By By ADAM FISHER / Niles Daily Star
When Niles' girls' basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Tuesday to Benton Harbor, it was poor shooting that did in the Vikings.
Niles rebounded with a 50-18 victory over Dowagiac on Thursday, but early on it looked like the Vikings' inability to score would affect them again.
The Vikings missed their first seven shots against the Chieftains, as Dowagiac jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the first six minutes. But Niles used its size to score down low and stepped up the defense, limiting the Chieftains to 12 points the rest of the game.
Niles got baskets from Melissa Olsen and Ashley Pingel in the final minutes of the opening period to carry a 7-6 lead into the second quarter. From there, the Vikings shot well and limited Dowagiac's shots to cruise to victory.
After the Chieftain's took the lead, they went on an eight minute scoreless drought spanning the first two quarters. In that period, Niles hit 9-of-13 shots and went on a 19-3 run in the final 10 minutes of the half to go up 22-9 at halftime.
The Vikings' defense limited Dowagiac to two field goals and six points in the second and third quarters. Their press forced the Chieftains into 23 turnovers, 10 coming in the third quarter.
While Niles' defense was shutting down the Chieftians, its offense took advantage of its height advantage. Niles hit 20-of-46 shots in the game. Excluding its' 0-for-7 start and 0-for-5 finish, the Vikings went 20-for-34 in a period spanning all four quarters.
The Vikings again played without Brandie Radde, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. Arnold experimented with his lineup in her absence, starting sophomore Amanda Pingel.
Pingel was just recently moved up from the junior varsity team, but Arnold said he started her because he wanted Niles' to shoot more.
Arnold said he needed his players to step up with Radde on the bench. He got just that in the form of a balanced scoring attack the Vikings aren't used to.
Kate Whittaker led the Viking with 11 points. Ten players scored for Niles, who usually relies on the efforts of Radde, Sarah Dreher and Amber Peters.
Holly Lowe led Dowagiac hitting 3-of-7 shots, including both of the Chieftains' 3-pointers, for eight points. Brittney Reist grabbed six rebounds to lead Dowagiac.
Niles…………50
Dowagiac….18
Dowagiac (18) - Reist 0 2-2 2, Stuppy 1 0-0 2, Lowe 3 0-0 8, Luthringer 0 0-0 0, Johnson 2 0-1 4, Ostyn 0 0-2 0, Cleveland 1 0-0 2, Hawkins 0 0-0 0, Wood 0 0-0 0. Totals: 7 2-5 18
Niles (50) - Peters 3 4-6 10, Sarah Dreher 1 2-6 4, Melissa Olsen 3 0-0 6, Ashley Pingel 3 0-0 6, Megan Scameheorn 1 0-0 2, Kate Whittaker 5 1-3 11, Leigh Tyler 1 0-0 3, Amanda Pingel 1 0-0 2, Jessica Shinsky 2 1-1 5, Rebecca Teske 0 0-0 0, Stephanee Schrader 0 1-2 1. Totals: 20 9-17 50.
3-point shooting - DUHS 2 (Holly Lowe 2), NHS 1 (Tyler). Rebounds (leader) - DUHS 23 (Reist 6), NHS 41 (Whittaker 9). Fouls (fouled out) - DUHS 18 (none), NHS 14 (none). JV score - Niles 39 (Thompson 10), Dowagiac 34 (Neely 12). Freshman score - Niles 46 (Johnson 12), Dowagiac 16. Records - Dowagiac 3-6 (1-3), Niles 8-1 (3-1).