By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - It didn't take long for the Niles basketball team to show how badly it wanted to win the Class B District Tournament for the seventh straight time Friday night.
Trailing 6-4 with 4:20 left in the first quarter, the Lady Vikings outscored Lakeshore 26-2 the remainder of the first half and cruised to a 57-23 win to secure the title and a trip to next week's Class B Regional Tournament at Marshall.
Niles won the regional title last year and lost in the quarterfinals to Byron Center.
The Niles defense forced Lakeshore into 15 first-half turnovers and the Vikings consistently outrebounded the Lancers.
Sophomore Sarah Dreher led Niles with 14 points and junior Melissa Olsen added 10 points. Ten different players scored for Niles.
Niles………….57
Lakeshore….23
Niles: Ashley Pingel 1 0-0 3, Amber Peters 2 2-4 6, Jessica Johnson 2 0-0 4, Leigh Tyler 0 0-0 0, Brandie Radde 2 0-0 5, Sarah Dreher 6 2-2 14, Megan Scameheorn 1 0-0 2, Kate Whittaker 2 2-2 6, Colombe Martin 1 0-0 2, Melissa Olsen 5 0-0 10, Ashley Spriggs 2 1-1 5, Chardae Ross 0 0-0 0, Jessica Shinsky 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 7-9 57
Lakeshore: Dana Malone 0 0-0 0, Alyssa O'Dorisio 0 0-2 0, Jill Mummaw 3 3-6 9, Mallory Kuehl 0 0-0 0, Ashley McNair 2 2-2 6, Ashley Walden 0 0-0 0, Casi Dailey 0 0-0 0, Monica Gathright 0 2-2 2, Rachel Snyder 0 0-0 0, Brook Thomas 0 0-0 0, Nikki Stusick 0 4-6 4, Katie Evans 1 0-0 2. Totals: 6 11-16 23
Niles 15 15 18 9-57
Lakeshore 7 1 5 10-23
3-point shooting: Niles 2 (Pingel, Radde), Lakeshore none. Team fouls (fouled out): Niles 16 (none), Lakeshore 11 (none). Team records: Niles 20-3, Lakeshore 11-11