Three Rivers raced end-to-end to beat the buzzer and Niles in a pressure-filled non-conference girls basketball game Tuesday night.

The Wildcats (6-3) topped the Vikings 43-41 when sophomore Arionne Fowlkes took baseline inbounds pass from junior Morgan Schneider and sprinted most of the length of the court for the game-winning layup.

“They made a good play,” Niles coach Phil D’Amico said of the final sequence where TR set a screen and sent the ball to clean-breaking guard Fowlkes and she used her speed to finish it off. “But we committed too many turnovers and it shouldn’t have come down to that.”

Facing a pressing Three Rivers defense, the Vikings coughed up the basketball 24 times, including seven in the fourth quarter.

“The past two weeks, we have prided ourselves on playing in the full court and stepping it up defensively,” Wildcats coach Jason Bingaman said. “We were down three at half Friday against Sturgis and went on a 16-2 run because of our full-court pressure.

“We were kind of able to take Niles out of its rhythm enough to get back in the game.”

Niles (5-4) had pulled even at 41-all when junior Emily Gaines sank two of three foul shots after being fouled on a 3-pointer from the left wing with five seconds left.

Fowlkes scored eight of her team-best 12 points in the second half.

Junior Krishanna Carter netted six of her 10 points for the Wildcats in the fourth quarter.  She also led the visitors with eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

Senior Julia Majdan canned seven of her nine points for TR in the third period.

Gaines led all scorers with 16 points (12 in the second half), including 7-of-11 at the foul stripe.

Senior Jazmin Brann tossed in eight of her 11 points for the Vikings in the first half.

Niles played without senior point guard Elyse Zimmerman, who injured her shoulder in Friday night’s loss to St. Joseph. Zimmerman will undergo another MRI on Thursday.

Next up for Niles is an SMAC game at home against Lakeshore Friday night.

 

THREE RIVERS 43, NILES 41

At Niles

THREE RIVERS 43

Meg Southland 4, Rhyeli Krause 3, Krishanna Carter 10, Cara Smith 2, Arionne Fowlkes 12, Morgan Schneider 3, De’Ashia Sanders 0. Libby Judsen 0, Julia Majdan 9. TOTALS: 18 5-11 43.

NILES 41

Jaycee Myer 5, Emily Gaines 16, Jazmin Brann 11, Maya Brookins 6, Antonia Palmer 3, Tegan Bays 0, Alexis Preston 0, Lajan Mitchell 0. TOTALS: 14 10-15 41.

 

Three Rivers              4          12       27       43

Niles                            7          18       31       41

3-point baskets: Three Rivers 2 (Krause, Schneider), Niles 3 (Myer, Gaines, Palmer). Total fouls (fouled out): Three Rivers 14 (none), Niles 13 (none). Varsity records: Three Rivers 6-3, Niles 5-4. JV: Three Rivers 70, Niles 23. Freshmen: Three Rivers 39, Niles 15.