A barrage of 3-pointers in the third quarter helped lift No. 12-ranked Niles to an easy 68-40 Big 16 Conference West Division visiting St. Joseph Friday night.

The Vikings (12-1, 8-1 West) connected on five treys in the third quarter as they stretched their 10-point halftime advantage into a comfortable 50-29 lead heading to the final quarter.

After Austin Parks opened the second half with basket, he hit the first of Niles’ five triples to extend the lead to 31-16.

Myles Busby followed that up with the first of his back-to-back 3-pointers as the Vikings outscored the Bears 14-5 over a five minute stretch in the third period that sealed St. Joseph’s fate.

Logan Harpenau and Alec Brown also had treys in the quarter as Niles erupted for 24 points, while holding the Bears to just three points.

“I thought we shared the ball a little bit more tonight and made the extra pass,” Niles coach Todd Pawielski said. “It was real important to score a couple of baskets early in the second half otherwise they were going to watch paint dry tonight.

“The kids did a nice job of building us a nice lead. I liked our patience tonight. It’s tough to play defense for 35 seconds and then not get impatient on the offensive end. I thought we did a pretty good job of settling down. If we were impatient we would end up making a shot anyway.”

The Vikings didn’t cool off much in the final quarter despite substituting freely. Niles finished with 18 points in the final eight minutes to make sure the Bears would not make a comeback.

St. Joseph (6-6, 3-6 West) is normally a good 3-point shooting team as well. But the Bears had just one triple in the first half and finished with only five for the contest.

Niles led 11-5 after the opening quarter and 26-16 at halftime.

Busby and Parks both scored 13 points for the Vikings, who also got 10 points from Alec Brown. Busby dished out four assists and grabbed six rebounds. Matthew McLaughlin had a team-high seven assists to go along with seven points.

Dakota Mahler led the Bears with 11 points.

Taylor Brandstatter (10) drives to the basket against St. Joseph. Brandstatter had a game-high 17 points in the Vikings loss to the No. 4-ranked Bears. (Daily Star Photo/JOSEPH WEISER)

St. Joseph…51

Niles…35

For three quarters Friday night, the Niles girls basketball team had No. 4-ranked St. Joseph on the ropes.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, they came up eight minutes short and fell to the Bears 51-35.

St. Joseph (15-0, 9-0 West) and Niles (3-12, 1-8 West) were deadlocked at 31-31 heading to the fourth quarter.

The Bears erupted for 20 points and pulled away from a Niles team that ran out of gas and managed just four points in the final eight minutes.

For the first three quarters the Vikings went toe-to-toe with St. Joseph. The two teams were deadlocked at 9-9 after one period of play while the Bears edged ahead at halftime 19-18.

Niles got a strong effort from guard Taylor Brandstatter, who finished with a game-high 17 points. Brandstatter scored all but six of those points in the opening half.

She also hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter to keep Niles in the thick of things.

The Vikings held a slim 13-12 advantage on the scoreboard in the third quarter to knot the game at 31 apiece at the end of the period.

“If you can play with poise and confidence you have a chance to be there down the stretch,” Niles coach Patrick Touhey said. “I think we had that opportunity. It’s tough when you give up 21 free throws to make up those points.”

The Bears were 21-of-31 from the stripe compared to 3-of-10 for the Vikings.

Besides 17 points, Brandstatter also had three rebounds and a pair of assists. Michelle Briand finished with eight points and eight rebounds, while Maureen Craig had six points, four rebounds and four assists.

Christina Valentine paced the Bears off the bench with 12 points. Erika Priebe chipped in with 11.

Boys

ST. JOSEPH 40

Austin Sheskey 2 0-0 4; Justin Woodley 0 0-0 0; Jalen Holmes 1 0-1 2; James Morris 1 0-0 2; Micah Schaffer 0 0-0 0’ Dakota Mahler 4 0-1 11; Jared Kuntz 3 1-1 7; Joshua Schaffer 1 0-0 3; Vincent Ball 0 0-0 0; Logan Arent 2 0-0 4; Tyler White 1 0-0 3; Michael Riemland 2 0-0 4; Jovon Meridy 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 1-3 40

NILES 68

Myles Busby 4 2-2 13; Matthew McLaughlin 3 0-0 7; Austin Parks 5 1-2 13; Logan Harpenau 2 0-0 6; Alec Brown 3 2-3 10; Aaron Pierce 0 0-2 0; Arias Williams 0 0-0 0; Anthony Bice 1 0-0 3; Taylor Campbell 3 0-0 6; Quintin Irby 2 3-4 7; Mitchell Dehn 1 1-3 3. TOTALS: 25 9-16 68

St. Joseph 5 16 29 40

Niles 11 26 50 68

3-point baskets: St. Joseph 5 (Mahler 3, J. Schaffer, White), Niles 11 (Busby 3, McLaughlin, Parks 2, Harpenau 2, Brown 2, Bice). Total fouls (fouled out): St. Joseph 17 (Holmes), Niles 15 (none). Varsity records: St. Joseph 6-6, 3-6 West; Niles 12-1, 8-1 West

Girls

ST. JOSEPH 51

Christina Valentine 2 7-8 12; Erika Priebe 4 3-6 11; Rachel Bendewald 0 0-0 0; Bridgette Wanning 0 2-2 2; LeAnne Priebe 2 3-5 7; Lauren LaBaumbard 0 0-0 0; Kaitlyn Ross 1 0-0 2; Lindsey Peirce 1 5-6 8; Samantha Taylor 1 0-0 2; Isabel Knuth 0 0-1 0; Lauren Brower 0 0-0 0; Jasmine Williams 3 1-2 7. TOTALS: 14 21-31 51

NILES 35

Taylor Brandstatter 7 0-2 17; Alexis Arnold 0 0-0 0; Kylee Myer 0 0-0 0; Maureen Craig 2 1-1 6; Eva Nemeth 0 0-0 0; Anna Sikkink 0 1-2 1; Lashonda Greene 1 1-3 3; Jackie Groom 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14 3-10 35

St. Joseph 9 19 31 51

Niles 9 18 31 35

3-point baskets: St. Joseph 2 (Valentine, Peirce), Niles 4 (Brandstatter 3, Craig). Total fouls (fouled out): St. Joseph 10, Niles 20 (none). Varsity records: St. Joseph 15-0, 9-0 West; Niles 3-12, 1-8 West