The Niles seniors have been playing basketball together since they were in fourth grade.

Countless hours of hard work in the gym and playing basketball year-round all paid off Friday night as the Vikings captured their first district championship in a decade and its first Class A title since 1987.

Niles used an 18-0 run to end the first half to take control of the game and cruised to a 67-40 win over Kalamazo Loy Norrix.

“It’s indescribable,” said Niles senior guard Austin Parks, who scored a game-high 25 points. “We’ve been together since the fourth grade. It means the world. It’s been 10 years since these guys have had a district. It’s exciting. It feels great.”

Niles (19-4) played well from the start and continued to play well for the entire 32 minutes Friday night. The Vikings may have saved their best performance of the season for their final game at home.

Niles got off to a 9-2 start, but the Knights (16-7) battled back to tie the game at 13-13 after one quarter of play.

With the Vikings clinging to an 18-17 advantage with 5:11 to play following a basket by Loy Norrix leading scorer Bishop Robinson, Niles went on a tear.

The result was a one-point lead turned into a 36-17 halftime lead and for all practical purposes, the game was over.

The 18-0 run started with a Taylor Campbell free throw with 5:01 to play in the opening half. A basket by Matthew McLaughlin made it 21-17 and then a trio of 3-pointers got the Vikings really rolling.

Campbell hit the first with 4:10 showing on the clock and Parks sandwiched a McLaughlin lay-up following a turnover with a pair of triples to make it 32-17 with 1:54 to go in the second quarter.

Campbell added another free throw to extend the lead to 16 points and when Alec Brown picked up a loose ball following a missed shot and drained a 3-pointers at the horn, the rout was on.

“We were pretty good in spurts,” Niles coach Todd Pawielski said. “I just don’t think we were going to be denied tonight. It seems like we made everything we looked at and when we needed to run something we did and we got some points out of it.

“I thought we did a great job on the boards. Myles Busby with 10 rebounds did a wonderful job. Austin Parks did a great job on the board. We really just really did everything we were supposed to tonight and we needed to. I would expect nothing less from this group.”

The guards were particularly important in helping Niles hold a rebounding advantage against the taller Knights.
McLaughlin had six rebounds and Parks four. Campbell finished with five boards. On the night, Niles ended up with 13 offensive rebounds.

Loy Norrix tried to make a game out of it in the third quarter, but despite a brief 6-0 run early on, the Knights were unable to cut into the Vikings’ advantage.

In fact, Niles was able to increase its lead to 19 points, 48-29, by scoring the last two baskets of the quarter, including a 3-pointer by Parks with one minute remaining.

In the fourth quarter, Loy Norrix was never able to put back-to-back baskets together, while it tried to pressure the Vikings the entire length of the floor.

That plan failed as Niles was able to score easy basket after easy basket and keep its advantage growing.

By the time Pawielski emptied his bench to a standing ovation from the loud and emotional Niles crowd, the lead was 25 points.

“This is amazing,” Niles senior point guard Matthew McLaughlin said. “We had everyone come out again tonight. We have the best supporters. The Niles Nightmare, our parents, the Niles community and everybody who came out here.”

Besides Parks, Niles also got 11 points from Campbell, nine points from McLaughlin and eight points from Busby, who also dished out five assists.

Robinson led the Knights with 23 points and 14 rebounds.

The Vikings will travel to Portage Northern Monday night to begin Class A Regional play against Okemos (16-8), which defeated Lansing Eastern in overtime 71-62. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.

LOY NORRIX 40

Ryan Raymond 3 0-0 6; Darrion Mullen 1 0-0 2; Jay McIntosh 0 0-2 0; Jovaughn Carver 0 0-0 0; Valorian Cunningham 0 0-0 0; Devin Helger 0 0-0 0; Trent Beamon 1 0-0 3; Tony Boykins 0 4-4 4; Terrell Chaney-Bell 0 0-0 0; Justin Perez 0 0-0 0; Bishop Robinson 10 2-5 23; Damien Helger 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 16 6-11 40

NILES 67

Myles Busby 2 4-6 8; Matthew McLaughlin 4 0-0 9; Austin Parks 10 1-2 25; Logan Harpenau 2 0-0 7; Alec Brown 2 2-2 7; Aaron Pierce 1 0-0 2; Arias Williams 0 0-0 0; Anthony Bice 0 0-0 0; Taylor Campbell 4 2-4 11; Tate Brawley 0 0-0 0; Quintin Irby 0 0-0 0; Mitchell Dehn 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25 9-14 67

Norrix 13 17 29 40

Niles 13 36 48 67

3-point baskets: Loy Norrix 2 (Beamon, Robinson), Niles 8 (McLaughlin, Parks 4, Harpenau, Brown, Campbell). Total fouls (fouled out): Loy Norrix 12 (none), Niles 10 (none). Varsity records: Loy Norrix 16-7, Niles 19-4