By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The emotions, excitement and hype of Senior Night almost cost Niles' varsity basketball team a loss Thursday evening against the Dowagiac Chieftains in the last regular season game.
The Chieftains outplayed the Lady Vikings, who took the 52-37 victory, in the first half by controlling the ball, the tempo of the game and made the shots they needed to make.
After the first quarter of play, Dowagiac sat on top of Niles by one point, 12-11.
The second period stayed the same and although Niles held onto a small lead the entire quarter, the Chiefs were never far behind. Despite a technical foul on Sarah Ostyn halfway through the second period, Dowagiac was able to maintain its composure and enter halftime down by three, 25-22.
The third period was a very low scoring one as both teams struggled to get the ball to the basket. Both Niles and Dowagiac only scored six points each, bringing the third quarter score to 33-28.
But in the fourth, it was the Lady Vikes who broke free and posted the biggest score of the night.
Chieftain guard Holly Lowe opened the scoring when she bombed a three-pointer at the 7:17 mark bring the score to 33-31, but that was the last time Dowagiac would be within reach of the lead.
Lindsay Craig made a big steal for the Lady Vikes and passed the ball to Sarah Dreher, who assisted Jessica Shinsky in a basket. Shinsky was fouled during the shot and completed the three-point play.
After that, the Vikings went on a 16-0 spurt.
Niles took control of the game when Dowagiac's bench was called for a technical foul with 4:45 left.
Brandie Radde was put on the line and made both of her free throws, giving the Vikes a 38-31 lead.
Shinsky added the next four points to the scoreboard and Amanda Pingel made a successful three-point play, followed by four points from Dreher to give Niles the 49-33 advantage.
The Lady Chiefs made their second basket of the quarter almost six minutes after their first when Wood scored, but another three-point play from Shinsky, sealed the victory for the Vikes with just under two minutes to play.
Wood drew her fifth foul on Shinsky, forcing her out of the game.
Katie Stuppy, who Niles held to just four points in the second half, went 2-or-2 on the line and Amber Clark added the last basket of the night for Dowagiac, bringing the final score to 52-37.
Stuppy ended the night with 16 points for the Chieftains. Lowe added eight and Kristy Cooper had four.
Leading the Vikings were Dreher with 22 points, Radde with 13 and Shinsky with nine.
Shinksy also had 10 rebounds, and Megan Scameheorn had six assists and four steals.
Niles, which ended the season with a 17-3 record, will prepare for district action next week as it will take on the winner of the Coloma/St.Joe game Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Lakeshore High School.
Dowagiac (6-14) will face the winner of the Lakeshore/South Haven game at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday.
Junior Varsity game
Niles' JV basketball team picked up its last win of the season against the Chiefs Thursday evening, 59-33.
Leading the vikes in scoring were were Kelsey Neilson with 18 points, including two three-points, Kaylynn Stephenson had 11 points and Katie Tuohey added nine.
Dowagiac was led by Elizabeth Williams and Sada Nealey both with eight points each.