PAW PAW — The Dowagiac girls basketball team is still in search of its first win of the season.

With several players missing due to the Miss Dowagiac pageant for the next two weeks, that task will become even tougher.

The Chieftains played their first game without seniors Hayden First and Madison Potter against host Paw Paw Tuesday night. The host team was able to take advantage of Dowagiac in its 47-23 Wolverine Conference non-divisional victory.

“We played well at times, but only in spurts,” said first-year Dowagiac coach Jason Turner. “Things we practice need to start transferring over into games, such as making free throws. They need to be able to compete for the full 32 minutes and look to score.”

Dowagiac (0-11) made 12 fewer baskets than Paw Paw, including two fewer 3-pointers. The Chieftains were also 8-of-23 from the free throw line compared to 6-of-6 for Paw Paw.

Dowagiac heads to Sturgis for a Wolverine Conference South Division contest Friday night. Tipoff is set for 5:45 p.m.

Cassopolis basketball

CASSOPOLIS — Host Cassopolis held on to its place at the top of the Southwest 10 Conference boys basketball standings with a 64-48 win over Hartford Tuesday night.

The Rangers (7-3, 7-1 Southwest 10) used a big second half to shake off a pesky Hartford squad.

Cassopolis led the Indians just 18-15 after one quarter, and 32-25 at halftime.

The Rangers outscored Hartford 32-23 in the second half to earn the victory.

Darrion Gatson scored 22 points to lead Cassopolis, which also got 12 points from Jerry Johnson and 11 points from Matthew Anderson.

The Cassopolis girls were not as fortunate, as they were defeated by host Hartford 57-44.

The Rangers (3-8, 2-5 Southwest 10) led 11-8 after one quarter, but trailed the Indians 25-21 at halftime.

Angel Gary had 14 points for Cassopolis, which also got 11 points from Zaniya Dodd.

Edwardsburg basketball

On Tuesday, the Edwardsburg girls basketball team blew out host Sturgis 62-17 in a tune up for its South Division showdown with Three Rivers Friday night.

Claire Bartz led the Eddies with 11 points, while Macey Laubach added 10 points.

The Edwardsburg boys team snapped a five-game winning streak of the Trojans with a 56-51 victory Tuesday night.

Max Hafner scored a game-high 18 points, while Colby Sidenbender and Luke Hudak added nine.