By STEVE MORRISON
Niles Daily Star

Trailing 31-23 at home, after the first half, the Brandywine Bobcats put a chill into the Niles Vikings’ hopes when Corey Luhrsen and Dustin  Sater nailed two quick 3-pointers to pull within two points to begin the second half on Tuesday night. Brandywine had the makings of an upset against its neighboring rival, but the Vikings recovered to win easily 59-44.

The Vikings built a 22-11 advantage in the first eight minutes largely on the scoring of Myles Busby, who had 10 of his team-leading 13 points for the Vikings in the first half.
Jacob Frazier was tough inside for the Bobcats with 11 first half tallies (13 overall).

However the Bobcats had trouble holding onto the basketball, committing 16 turnovers before intermission. The Vikings didn’t do much better with 12 miscues.

David Garner was only able to score one field goal in the opening half as the Vikings went into the locker room at intermission with a slight 31-23 lead.

After Luhrsen and Sater had sunk their two treys to open the second half, Matt McLaughlin knocked in a clutch 3-pointer for the Vikings.

Garner woke up for two.

Not to be denied, the Bobcats answered with a bank for two by Lance Prescott and a thundering stuff by Frazier to cut the lead to 37-33.

Garner’s drive up of the court for two and a free throw conversion sparked the visitors to a 42-33 lead.

Then Austin Parks’ triple and Mitch Peterek’s field goal gave the Vikings a solid 50-35 lead after three periods.

Niles coach Todd Pawielski picked the right time to bring the sophomore Parks off of the bench in that third quarter.

To begin scoring in the final eight minutes, Parks sent a dagger for three more to give the Vikings their biggest lead of the night at 53-35.

Niles had whittled practically two minutes off the clock to begin the final stanza.

Prescott added two more buckets and Sater canned another three, but Frazier fouled out and the Vikings held on for a 15-point lead for the win.

Jordan Pothoff came in and added four points to help sustain the Vikings during the waning minutes.

“I wasn’t overly impressed with our interior defense. I thought we guarded well full-court. Once they got the ball in the lane they seemed to score. That’s definitely a concern,” offered Pawielski after the game. “I think we shared the ball well tonight; I think we had some positives on offense.”

Nathan Knapp was disappointed with his Bobcats’ performance. “We’ve been struggling with it (ball-handling). Once we figure that out, we’ll do a lot better job. Get the ball across mid-court, and get it to your big guys. We missed quite a few uncontested layups. We have to play our two-three zone and work the best we can,” he summarized.

The Viking junior varsity team was led by Brandon Partee’s 16 points in their 57-34 victory over the junior Bobcats.

Taylor Campbell notched 10 for the Vikings, while Austin Searles led the Bobcats with three 3-pointers, for nine.

With a 59-34 conquest, Niles’ freshmen made it a sweep for the night.

John Franklin led the Niles frosh with 19 and Anthoney Bice’s 10 points with Alexander Brown’s 12 rounded out the Niles effort.

NILES 59
Matt McLaughlin 4 2-2 12, Zach Prenkert 1 0-0 2, Myles Busby 4 5-6 13, Justin Potthoff 0 0-1 0, Nick Lucero 1 3-6 5, Mitch Peterek 2 0-0 4, Jordan Potthoff 1 2-2 4, David Garner 3 1-1 7, Austin Parks 2 0-0 6, Quinton Irby 2 0-0 4, Riley Robson 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 21 13-20 59
BRANDYWINE 44
Corey Luhrsen 1 0-0 3, Dakota Udell 1 1-4 3, Jesse McCombs 0 0-0 0,Dustin Sater 3 0-2 9, Lance Prescott 6 0-1 12, Stone Hadley 1 0-0 2, Dustin Bell 1 0-1 2, Jacob Frazier 6 1-2 13. TOTALS: 19 2-10 44

Niles 22 31 50 59
Brandywine 11 23 35 44
3-point baskets: Brandywine 4 (Luhrsen 1, Sater 3), Niles 4 McLaughlin 2, Parks 2 . Total fouls: Brandywine 18, Niles 14. Fouled out: Frazier (BW). Varsity records: Niles 4-3, Brandywine 2-4