Dowagiac rolls past Tigers, Shamrocks top Niles

Published 10:47 am Tuesday, March 5, 2024

By Scott Novak

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DOWAGIAC — Host Dowagiac and Berrien Springs advanced to the Division 2 Girls District Basketball Tournament semifinals with wins in the opening round Monday night.

The Chieftains (15-7) blew out Benton Harbor (2-16) 62-25 in the opening game of the tournament, while Berrien Springs (9-13) jumped out to a big lead early and went on to defeat Niles (2-20) 37-25 in the second half of the doubleheader.

Dowagiac advances to Wednesday’s semifinal against former Wolverine Conference foe Edwardsburg (zz). Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. The Shamrocks will face No. 1 seed Lakeshore (xx) in the second game, set to begin at approximately 7 p.m.

The championship game is scheduled for Friday with a 7 p.m. tipoff.

 

Dowagiac vs. Benton Harbor

For the third time this season, the Chieftains rolled to an easy victory over the Tigers.

Behind its dynamic duo of senior Maggie Weller and sophomore Marlie Carpenter, Dowagiac exploded for 22 points in the opening quarter to open up a 16-point advantage.

The Chieftains would increase its 22-6 first quarter advantage into a 39-10 lead at the intermission. Dowagiac continued to build its advantage, and led 55-14 after three quarters.

The final minutes of the third quarter and all of the fourth was played with a running clock.

Carpenter scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Chieftains, who got 17 points from Weller.

Senior Audrey Johnson added nine points.

Benton Harbor was led by Shamiya Griffis’ 16 points. She was the lone Tiger to reach double digits.

“It was nice to get our first district game under us tonight and get some jitters out,” said Dowagiac Coach Jason Turner. “We are excited to be moving on to the semis against Edwardsburg, which we have seen a lot over the last few years and saw in the championship game last year. We will prep tomorrow [Tuesday] and be ready on Wednesday. We are at home, so I hope we can get a great turn out from our fans to help these ladies out. They deserve it.”

 

Niles vs. Berrien Springs

The Vikings struggled offensively for the entire 32 minutes of their quarterfinal game against Berrien Springs.

Niles managed just eight baskets on the night.

After grabbing the 10-point cushion after one quarter, the Shamrocks slowly pulled away from the Vikings over the next three quarters.

Berrien Springs led 25-11 by halftime and 31-21 entering the final eight minutes of the contest.

Elly Matlock had 12 points to lead the Vikings in her final game at Niles. The Vikings also got seven points from Jessica Thornton.

 

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