Niles Myles Busby only had seven points Friday night, but his 3-pointer with 17 seconds left made a winner of the Vikings over the Tigers. (Daily Star photo/RON HARNER)

From staff reports

BENTON HARBOR – Myles Busby’s 3-pointer with 17 ticks left on the clock Friday night gave Niles sole possession of first place in the Big 16 Conference West Division.

The Vikings defeated host Benton Harbor in a battle for the top spot 53-48.

The two teams were tied with 3:14 remaining in the game, but Niles was able to work more than two minutes off the clock before Busby got free and hit a wide open triple to give the Vikings the lead for good.

“We really just scrapped and clawed and fought tonight,” Niles coach Todd Pawielski said. “We had a lot of guys contribute to our victory tonight.”

Pawielski said that Busby took over the game for about a five minute stretch in the second half that was key in the Niles victory. He also noted that a lot of people contributed to the win.

“The defense of six-foot Quintin Irby, 5-10 Mitch Peterek and a host of others on their 6-6 and 6-7 kids was tremendous,” Pawielski said. “We were pretty solid in our half court defense tonight.”

Neither team got into much of an offensive flow in the opening half.

Niles (11-4, 5-1 West) led just 10-9 after one quarter and 20-15 at halftime.

Both teams tossed in 16 points in the third quarter, leaving the Vikings with a 36-31 advantage heading to the final eight minutes of play.

Again, both team pumped in the same amount of points (17), which left Niles heading home with a big road victory and destiny in its own hands as far of the division championship is concerned.

Niles has two games remaining in the division – Mattawan and St. Joseph – and needs to win at least one of them to claim a share of the title.

“We’re greedy,” Pawielski said. “I think we are going to try and keep it for ourselves.”
Matthews McLauchlin scored a team-high 18 points for the Vikings, who also got 15 points from David Garner.

“David Garner earned every one of those 15 points tonight,” Pawielski said. “This was a total team victory. We played very unselfish basketball tonight. Austin Parks, Nick Lucero, Jordan Potthoff, Riley Robson just did a great job tonight. Everybody did their part to help us win.”

Demetrius Henderson led all scorers with 17 points, while Donsha Jones added 12.

The Vikings are back to work on Tuesday as they return home to play Battle Creek Harper Creek in a Big 16 non-divisional contest.

The freshmen contest will kick off the tripleheader. The varsity game is schedule to begin at 7:15 p.m.

NILES 53
Matthew McLaughlin 18; Riley Robson 0; Myles Busby 7; Nick Lucero 4; Mitch Peterek 2; Justin Potthoff 0; David Garner 15; Austin Parks 6; Quintin Irby 1. TOTALS: 19 8-15 53
BENTON HARBOR 48
Lee Murphy 5; Donsha Jones 12; Demetric Haynes 2; Demetrius Henderson 17;Terrell Clinton 2; Alex Williams 0; Dewon Broyles 0; Tyler Spencer 0; Tremayne Thompson 10. TOTALS: 20 6-9 48

Niles 10 20 36 53
Benton Harbor 9 15 31 48
3-point baskets: Niles 7 (McLaughlin 3, Busby 2, Parks 2), Benton Harbor 6 (Murphy 1, Jones 4, Henderson 1). Total fouls: Niles 14, Benton Harbor 16. Fouled out: Henderson (BH). Varsity record: Niles 11-4, 5-1 West