By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Sarah Dreher and Brandie Radde have done it again.
On Tuesday evening, the double-threat seniors both posted new school records for most points scored in their careers, breaking the 1,078 mark set by Timothia Clemmer in 1991.
"Brandie and Sarah broke another school record which is a big positive for us," head coach Jim Arnold said after his team took a 73-38 win over visiting Sturgis Tuesday evening. "It's an accomplishment to have one person break a record, but having two in the same game is uncanny."
With 44 seconds remaining in the first half, a pair of free throws put Dreher over the 1,078 mark. Radde passed the old record when she bombed a three-pointer with 3:39 left in the third period.
"It's real special being able to do this in the same game," Radde said after the game. "All season we have been doing things as a pair and it's just awesome to be able to do something like this together."
"This is great, especially with both of us doing it in the same game. It's been a goal of ours all year and it's just amazing," Dreher said.
The official records won't be posted until the end of the year, but with regular season and tournament games still ahead, it's a sure thing that the new records will be tough to beat.
With the game against the Trojans out of the way, both Radde and Dreher admitted that their team is ready for the next big challenge…Benton Harbor.
"We're so ready. I've been ready for them since the first time they beat us," Radde said.
Arnold stated that his team is going to be ready for a battle and that it's going to take a lot of hard work to defeat the No. 2 ranked team in the state.
"We're just going to enjoy this win and go to work in practice on Wednesday. Benton Harbor has all five weapons and their rebounding is something that may give us some problems. But as long as the girls get out there and give it their all, which I know they will, they won't let me down," Arnold said.
Arnold also mentioned that a lot of his players are really stepping up, including Amanda Pingel, who scored a career high 19 points on Saturday against Bridgman and 17 points against Sturgis.
"Mandie is really doing well for us. She played super defense and was just all over the court causing steals and turnovers. She has finally found her range on offense as well and has just done fantastic for us," Arnold said.
Another player who stepped up for the Lady Vikes was Stephanee Schrader, who contributed eight points on the night for Niles.
"Overall we played very well tonight. Our defense did a real good job on their shooters. Our goal this year is to keep our teams under 40 points and we did that tonight with Sturgis," Arnold said.
Radde led Niles in scoring with 22 points, including three 3-pointers. She also added five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Dreher ended the night with 19 points and five rebounds, Pingel had 17 points, including four three-pointers and three steals. Lindsay Craig had five assists, three steals and two points for the Vikes.
Astynn George led the Trojans in scoring with 15 points.
Junior varsity and freshmen
Niles' JV and freshmen teams were also victorious over Sturgis Tuesday.
The junior varsity Vikings took a 56-21 win, while the freshmen grabbed a 60-29 victory.
Courtney Teske led the way for the JV squad with 16 points, while Kaitlyn Tuohey added nine. Kristin Higgs led Sturgis with seven points.
Bryanna Cramer was the leading scorer for the freshmen team with 14 points. Rachel Smith added 13 points, Demi Schrader had eight and Autumn Lucero and Kaleigh Hill both added six points each.
The Lady Vikes will face the Benton Harbor Tigers on Thursday. Freshmen will begin at 4:30, JV at 5:30 and varsity at 7:30 p.m.
Niles 22 37 57 73
Sturgis 9 16 29 38
NILES
Amanda Pingel 1 4 2-2 17, Shelley Aurand 1 0-0 2, Lindsay Craig 0 0-0 0, Megan Scameheorn 1 0-0 2, Leigh Tyler 0 0-0 0, Brandie Radde 5 3 3-3 22, Sarah Dreher 7 3-4 19, Stephanee Schrader 3 2-3 8, Lauryn Gibson 0 0-0 0, Jessica Shinsky 0 0-0 0, Brittney Wolverton 0 0-0 0, Rebecca Teske 0 0-0 0, Baysia Cox 2 0-0 4
STURGIS
Jordan Phillips 0 2-2 2, Monica Picker 0 0-0 0, Amanda Thelen 0 0-0 0, Astynn George 2 3 2-2 15, Alexa Middleton 3 1-1 7, Shavona Grant 0 0-0 0, Dana Casault 0 0-0 0, Katelyn Pratt 0 0-0 0, Brittany Abbs 0 2-2 2, Rachel Denison 0 1 0-0 3, Sarah Thomasma 2 0-0 4, Chelsea Stewart 0 1 0-0 3