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Niles edged by Tigers
Published 1:15am Saturday, December 19, 2009By SCOTT NOVAK
Niles Daily Star
Missed opportunities in the first half came back to haunt the Niles girls’ basketball team Friday night against defending Class A state champion Benton Harbor.
The Lady Vikings missed numerous easy baskets in the first half and was just 7-of-16 from the foul line.
Despite all that, Niles held a nine-point advantage at halftime (43-37).
But it wasn’t enough as the Tigers came back in the final 16 minutes, outscoring the Vikings 38-28 to earn a 54-53 victory.
Niles took control of the game in the second quarter after both teams tossed in seven points in the first period.
The Vikings doubled open the Tiger offensively (18-9) and led 21-9 after a steal and score by Nichole Sly.
Niles was unable to build on that advantage as it continued to miss shots from close range or the foul line.
And when the Tigers got a three-point play at the close of the first half, the lead was down to nine points, 25-16.
After Damonica Buford cut the lead to 27-20 to open the third quarter, back-to-back baskets by Sly staked the Vikings to a 31-20 advantage.
Benton Harbor continues to make runs at Niles, but the Vikings seemed to have an answer for each attempt to cut the lead down less than five points.
Finally, with 42.1 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Buford stroked a 3-pointer to make it 41-37.
Niles was able to get the lead back to six points (43-37) heading to the fourth.
The game remained between a six and four point contest for much of the first half of the final stanza until a 3-pointer by Taira Greer-Allen made it a 51-50 contest with 3:21 to play.
After the Tigers had taken a 52-51 lead, Sly hit two free throws to give the advantage back to the Vikings.
But with 23.1 seconds left, Deborah Meeks scored to make it 54-53.
Benton Harbor was able to run the clock out sending Niles to the one-point setback.
Meeks finished with a game-high 26 points, while Greer-Allen finished with 15 points and Buford nine.
Sly led the Vikings, who were 11-of-22 from the free throw line, with 22 points. Jenna Grannell added 11 and Savannah Wolnik eight. Alex McIntee added seven.
“We came out nervous and it seems to happen all the time against Benton Harbor,” Niles coach Patrick Touhey said of the missed chances in the opening half. “There is this stigma about who they are that our kids seem to struggle with all the time.”
Touhey thought his team played well enough to win and feels that they can take away some positives.
“We really took it to them in the first half,” he said. “We easily could have had a 20-point lead if we would have made our lay-ups. But they (Niles) needs to understand that they dominated that half.”
BENTON HARBOR 54
Damonica Buford 4 0-2 9; Nyesha Winbush 1 0-0 2; Deborah Meeks 11 2-3 26; Andrea Ellis 1 0-0 2; Tiara Greer-Allen 6 0-0 15; Toshima Hull 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23 2-5 54
NILES 53
Savannah Wolnik 3 2-3 8; Alex McIntee 3 1-2 7; Lindsey Lucero 0 0-2 0; Brittany Buti 0 0-0 0; Gabby Ezell 2 1-2 5; Nichole Sly 8 2-6 22; Whitney Ellis 0 0-0 0; Jenna Grannell 5 1-1 11. TOTALS: 21 11-22 53
Benton Harbor 7 16 37 54
Niles 7 25 43 53
3-point baskets: Benton Harbor 6 (Buford 1, Meeks 2, Greer-Allen 3), Niles 0. Total fouls: Benton Harbor 18, Niles 13. Fouled out: None.
