By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Another dominant defensive effort gave the Niles basketball team a chance to win its seventh straight district title as the Vikings easily beat St. Joseph 58-25 in Wednesday night's Class C District semifinal.
Niles, now 19-3, will face Lakeshore, a 29-22 winner over Dowagiac, in Friday's championship game set to tip off at 7 p.m. at Niles High School.
The Vikings snapped a 4-4 tie early in the first quarter and went on a 12-0 run, eventually taking an 18-6 lead at the end of the period. The Bears committed six turnovers in the first quarter.
Niles kept the defensive pressure on, but excelled on the offensive end, outscoring St. Joseph 14-7 in the second quarter for a 32-13 halftime lead.
The Vikings pulled away for good in the third quarter, increasing their lead to 49-17 at the end of the period and coasting through the fourth quarter.
Brandie Radde, who opened the scoring with one of her three 3-pointers, led all scorers with 20 points for Niles. She was the only double-figure scorer for the Vikings, but Ashley Spriggs and Leigh Tyler added eight and seven points, respectively.
Carlee Maddox, St. Joseph's leading scorer, was held to six points and fouled out with 2:37 left in the game.
Niles is outscoring its opponents in the District Tournament 118-45. Radde is averaging 16 points per game in the postseason.
The winner of Friday's game advances to the Class B Regional Tournament at Marshall next week.
Niles…………58
St. Joseph….25
Niles: Jessica Johnson 0 0-0 0, Ashley Spriggs 1 6-8 8, Melissa Olsen 2 0-0 4, Brandie Radde 8 1-2 20, Amber Peters 1 2-3 4, Ashley Pingel 3 0-0 6, Sarah Dreher 1 0-1 2, Kate Whittaker 1 1-2 3, Megan Scameheorn 1 2-2 4, Colombe Martin 0 0-0 0, Leigh Tyler 3 1-2 7, Jessica Shinsky 0 0-0 0, Chardae Ross 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 13-20 58
St. Joseph: Kari Anderson 3 0-0 6, Megan Mejeur 0 0-0 0, Carlee Maddox 3 0-0 6, Rachel Young 1 0-0 2, Mary Schueneman 1 0-0 2, Jessica Kish 1 0-0 2, Kristin Hunnell 1 0-0 2, Anna Schuenamen 0 1-2 1, Sarah Lund 1 0-0 3, Melissa Blake 0 1-2 1, Kim Schmidt 0 0-0 0, Katie Ryan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 2-4 25
Niles 18 14 17 9--58
St. Joseph 6 7 4 8--25
3-point shooting: Niles 3 (Radde 3), St. Joseph 1 (Lund). Team fouls (fouled out): Niles 13 (none), St. Joseph 15 (Maddox). Team records: Niles 19-3, St. Joseph 13-8