NILES — Visiting Battle Creek Central held Niles’ Alycia Patterson to 12 points in its 51-43 victory Tuesday night.

Patterson, who is currently third on the Vikings’ all-time career scoring list, entered the game as the area’s leading scorer with an average of 19.1 points per game.

Niles turned a 15-15 deadlock into a 30-19 halftime advantage in the SMAC non-divisional contest.

The Vikings were unable to maintain that advantage in the second half.

The Bearcats cut Niles’ lead to 37-35 heading into the final quarter, and then outscored the Vikings, 16-6 in the last eight minutes to pull out the victory.

Amara Palmer finished with 10 points for Niles, which also got seven points from Sydney Skarbek.

Arieonna Ware scored a game-high 25 points for the Bearcats, who improved to 11-3 on the season.

The Vikings (7-6) will host travel to Portage Northern for a SMAC West Division contest at 5:45 p.m. Friday night.

Boys basketball

The Vikings also dropped a close decision to Battle Creek Central on the road in boys basketball Tuesday night.

The host Bearcats held on to defeat Niles 50-46 in SMAC non-divisional play.

The Vikings trailed 20-17 after the opening quarter and 30-26 at halftime. Battle Creek Central led 41-34 heading into the final quarter.

Mari Nichols led Niles with 16 points, while Adrian Thomas added nine, and Cerious Wilson added seven.

The Vikings travel to Portage Northern for a SMAC West Division contest Friday night.