By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
PLAINWELL – Host Plainwell outscored Dowagiac 16-4 in the final quarter to upset the Wolverine Conference's second place Chieftains, 51-44, Friday night.
The Trojans, winners of five straight games, trailed Dowagiac (9-3, 8-2 Wolverine) 40-35 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Plainwell (7-6, 5-5 Wolverine) could have been down nine points heading into the fourth quarter, however, Garrett Salinas tossed in a 3-pointer near half court and was fouled on the play.
Salinas completed the four-point play to cut the lead to five points and gave the Trojans the momentum.
Dowagiac, which had defeated Plainwell back in December by 28 points, struggled offensively the entire game.
Dowagiac and Plainwell were tied at 16 after one period of play. The Chieftains grabbed a 28-27 lead at halftime.
Dowagiac appeared to have gotten into a rhythm on offense in the third quarter, building up a nine-point lead with 58.6 seconds to go on a basket by Amos Clark.
Dowagiac then came up with a defensive stop with 10.8 seconds remaining and was trying to get the ball up the court quickly for a final shot.
Instead, Clark was called for charging, his fourth foul, at mid-court.
Plainwell in bounded the ball and Salinas tossed up the shot as he was fouled with 0.2 seconds left on the clock. Salinas canned the free throw and the Trojans headed into the fourth quarter down 40-35.
Salinas finished with 19 points to lead all scorers. The Trojans also got nine points from Ray Johnson.
Clark, despite feeling ill, led Dowagiac with 16 points before fouling out. The Chieftains also got 10 points from Oscar Wilson and nine points from Chris Primley.
"You can see that teams are really starting to concentrate their defense on Chris," Dowagiac coach Greg Blomgren said. "The more shots we can hit from the perimeter will help loosen up that defense. We hit some outside shots, but we didn't do it consistently."
Dowagiac shot 41 percent from the field and just 43 percent from the free throw line.
The Chieftains were also out rebounded by the Trojans, 28-16.
Plainwell shot 39 percent from the field and 68 percent from the charity stripe. The Trojans had 12 offensive rebounds compared to just six for the Chieftains.
"Rebounding hurt us, there is no doubt about that," Blomgren said.
Despite the loss the Chieftains remained in second place in the league as Allegan upset Gull Lake, 34-33.
The loss dropped the Blue Devils to 11-2 in the league and 11-4 overall.
DOWAGIAC 44
Chris Primley 3 3-6 9, Jamie Simpson 1 2-4 5, Amos Clark 6 1-2 16, Andrew Cuthbert 2 0-2 4, Oscar Wilson 4 0-0 10, Romero Reed 0 0-0 0, Ronnell Grady 0 0-0 0, Chuck Mersereau 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 6-14 44
PLAINWELL 51
Garrett Salinas 6 3-5 19, Colin Yake 1 3-4 5, Ray Johnson 3 3-3 9, Tom Olinger 1 0-1 3, Josh Jackson 3 1-2 7, Lee Jansons 0 3-4 3, Anzio Pedrolini 0 0-0 0, Louis Klein 1 0-0 3, Cedric McBride 0 0-0 0, Dylan McGreggor 1 0-0 2, Ryan Molitor 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 13-19 51
Dowagiac 16 28 40 44
Plainwell 16 27 35 51
3-point baskets: Clark (D) 3, Wilson (D) 2, Simpson (D), Salinas (P) 4, Olinger (P), Klein (P). Total fouls: Dowagiac 18, Plainwell 11. Fouled out: Clark (D). Technical fouls: Plainwell coach. Record: Dowagiac 9-3, 8-2 Wolverine