By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
After losing two straight, the Class B No. 6-ranked Niles varsity basketball team got back on track Thursday night with a 60-40 victory over Big-16 Conference foe Kalamazoo Central.
The Vikings, now 10-2 on the season, led 17-9 after one quarter and stretched the lead to 33-16 at halftime.
Brandie Radde led all scorers with 17 points for the Vikings and Jessica Johnson scored a career-high 15 points. Sarah Dreher added 10 points and 15 rebounds to go along with six assists. Kate Whittaker pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with her four points.
Telisha Saunders paced the Giants (3-8) with 13 points.
Niles had 54 rebounds as a team as well as 22 points. The Vikings shot 46.9 percent (23-of-49) from the field and 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the free throw line.
Niles travels to Sturgis Tuesday for another Big-16 Conference contest.
The Niles junior varsity basketball team beat Kalamazoo Central 73-37. Chardae Ross led the Vikings with 20 points and Setephanee Schrader added 18.
The Niles freshmen basketball team beat Kalamazoo Central 38-37. Shalayla thompson led the Vikings with nine points.
Niles……………………..60
Kalamazoo Central….40
Niles: Ashley Pingel 0 0-0 0, Amber Peters 0 2-4 2, Jessica Johnson 6 2-3 15, Leigh Tyler 0 0-0 0, Brandie Radde 5 4-4 17, Sarah Dreher 5 0-1 10, Kate Whittaker 1 2-2 4, Colombe Martin 2 0-0 4, Melissa Olsen 1 0-0 2, Ashley Spriggs 3 0-0 6, Megan Scameheorn 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 10-14 60
Kalamazoo Central: Telisha Saunders 5 2-2 13, Nicole Carr 3 1-4 7, Nicole Parker 1 1-2 3, Rashel Goodwin 1 1-2 3, Danielle Brown 1 1-2 3, Monique Grayson 1 0-0 3, Talanda Ollie 2 0-0 4, Takarra Dunning 2 0-0 4. Totals: 15 6-12 40
Niles 17 16 14 13--60
K. Central 9 7 10 14--40
3-point shooting: Niles 4 (Radde 3, Johnson), Kalamazoo Central 4 (Saunders 3, Grayson). Team fouls (fouled out): Niles 9 (none), Kalamazoo Central 12 (none). Team records: Niles 10-2, Kalamazoo Central 3-8