DOWAGIAC — At times, visiting Edwardsburg may have thought it was seeing double in its 61-46 Wolverine Conference South Division loss to Dowagiac Friday night.

That is because the Chieftains have two sets of twins — Henry and Cole Weller, as well as Michael and Stewart Smith.

All four players turned in their best performances of the season in helping the Chieftains knockoff the Eddies and remain atop the South Division standings with a 2-0 record.

The Wellers combined for 10 points, while the Smiths chipped in eight points. All four players also played solid defense, helped create turnovers and rebounded.

“The twins are playing well,” said Dowagiac coach Danum Hunt. “Both sets the twins, the Wellers and the Smiths, with them just coming up to varsity this year, they are progressing really well. In fact, they are starting to get faster than I thought they would.”

With their steady improvement, Hunt has been able to use them more and more as the season has progressed.

“By being able to do that, it helps me rest those senior guys,” Hunt said.

It was a pair of seniors that helped Dowagiac play one of its best games of the season.

Dashawn Brooks came out on fire, leading Dowagiac and all scorers with 16 points. Brooks scored nine of his points in the opening quarter, and 14 out of his 16 in the first half.

Senior D.J. Lanier, coming off a 24-point performance against Lakeshore last Tuesday night, picked up the scoring in the second half for the Chieftains.

Lanier netted seven of his 15 points in the third quarter, and 13 in the second half.

“Dashawn has been shooting the ball pretty well this season,” Hunt said. “When he is on, it sparks the rest of the guys. He can be a one-man wrecking crew. He is the difference between having a four-point lead and a 12-point lead. I just hope he can continue it.”

Hunt was glad to see Lanier finally have a breakout game against the Lancers, which he continued on Friday night.

“D.J. Lanier finally showed up, and he says he is here to stay,” Hunt said. “I think he was putting more pressure on himself than he needed to, being the senior leader and being here four years. He has learned the other guys are here to support him, and he just needs to go out and play, and they will follow his lead.”

Edwardsburg (4-3, 1-1 South) was led by Brendan Byce’s 11 points. Jaylynn Luster added 10 points.

Girls basketball

Dowagiac was no match for defending Wolverine Conference champion Edwardsburg Friday night.

The visiting Eddies jumped out to a 22-3 first-quarter lead, which they stretched to 43-6 by halftime.

Claire Bartz scored a game-high 13 points for the Eddies, who also got eight points each from Katie Schaible and Abbey Krugh.

Allie Conner had eight points to lead the Chieftains, who drop to 0-6 on the year and 0-2 in the South Division.

Edwardsburg is now 7-1 overall and 2-1 in division action.