.

I am expecting some big things out of our winter sports teams. The drive to the finish is a long one. Let’s hope teams use these two weeks to work on issues that have popped up and get ready for to compete for division and conference titles before setting their sights on the state tournament.

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com