It was raining 3s inside the Niles High School gym Wednesday night.

Coach Todd Pawielski’s Vikings showered visiting South Bend Riley with 13 converted shots from behind the 3-point arc, en route to a lopsided 87-68 non-conference boys high school basketball victory.

Niles (4-11) caught fire early from the deep perimeter, meshing six triples during the first six minutes of the contest.

Senior Alec Brown hit three treys during the opening flurry by the Vikings on his way to a career-high 36 points.

“We were fortunate to get off to a good start,” Pawielski said. “We stress to our kids that we have to make the extra pass, and I think our guys understand that when our feet are set, with our hands up ready to shoot, we have some guys who can knock it down. The percentage we shot tonight is not going to happen very often, but they were good shots.”

In addition to Brown’s hot start, the Vikings also got two triples from junior Tate Brawley and another from senior Anthony Bice to grab a 21-19 lead after one quarter.

Bice and Brawley converted back-to-back treys to open the second quarter for Niles, but Riley used two 3-point baskets by Micah Williams and another by Miquan Patton to remain within striking distance of the red-hot Vikings.

Leading by a single point at halftime, Niles exploded out of the second-half starting blocks and put together, arguably, its best quarter of the season.

Niles by the numbers in the third quarter: 27 points on 11-for 14 floor-shooting and no turnovers, which produced a 62-53 lead heading into the final eight minutes of the game.

“I thought (senior) Cole Clemens ignited us in the third quarter and really played good defense,” Pawielski said. “We kind of took off from there.”

Brown scored 10 of his team’s points during a 12-3 run by the Vikings early in the fourth quarter, and Pawielski began emptying his bench with just over three minutes to play.

“Alec Brown was tremendous with a career-high 36 points, but we had a lot of heroes,” Pawielski added. “It seemed like everybody who got into the game made a shot, or got a rebound. Defensively, we’re not where I want us to be, or where we should be, but tonight we made a lot of good offensive decisions and we’re very proud of what the kids did.

“We had 10 guys play very well tonight. This was a fun one and the guys have worked very hard to get to this point.”

Brawley also had a big game for the Vikings. The sharpshooter joined Brown with five triples, while also adding nine rebounds and five assists.

For the game, Niles shot a sizzling 61.7 percent afield (29 of 47) and 59.1 percent from long-distance (13 of 22). The Vikings committed just 15 turnovers and were outrebounded by a 29-24 margin.

Riley ot 14 points, apiece, from Reontre’ Lawrence and Williams, while Ja’mare Washington chipped in with 13 points. The Wildcats shot 39.3 percent from the floor (24 of 61) and turned the ball over 18 times.

 

SOUTH BEND RILEY 68

Torreay Harris 9, Reontre’ Lawrence 14, Micah Williams 14, Keyshawn Winbush 2, Ja’mare Washington 13, Thadius Phillips 4, Miquan Patton 6, Joshua Hodge 6. Totals: 24 14-21 68

NILES 87

Anthony Bice 6, Gabe Stokes 5, Tate Brawley 19, Alec Brown 36, Mitchell Dehn 6, Jesse Jordan 2, Gevanta Nichols 5, Connor Glick 4, Matt Miller 2, Cole Clemens 2, Jeremy Wortham 0, David Haynes 0. Totals: 29 16-23 87

 

Riley 19 34 53 68

Niles 21 35 62 87

3-point goals: South Bend Riley 6 (Harris, Williams 4, Patton), Niles 13 (Bice 2, Brawley 5, Brown 5, Nichols). Team fouls (fouled out): South Bend Riley 17 (none), Niles 17 (none). Rebounds: South Bend Riley 29, Niles 24. Turnovers: South Bend Riley 18, Niles 15. Niles record: 4-11