DOWAGIAC — Season openers are always tough, but when you face one of the area’s premier programs, things get a bit more difficult.

The Dowagiac girls basketball team did not shy away from tough competition in its opener as the Chieftains hosted perennial powerhouse Brandywine Tuesday night.

And despite dropping a 50-30 decision to the Bobcats, Dowagiac coach Brent Nate saw some good things from his team.

“I knew their (Brandywine’s) pressure was going to be an issue for us,” he said. “And they did a great job with their run and jump. They trapped us all over the place. We thought we would have an issue if we played in a hurry. We want to play fast, but we played in a hurry which limited us getting into our offense, our sets and what we wanted to do.

“It made it a helter-skelter game, which is how we want to play, but they did it to us. There is a reason why they have that many districts in a row and have been the program in the area. That is what we aspire to be.”

After the Chieftains grabbed a 1-0 lead on a free throw by Amiyah Smith, the Bobcats rolled off 12 consective points and led 12-1 before Taylor Pye scored back-to-back buckets that snapped Brandywine’s run and cut the lead to 12-5 with 1:52 remaining in the opening quarter.

Dowagiac again cut the Bobcats’ lead to seven points early in the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Tania Parker Wilson, but that would be as close as the Chieftains would get as the Bobcats’ pressure defense started to pay dividends.

A Nicole Sachman basket with 3:05 to play made it 21-10 and another turnover led to a 3-pointer by Megan Schmidt extended the lead to 24-10.

The Bobcats never looked back, leading by 17 at halftime, 27-10.

Veteran Brandywine coach Josh Hood said he was worried coming into the game about the Bobcats’ toughness.

He learned quickly that despite having just two seniors and two juniors, the Bobcats are ready to take the reigns.

“This summer and into our preseason scrimmages in the fall we did not show a lot of toughness,” he said. “We knew game one here on the road we were concerned because we scrimmaged Dowagiac over the summer and we were really concerned about Amiyah Smith and those guards are really physical.

“I was really proud of our young team. When you can throw out there four sophomores, a freshman and a couple juniors, we are really a young team. We really grew up tonight.”

Hood was pleased with the way his team finished the first half, opening up a comfortable lead.

“We were really the aggressor,” he said. “We dominated the glass and that is different for us. We have not been as good as that, especially after we lost the Hartlines. We took a major step tonight. There are going to be some ups and downs because we are a young team, but we competed tonight. I do not think we did that in our preseason scrimmages. We saw a team tonight when the lights go on they are going to be hungry and go after it.”

The two teams played even during the final two quarters.

Brandywine outscored Dowagiac 23-20.

Each team struggled with foul issues throughout the contest. Dowagiac was 9-of-29 from the free throw line, while the Bobcats were 15-of-29.

Both coaches know that better days are ahead of them.

“We are not going to be a thing of beauty right now,” Hood said. “We are far from a finished product. With volleyball winning we are less than 10 practices in as a team, but we showed tonight we can grind out wins.”

Nate is in his second season at the helm of the Dowagiac program. He knows that building a program from the bottom up takes time and patience.

“One of the things we talked about in our motion offense is we actually have to screen a body,” he said. “Right now, we are screening an area instead of putting a body on a body. We have to improve our cuts and our ability to move without the ball and get open. We tend to stand and watch whoever has the ball instead of create a screen and use our athleticism.

“We have some quickness. Once we learn how to do it and once we learn to finish at the rim it will be different. Our goal is to be better in March than what we are right now. And we will be.”

Brandywine’s Zakiyyah Abdullah led all scorers with 18 points. Sachman added 14 and Kennedy Bryd nine.

Dowagiac was led by Pye’s 11 points. Tania Parker Wilson finished with 10.

Brandywine heads to Comstock to take on the BCS Athletic Conference co-champion Colts Friday, while the Chieftains remain home and will open up Wolverine Conference play against Paw Paw.