Strong 3-point shooting in the second half helped the Niles girls basketball team pull away and beat Portage Central, 63-33, in Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West Division action on Friday.

The Vikings, who improved to 10-6 overall and 3-5 in the West Division, made all six of their 3-pointers in the second half.

A 13-0 run at the end of the third quarter into the fourth gave Niles a 47-22 lead with 7:10 left in the game. Emily Gaines made two 3’s and and Elyse Zimmeran added one during that stretch.

“We got into running our stuff,” Niles girls basketball coach Phil D’Amico said. “We got into spreading the floor like we’ve drawn up since day one. Hat’s off to the girls. It was a great effort.”

Zimmerman scored 17 points, had six steals and four rebounds to lead Niles, which never trailed in the game. Gaines added 15 points and Jazmin Brann totaled nine points and eight rebounds.

“We challenged them and they came out and played well,” D’Amico said. “We had a really bad game on Tuesday night (in a loss to Gull Lake). We had two really good days of practice on Wednesday and Thursday. We got back to doing the basics. We did skills and drills for two days. We didn’t run any sets (in practice) and did no scouting.”

The Niles boys basketball never led against Portage Central and fell to the Mustangs, 53-45.

Frustrated by his team’s play, Vikings’ coach Todd Pawielski called three time-outs in the first half. The third time-out came with his team trailing, 22-11, with 4:12 left in the second quarter.

Niles missed its first nine shots in the game and shot only 24-percent (5-of-21) from the field in the first half. Portage Central led 27-18 at halftime.

“We kind of settled for what was easy in our shot selection early in the game, instead of making the defense work,” Pawielski said. “We fell in love with the 3-point shot and it didn’t go down and it put us in a big hole.

“We’ve had a problem all year not getting to the rim and shooting free throws. We have to do a better job around the rim of playing through contact. We tend to avoid it and that’s a huge problem for our team right now.”

After Ra’Quon Glenn scored to pull the Vikings within 43-37 with 4:55 left in the game, the Mustangs went on a 6-0 run to take back control of the game.

Both teams shot well in the second half. Portage Central shot 69-percent (9-of-13), while Niles shot 67-percent (12-of-18) from the field over the final 16 minutes.

Ray Glenn scored 16 points and Gabe Stokes added 10 to lead the Vikings, who fell to 5-10 overall and 0-7 in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West Division.

 

GIRLS

NILES 63, PORTAGE CENTRAL 33

Portage Central 33

Aimee VanWalbeck 2, Andrea Nord 7, Broghan Gamble 2, Shae Mulvany 12, Tyler Snyder 2, Taylor Coates 4, Lexi Hite 4, Natalie Sikkenga 0, Sierra Easler 0. TOTALS: 11 10-14 33

Niles 63

Antonia Palmer 7, Jazmin Brann 9, Maya Brookins 4, Emily Gaines 15, Elyse Zimmerman 17, Kylee Myer 0, Jaiden Rolan 9, Ashli Bryant 2, Tegan Bays 0, Jay Palmer-Kirtdoll 0. TOTALS: 25 7-12 63

 

Portage Central         7          11        22      33

Niles                            13       23       42       63

3-point baskets: Portage 1 (Mulvany), Niles 6 (Gaines 3, Zimmerman 2, Rolan). Total fouls (fouled out): Portage 14 (none), Niles 15 (none). Shooting: Portage 11-of-39 for 28-percent, Niles 25-of-61 for 41-percent. Rebounding: Portage 24 (Nord 8), Niles 28 (Brann 8). Turnovers: Portage 28, Niles 14. Varsity records: Portage Central 0-16, 0-7; Niles 10-6, 3-5 West

 

BOYS

PORTAGE CENTRAL 53, NILES 45

Portage Central 53

Austin McCullough 18, Lewis Kordupel 7, Chase Carlson 14, Raine Potts 0, Jack Eichman 0, Joe Stewart 4, Marcus Moore 2, Drew Kristin 0, Jacob Roth 0, Daniel Bowditch 8. TOTALS: 17 15-24 53

Niles 45

Gabe Stokes 10, Gavin Rasler 4, Sammy Rodts 4, Adam Langmeyer 0, Ra’Quon Glenn 16, Dontae Murphy 3, Jake Hamm 2, Derek Brown 0, Alex Harpenau 2, Tyler Phillips 4. TOTALS: 17 8-12 45

 

Portage Central         9          27       39       53

Niles                            5          18       33       45

3-point baskets: Portage 4 (Carlson 2, McCullough, Bowditch), Niles 3 (Glenn 2, Stokes). Total fouls (fouled out): Portage 16 (none), Niles 24 (Rasler). Shooting: Portage 17-of-32 for 53-percent, Niles 17-of-39 for 43-percent. Rebounding: Portage 22 (Stewart 7), Niles 14 (Rasler 4). Turnovers: Portage 13, Niles 14. Varsity records: Portage Central 6-9, 4-4 West; Niles 5-10, 0-7 SMAC West