By SCOTT NOVAK
Niles Daily Star

Niles honored its seniors Friday night in its final game of the regular season and all three contributed to a 69-52 Big 16 Conference West Division win over visiting St. Joseph.

The win was the 32nd straight for the Vikings over the Bears.

Seniors Brittany Buti, Gabby Ezell and Jenna Grannell combined for 25 points and 18 rebounds in the victory.

Grannell led the way with 17 points and nine boards as Niles rolled out to a 15-0 start, held off one St. Joe run and then cruised home with the victory.

“They came out with a purpose tonight,” Niles coach Patrick Touhey said of his squad, which had dropped two straight contests. “We had four days to prepare for St. Joe and get the kids focused on what was making us a better team earlier and midseason.

“But the bottom line was it was defense. So we spent the last three and a half, four days, 80 percent of our practice working on defense,” he added.

Touhey noted that this Niles team was the third best scoring team in the past 10 years. On the other hand, it’s also the worst defensive team over that stretch.

“We know in order to defend our district title, that we really have to improve on the defensive end,” Touhey continued. “I think the kids came out tonight with a better focus on defense.”

That was evident in the opening four minutes of the game when the Vikings shut out the Bears and opened up a 15-point margin.

St. Joseph started working its way back into the contest from that point on through the conclusion of the first half.

The Bears trailed 19-5 after one quarter of play, but narrowed the lead down to eight points, 32-24, at the intermission.

Niles regained control in the third quarter and outscored St. Joseph 37-28 in the second half to pull away to the 17-point victory.

Junior point guard Nichole Sly had another big game for the Vikings as she finished with a game-high 19 points, had 10 steals, dished out seven assists and grabbed seven rebounds.

Alex McIntee chipped in with 15 points.

Christina Valentine led the Bears with 13 points.

Niles will now begin preparation for the Class A District opener Monday night at Portage Northern.

The Vikings drew defending state champion Benton Harbor in the opening round.

Niles and the Tigers will play the middle game of a tripleheader at 6:30 p.m.

ST. JOE 52
Alesya Schalk 2 2-2 6; Christina Valentine 5 0-0 13; LeAnne Priebe 1 0-0 2; Lindsay Peirce 4 0-0 6; Kaitlin Mavis 2 3-3 7; Coutney Caid 0 0-0 0; Sydney Weisser 2 1-2 5; Samantha Sukuchak 0 0-0 0; Jasmine Williams 3 0-0 6; Erika Priebe 3 0-1 6; Hayley Knuth 0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 21 7-10 52
NILES 69
Savannah Wolnik 1 0-0 2; Starr Ford 0 0-0 0; Alex McIntee 5 4-6 15; Brittany Buti 1 1-1 3; Gabby Ezell 2 1-2 5; Maureen Craig 2 0-0 6; Nichole Sly 8 1-3 19; Whitney Ellis 1 0-0 2; Taylor Glick 0 0-0 0; Jenna Grannell 6 5-6 17; Kelsey Crago 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 26 12-18 69

St. Joe 5 24 38 52
Niles 19 32 52 69
3-point baskets: St. Joe 3 (Valentine 3), Niles 5 (McIntee 1, Craig 2, Sly 2). Total fouls: St. Joe 13, Niles 15. Fouled out: None. Varsity records: St. Joseph 13-7, 3-5 West Division; Niles 14-6, 6-2 West Division