By SCOTT NOVAK
Niles Daily Star

PORTAGE – In its opening game of the Class A District Basketball Tournament, the Niles basketball team had a terrible time shooting the ball.

The Vikings escaped with a win over host Portage Central to advance to Wednesday night’s semifinal contest against Portage Northern.

There were no shooting woes for Niles on this night as the Vikings were 8-of-14 from beyond the 3-point line and as a result held off the pesky Huskies 80-70 to advance to Friday night’s title game.

The reward for winning on Wednesday is a date with No. 3 ranked Kalamazoo Central, an 86-52 winner over Kalamazoo Loy Norrix in the other semifinal.

It was all Niles in the opening 16 minutes of play as the shots that failed to fall on opening night were finding nothing but the bottom of the net against Portage Northern.
The Vikings (17-5) rolled out to a 27-15 first quarter lead, but held only a 42-33 advantage at the break after the Huskies outscored Niles 18-15 in the second period.

Portage Northern (8-13) continued its roll in the third quarter as the Huskies opened up with a 12-2 run that turned a nine-point deficit at halftime into a 45-44 advantage following a basket by Jesse Franks following a Niles turnover.

The Vikings reclaimed the lead seconds later as Matthew McLaughlin hit a 3-pointer to make it a 47-45 contest with less than five minutes to play in the third quarter.

That triple, one of three on the night for McLaughlin, sparked a Niles offensive spurt that allowed the Vikings to take a 58-48 lead into the final stanza.

Niles outscored Portage Northern 14-4 over the final five minutes of the third quarter.
The Huskies tried to make a run at the Vikings, but Niles always seemed to have an answer, either from the field or the free throw line.

The Vikings finished the night 18-of-25 from the stripe.

Niles ended the night shooting nearly 57 percent from the field compared to 43 percent for Portage Northern, who was 20-of-25 from the charity stripe.

Senior David Garner tied Franks for game-high honors with 23 points.

Niles also got 14 points apiece from McLaughlin and Myles Busby, who came off the bench in the opening quarter along with Garner after being disciplined for being late to practice on Tuesday.

Busby was 10-of-11 from the free throw line in the contest.

Austin Parks finished with 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.

Besides Franks, the Huskies got 13 points from Nathan Adlam.

Niles and Kalamazoo Central (21-1) will square off Friday at 7 p.m. for the district championship.

NILES 80
Matthew McLaughlin 4 3-4 14; Riley Robson 0 0-0 0; Myles Busby 2 10-11 14; Nick Lucero 1 0-0 2; Mitch Peterek 2 0-0 4; Jordan Potthoff 1 0-0 3; David Garner 10 3-7 23; Austin Parks 4 2-2 13; Quintin Irby 2 0-1 4; Taylor Campbell 1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 27 18-25 80
PORTAGE NORTHERN 70
Jesse Franks 7 7-9 23; Zack Penn 1 7-8 9; Allen Whitley 3 2-2 9; Nathan Adlam 4 2-2 13; Kyle Darling 0 1-2 1; Jonathan Keizer 4 1-1 9; Chris Laneaux 3 0-1 6. TOTALS: 22 20-25 70

Niles 27 42 58 80
Northern 15 33 48 70
3-point baskets: Niles 8 (McLaughlin 3, Potthoff 1, Parks 3, Campbell 3), Portage Northern 6 (Franks 2, Adlam 3, Whitley 1). Total fouls: Niles 20, Portage Northern 23. Fouled out: None. Varsity records: Niles 17-5, Portage Northern 8-13