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Niles dominates Benton Harbor to improve to 3-1 on the season
Published 1:17am Saturday, December 19, 2009By SCOTT NOVAK
Niles Daily Star
For three quarters the Niles boys’ basketball team stood toe-to-toe with visiting Benton Harbor in a Big 16 Conference West Division showdown.
Then came the fourth quarter.
The Vikings outscored the Tigers 18-7 to earn a 64-53 victory that improved Niles to 2-0 in the division and moved them to 3-1 on the season.
Niles got play from a trio of quartet of players in the final eight minutes as they pulled away from Benton Harbor.
With the two teams knotted at 46 heading to the last quarter, Benton Harbor grabbed a quick lead as Dewon Broyles scored to make it a 48-46 contest.
Niles quickly tied the score on a basket by David Garner and then took the lead for good when Garner went coast-to-coast with 6:06 to play to extend the advantage to four points.
Austin Parks’ 3-pointer gave Niles a 53-48 advantage a minute later and when Matthew McLaughlin canned a 3-pointer with 2:56 to play, the lead reached 10 points (58-48) and Vikings’ coach Todd Pawielski knew his team was going to pull out the victory.
“We kind of had three things coming in that we needed to do,” he said. “We needed to take care of the ball and not turn it over for lay-ups. We knew they were going to hit shots, they have some terrific shooters. We just had to make sure that they didn’t miss and follow it and put it in. And the third thing we wanted to do was shoot a ton of threes tonight.”
Mission accomplished.
Even though the Tigers would have two more 3-pointers than the Vikings, the shots by sophomores Parks and McLaughlin proved to be the difference down the stretch.
Niles played well throughout the contest, but were never able to shake Benton Harbor.
The Vikings led 15-13 after one period of play and owned a 30-27 advantage at the half.
The Tigers outscored Niles 19-16 in the third quarter to square up the contest heading to the fourth.
Garner and Parks both finished with 18 points to lead the Vikings, while Busby finished with 15 points. Niles also go seven points from McLaughlin.
Donsha Jones and Demetrius Henderson both had 14 points for Benton Harbor.
BENTON HARBOR 53
Lee Murphy 3 0-2 4; Donsha Jones 5 0-0 14; Demetric Haynes 0 0-0 0; Demetrius Henderson 5 2-2 14; Davontae Conley 1 0-0 3; Terrell Clinton 1 0-0 3; Marquis Mason 0 0-0 0; Tevin Glaspy 0 0-0 0; Alex Williams 2 2-2 6; Benjamin Varrie 0 0-0 0; Dewon Broyles 3 0-0 6; Tyler Spencer 0 0-0 0; Tremayne Thompson 0 0-0 0; Daniel Walton 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20 4-6 53
NILES 64
Matthew McLaughlin 2 2-2 7; Zak Prenkert 0 0-0 0; Myles Busby 4 6-8 15; Justin Potthoff 0 0-2 0; Nick Lucero 0 0-0 0; Mitch Peterek 0 0-0 0; Jordan Potthoff 1 0-0 3; David Garner 8 2-5 18; Austin Parks 6 2-2 18; Quinton Irby 1 1-2 3; Riley Robson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22 13-21 64
Benton Harbor 13 27 46 53
Niles 15 30 46 64
3-point baskets: Benton Harbor 9 (Murphy 1, Jones 4, Henderson 2, Conley 1, Clinton 1), Niles 7 (McLaughlin 1, Busby 1, Ju. Potthoff 1, Parks 4). Total fouls: Benton Harbor 18, Niles 11. Fouled out: None. Technical foul: Benton Harbor bench. Varsity record: Niles 3-1, 2-0 West Division
