By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
Dowagiac's varsity basketball team will head into the Christmas break with a perfect record in the Wolverine Conference.
The Chieftains completed their four-game swing through what many perceive as the top four teams in the league on Tuesday night with a 57-43 win over host Gull Lake.
The 14-point final margin of victory is not indicative of how dominant the Chieftains (4-1, 4-0 Wolverine) were in the game.
Dowagiac had a 27-point lead in the second half after being up 15 points at the intermission.
Of Gull Lake's 43 points, 20 of them came in the fourth quarter.
"That's as good a basketball that this team and town has seen in a long time," Dowagiac coach Greg Blomgren said of his squad's performance. "We are playing pretty good basketball right now. The biggest thing is that we were unselfish tonight. We shared the basketball and we knocked down the shots."
Dowagiac was on fire in the first half, hitting on 75 percent of its attempts. The Chieftains were perfect from the 3-point line as all five starters hit a triple.
While Dowagiac was firing on all cylinders on offense, the Chieftain defense set the tone for the game once again.
"The defense was pretty solid," Blomgren said. "We had two kids that were our main focus tonight. We put (Andrew) Cuthbert on one of them and he was scoreless at halftime. Defense and rebounding has been the key and the focus for us all season. Tonight the offense came with it."
Dowagiac completely frustrated Gull Lake in the first half.
The Chieftains built up an 18-point lead and then held the basketball over the final three and a half minutes.
Dowagiac's Chris Primley picked up his second personal foul, so Blomgren decided to take the air out of the ball to keep the senior center from getting into further foul trouble.
Dowagiac was able to maintain possession of the ball for the final three-plus minutes and got the last shot.
"We frustrated their crowd and their team by possessing the ball," Blomgren said.
The Chieftains continued to pour it on in the second half, building up a 27-point bulge before crusing home with the win.
Primley led the Chieftains with 20 points and four rebounds, while Amos Clark added 12 points and six assists.
Jamie Simpson also reached double figures with 10 points. Simpson also had seven assists and six rebounds.
Oscar Wilson finished the night with eight points, five rebounds and a pair of assists.
Dowagiac had 18 assists on the game and just 17 turovers.
The Chieftains are back in action on Jan. 12 at Vicksburg.
DOWGIAC 57
Andrew Cuthbert 2 0-0 5, Jamie Simpson 3 3-5 10, Oscar Wilson 3 0-0 8, Amos Clark 5 1-1 12, Chris Primley 9 1-5 20, Ronnell Grady 0 0-0 0, Glenn Hammond 0 0-0 0, Romero Reed 1 0-0 2, Chuck Mersereau 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 5-11 57
GULL LAKE 43
Matt Gregory 5 2-2 13, Mitch Maiers 0 0-0 0, Corey Allen 3 1-2 8, Gordy Hyde 1 1-2 3, Jason Polmanteer 1 0-0 2, Alexn Monica 0 0-0 0, Curtis Rose 0 0-0 0, Nate Schau 1 0-0 2, Hunter Klotz 1 0-0 3, Andrew Theisen 1 0-0 2, Matt Kollig 0 0-0 0, John Deyo 2 3-8 7, Rob Frost 1 1-2 3. Totals: 16 8-16 43
Dowagiac 23 32 45 57
Gull Lake 10 17 23 43
3-point baskets: Cuthbert (D), Simpson (D), Wilson (D) 2, Clark (D), Primley (D), Gregory (GL), Allen (GL), Klotz (GL). Total fouls: Dowagiac 13, Gull Lake 12. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: Allen (GL). Records: Dowagiac 4-1, 4-0 Wolverine; Gull Lake 3-2, 3-1 Wolverine