There are not a lot of things that the current senior class at Niles hasn’t accomplished in their four-year careers.

One of those things is a district championship.

The Vikings are 49-16 over the past four seasons and have won a Big 16 Conference West Division title. Niles was 15-5 the past two seasons and will bring a 16-4 record into Monday night’s Class A district opener, which it is hosting.

The Vikings have been eliminated by the same team each of the past two seasons — Kalamazoo Central — which went on to claim the state championship both of those seasons.

The Maroon Giants are Niles’ opponent tonight in the first game of the district tournament.

The Vikings are winless against Kalamazoo Central the past three years, including a pair of games this season. Niles fell to the Maroon Giants 64-61 in overtime just 10 days ago.

“We feel like we are prepared for Monday night,” Niles coach Todd Pawielski said. “A good start is very important for us, and we need to have poise down the stretch.”

The Vikings will have to stop Eco Dunning and H’lan Hale, the Giants’ standout guards, if they are going to have success. Dunning and Hale were able to penetrate the lane early and often in both games.

They are not only able to score from inside the paint, but to dish to their teammates.

Pawielski knows how special this group of seniors has been for Niles. They work well together as a group, but are also friends off the court. They put in countless hours working on their game all year round and it has paid off.

More importantly than that, this is a smart team and has earned Academic All-State back-to-back years.

“Our whole team, particularly our seniors, have bought into putting in the time and effort in the weight room,” he said. “Strength coach Steve Grayson has done his usual tremendous job with this group and it shows in their performance. Strong kids are confident kids.

“This group has improved every year. They play together in the summer, they play AAU and it seems like one of them is always in our gym getting up shots. This group has had at least 15 wins for three years on varsity. They have showed our young guys in the program how to shoot the ball, share the ball, how to defend and how to behave.

“They will be missed and its not just about basketball. This group has provided a lot of smiles and laughs. If I had a son, I would want him to act like a couple of these guys do.”

Three of those seniors, Austin Park, Myles Busby and Matthew McLaughlin, are averaging double figures this season. Parks leads the way with an average of 15.2 points per contest. Busby and McLaughlin are scoring at a 13.1 and 11.5 clip respectively.

The other two seniors, Quintin Irby and Taylor Campbell, are also key to the Vikings’ success. The final senior, Logan Harpenau comes off the bench and provides Niles with instant offense, especially from long-range.

“The work ethic and the will to compete that this senior group has helps to set them apart from other teams,” Pawielski said. “They have a nice ability to want to inflict mental and physical harm on each other during practice and then still be able to be friends and hang out when practice is over. This really helps us to get better as a team and individually every day.”

The winner of tonight’s game will advance to the semifinals where it will face Mattawan Wednesday night at Niles High School.

Over at St. Joseph, Lakeland Conference foes Buchanan and Edwardsburg will face off in the opening game at 6 p.m. St. Joseph and Benton Harbor will play in the nightcap of the doubleheader at 8 p.m.

The winners advance to the semifinals Wednesday to face Lakeshore and Berrien Springs respectively.

Coming Tuesday
Brandywine received a first round bye for the Class C District at Watervliet.
The Bobcats’ game against New Buffalo will be previewed in Tuesday’s Daily Star.

MHSAA District Tournament
Class A at Niles
Tonight
Kalamazoo Central vs. Niles, 7 p.m.

Wednesday
Loy Norrix-Portage Northern winner vs. Gull Lake-Portage Central winner, 5:30 p.m.
Mattawan vs. Kalamazoo Central-Nileswinner, 7:30 p.m.

Friday
Championship game, 7 p.m.