BENTON HARBOR — When it comes to sports they always say that the defending champion is still the champion until someone else can beat them.

On Wednesday evening the Niles Vikings boys’ basketball team found itself in a position to dethrone the defending Class A state champion Kalamazoo Central Maroon Giants in round two of the Class A District Tournament at Benton Harbor High School.

Unfortunately for the Vikings the stone they slung, in this case the basketball, just missed its mark and the Giants lived to see another day as Niles fell to the Maroon Giants 43-36 in a game that was much closer than the score would indicate.

From the opening tip it was obvious that Kalamazoo Central wanted to pressure the Vikings and force them into turnovers, which in turn could lead to easy baskets. The strategy worked as Niles turned the ball over on each of its first two possessions and the Giants turned both turnovers into points jumping out to the quick 4-0 lead.

A 3-point basket by Central’s Daquavion McCants-Wilson would increase the lead to seven and Niles looked to be in trouble.

Nearly three minutes in, Matt hew McLaughlin finally got the Vikings on the board. Buckets by T.J. Buchanan and Darius Norman increased the Giants’ lead to 11-2 and it appeared Niles was feeling the pressure.

A long-range bomb by McLaughlin and a basket by Myles Busby and suddenly the Vikings were back in the game, only trailing 11-7.

Another basket and free throw for the Giants put them up seven, but another basket by Busby trimmed the lead to just five, 14-9 after one period of play.

“The start was definitely not what we were after,” claimed Niles coach Todd Pawielski. “Once we started executing the game plan we did much better, the kids made some plays.”

Part of that game plan included playing tough, hardnosed defense. Niles held the high-powered Maroon Giants offense to just four points in the second quarter, all from senior standout Buchanan.

However, the Vikings offense could only muster up six points of their own in that span. The five-point first quarter deficit was trimmed to just three as the Vikings trailed the defending champs at the break 18-15.

“We really wanted to attack their pressure and shoot threes against them. I think we were just a little nervous at the start, but once we calmed down and stuck to our game plan, good things happened,” said Pawielski.

The Vikings found themselves quickly racking up fouls in the third quarter and before you knew it Kalamazoo Central was in the bonus and attempting free throws.

Niles matched Kalamazoo in the quarter as both teams scored four baskets, but it was the 7-3 advantage at the free throw line that propelled the Giants to the 33-26 lead heading into the final eight minutes of play.

Trailing by seven, McLoughlin nailed a triple and suddenly the lead was just four points. A basket by Zak Prenkert answered two free throws from Buchanan, but the Vikings still found themselves trailing by four 35-31 with five minutes left in the season for one of the two teams.

A lay-up by McCants-Wilson gave Central the 37-31 advantage, but McLoughlin calmly drained his third three of the game and Niles found itself within a basket, 37-34.

Two free throws for each team made the score 39-36 with 2:51 to play.

Trailing by just three points to Kalamazoo Central with under three minutes to play, and the ball, the Vikings had the chance to tie the game. A scenario they would gladly had accepted if offered to them prior to tip-off.

With a great Niles contingency on their feet cheering every play and anticipating a great finish to the game, Niles’ Austin Parks got a good look from the wing and he pulled back and let it fly. In what seemed like slow motion, the ball found its way inside the rim where it rattled around a couple of times before kicking back out and into the hands of a Maroon Giants player.

Kalamazoo Central slipped into a stall offense as it just worked the ball around the perimeter looking for a foul by Niles or an easy back-door basket. After successfully running its stall, Central was able to put a few more points on the board and the Vikings were unable to connect on any of their scoring attempts.

“We had a three go in and out to tie it with about two minutes to go,” said a dejected Pawielski. “We battled all night. We were just a couple of shots short.”

The athleticism of Kalamazoo forced Niles into a perimeter game most of the night, which took away Prenkert from the Vikings offense and forced Busby out to the perimeter as well.

“Kalamazoo Central is an excellent basketball team, truly a championship type team, but we believed that we had a real chance to win this ball game. They were the better team tonight, but I am extremely proud of our guys,” Pawielski said.

The loss marked the end of the season for the Vikings (16-6) and the end of the high school careers for four players Riley Robson, Zachary Prenkert, Nicholas Lucero and Jordan Potthoff.

“Any time our seniors are done it hurts,” said a proud Pawielski. “You know, our fans have been wonderful all year long. They travel so well and they are going to be just as hard to replace next year as our senior players, and I want to say ‘thank you’ to everyone for coming out and supporting us this year.”

Niles was led by McLoughlin with 14, and Busby with 13. While Kalamazoo Central was led by McCants-Wilson with 17 and Buchanan with 12.