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DOWAGIAC — With a tough stretch of games approaching, Buchanan’s girls basketball team came into Friday’s Lakeland Conference game at Dowagiac looking to build some momentum. 

Buchanan’s size, experience and pressure helped the Lady Bucks roll to a 55-41 win over Dowagiac. 

Three players scored in double figures for Buchanan, now 1-2 in the Lakeland and 5-4 overall. Dowagiac falls to 1-3 and 3-5 overall. 

The Lady Bucks were led in scoring by senior forward Kate Ailes with 18 points, while 6-foot-2 senior Alyssa Carson finished with 13 and Justyce Cashier posted 10. Aspen Berry added eight points, Caitlyn Horvath five and Cam Carlson rounded out the the Lady Bucks’ scoring with one point. 

Buchanan finished the night shooting 22-of-50 from the floor (44 percent) while making 9-of-15 free-throw attempts (60 percent). 

Dowagiac was paced in the scoring department by Niyah Moss with 10 points, while Olivia McIntosh and Marlie Carpenter finished with eight points each. 

The Lady Chieftains made 14-of-49 shots from the floor (29 percent) and 11-of-24 (46 percent) at the foul stripe.  

The Lady Bucks outrebounded Dowagiac 27-20. 

Ailes pulled down seven rebounds and Carson six for Buchanan. Dowagiac was led on the boards by Moss and Sabrina Shivers with five apiece. 

Buchanan forced Dowagiac into 30 turnovers on the evening. The Lady Bucks committed 18. 

“One thing we’ve really been working on in practice is pushing the ball in transition because we have a lot of good athletes on this team,” said Buchanan’s head coach Alex Austin. “We got some steals off our press and got some unselfish passes for several easy baskets. That’s what we want to see and we are starting to come together as a team. I think things really resonated after we lost to Edwardsburg a couple weeks ago. Tonight was a real physical game and I’m just so pleased with how we kept our composure when it got a little chippy at times.”

Following next Thursday’s contest at Benton Harbor, Buchanan will host St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran on Jan. 20 before going on the road to face Otsego on Jan. 22 and No. 1-ranked Niles Brandywine on Jan. 24.

“We need to continue to build the positivity and confidence to win some basketball games,” Austin added. 

Buchanan scored the first two baskets of the game before Dowagiac stormed back with a three pointer by Olivia McIntosh and a Carpenter free throw to knot the game up at 6-6. 

The Lady Bucks, however, scored eight of the next 10 points to take a 14-8 advantage and led 15-9 after the first quarter. 

Shivers got a steal that led to a three pointer by Evie Lock as Dowagiac pulled within five, 19-14, early in the second quarter. Cashier scored half of her points during the period to help Buchanan build a double-digit (32-22) halftime lead. 

Dowagiac didn’t do itself any favors as the Lady Chieftains committed five turnovers in its first six possessions in the third quarter. The Lady Bucks outscored its hosts 11-5 during that stretch while building its advantage to 43-27 entering the fourth quarter. 

The closest Dowagiac would get in the final period was 13 points, 43-30, on Moss’ basket down low. 

Dowagiac first-year head coach Craig Schau said his young ballclub still struggles in the turnover department while getting used to new things he has implemented. 

“We didn’t help ourselves tonight with all the turnovers we had. We have to work on eliminating our mistakes. I thought we did a nice job though of breaking the press. Our kids were in the spots they were supposed to be in. We are a very young basketball team,” Schau said.

Brenna Mott is the lone senior on Dowagiac’s roster. There are four juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen on the team as well.

“We have contributors throughout our lineup. Most of these girls are used to playing a lot of zone defense and we are getting them used to more man-to-man. Marlie is huge contributor for us down low. We’ve struggled the past couple games with our shooting especially on the outside,” Schau said.