From staff reports

The Ring Lardner eighth grade boys’ basketball team traveled to St. Joe and earned a hard fought 39-35 victory.

The win moved the Vikings record to 3-1, but for most of the game it seemed as if the outcome would not be in Niles favor.

Poor defense and lack of offensive execution allowed St. Joe to jump out to an early 11-2 lead. Raquon Glenn’s 3-pointer at the buzzer ended the quarter, but with Niles trailing 14-5.

Adam Langmeyer sparked the Vikings in the second quarter helping narrow the gap, but Niles still trailed by seven at the half.

The third quarter saw the Vikings edge closer with pressure defense and better execution. Gabe Stokes 3-pointer at the buzzer trimmed the St. Joe lead to 29-28 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter saw Trey Kyles and Mike Martin get the Vikings going and out to the early lead in the quarter that they would never surrender.

Stokes and Glenn led the Vikings with 13 and 11 points.

“The real hero was Dalton Raymond, who really limited their best offensive player all night while adding five points of his own, ” Niles coach Mike Gallo said. “We really learned a lot from our loss at Benton Harbor earlier, and as a coach you talk about and work on situations all year.  It was nice to see the kids learn from that earlier experience and execute down the stretch. That is why we won the game tonight and why this is such a great group to work with.”

Other scorers were Trey Kyles with six points and Adam Langmeyer and Mike Martin with two points.