DOWAGIAC — Veteran Dowagiac coach Danum Hunt was excited about the 2019-20 boys basketball season after having a successful summer.

His squad did not exactly get off to the start it wanted to, as the Chieftains were 2-4 to open the year. Granted, all four losses came against either ranked or undefeated basketball teams.

Since that time, Dowagiac has regained the form it exhibited over the summer, and the Chieftains have won five consecutive games, including Friday night’s 79-55 Wolverine Conference South Division contest against visiting Three Rivers.

The win kept the Chieftains (7-4 overall) atop the South Division standings at 4-0.

One of the things that Dowagiac has been able to do during its winning streak is play a fast and aggressive style of basketball at both ends of the court. The Chieftains have also played with tremendous energy throughout the winning streak.

The Chieftains led 19-6 after one quarter and 41-18 at the intermission.

However, in the second half, Dowagiac seemed a little flat, which allowed the Wildcats to make a run at the Chieftains.

“We did not come out with the same level of energy and intensity in the third quarter,” Hunt said. “I think sometimes you can get off to a great start, and then you have a tendency to want to coast. We were able to pick it back up later in the game. Our defense let down, but we were able to pick it back up and finish the game strong.”

Three Rivers (4-5, 0-3 Wolverine South) was able to cut the difference to less than 20 points on multiple occasions in the third and fourth quarter, but never got any closer than 14 points.

Senior Trae Brookins came off the bench to score 19 points to lead the Chieftains, who also got 12 points from Cole Weller off the bench, and nine points from senior Dashawn Brooks. Senior Cailyn Murphy added eight points.

“Cole got comfortable, and once he gets comfortable, he is able to shoot the ball pretty well,” Hunt said. “He is also starting to catch up with the speed of the game at the varsity level.”

Senior D.J. Lanier, who came into the game averaging 20.2 points over the previous five games, had an off-shooting night and finished with eight points.

Oakley Withers turned in a solid performance for the Wildcats and finished with a game-high 21 points. Isaiah Moore also reached double figures with 18 points.

The Chieftains return to action Tuesday night as they host Paw Paw in a Wolverine Conference non-divisional contest. Tipoff is set for approximately 7:15 p.m.