By By STEVE MORRISON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – The Niles Lady Viking basketball team welcomed the visiting St. Joseph Bears in their season home opener with an incredible 72-15 thrashing of the visitors.
Coach Jim Arnold's team was nearly flawless as they piled up an 18-0 lead to end the first quarter. Niles was dominant on both the offensive and defensive boards, as they evened their season record at 1-1 in front of an enthusiastic crowd wowed by superlative defense, a trademark of Arnold-coached teams.
St. Joseph couldn't manage to find the net until the six minute mark in the second period.
"Defensively, we came out and set the tempo early. I thought the kids got in the lanes very well,forced some turnovers and got steals to make baskets for us," stated an enthusiastic Arnold. "Overall we were very unselfish in our style of play. We did an outstanding job on the offensive glass and the defensive glass.The kids deserve the credit"
Kaitlyn Touhey and Nicole Sly were impressive with their quick steals, while Courtney Teske led Niles with her hot hand sinking 19 points. Lindsey Craig scored nine of her 11 tallies in the first half, while Autumn Lucero knocked down eight, Touhey had nine and Jenna Granell came roaring off the bench to post eight,
It was a simply dominant team effort in all facets of the game for Niles. Arnold was pleased with the performance, noting that Niles takes on Lakeshore next week in a game expected to be a stiff challenge for the two rivals.
Not to be outdone by the varsity, coach George Brawley's junior varsity Vikes laid a 48-19 drubbing on the Bears' JV squad, sending their early season record to an unblemished 2-0.
Rachel Smith led the JV Ladies with 14 points, followed by Alexis McIntee with eight. Demi Schrader knocked down seven and Lindsey Lucero chipped in with six.
The Niles frosh were not so lucky, succumbing to St. Joe 28-27.
"The first half we did really well on the transition," explained Coach Alyse Hoyt, "but we only scored eight points in the second half. We need more offense."
ST. JOSEPH 15
Kayla Mahler 1-8, 2-5, 5; Erin Etter 1-2,2-3,4; Katelyn Ward 0-3,0-0,0; Sara Cobb 0-3, 0-0,0; Kaitlin Mavis 1-4, 0-0,2; Jessica Leonardson 0-0,0-2, 0; Katelyn Ketchum 1-3,0-0,2; Emily Wittman 1-6,0-0, 2
NILES 72
Courtney Teske 8-10,3-3,19; Lindsey Craig 5-11,0-0,11; Baysia Cox 2-7, 0-0, 4;Kaitlyn Touhey 4-6, 1-1, 9; Nicole Sly 2-5,0-0, 5; Alyssa Pingel 2-4, 0-0, 6; Gabrielle Ezell1-3, 0-0, 2; Autumn Lucero 4-8, 0-0, 8; Nathalie Lund 0-6, 0-0, 0; Jenna Granell 4-10, 0-0, 8
St. Joseph 0 6 3 15 – 15
Niles 18 23 21 10 – 72
Three Pointers
St. Joseph; Kayla Mahler
Niles; Lindsay Craig, Nicole Sly, Alyssa Sly (2)
Fouled Out- None