When her team most needed her, the smallest player on the court stood tall.

Niles junior guard Maya Brookins connected on a pair of free throws with 5.5 seconds remaining in regulation to send Tuesday night’s game against SMAC powerhouse Kalamazoo Central to overtime.

The Vikings would eventually go on to defeat the Maroon Giants 67-62 in double overtime.

“I knew I had to make the free throws to keep us in the game,” Brookins said. “I had thrown away a couple of passes so I had to redeem myself.”

First-year Niles coach Phil D’Amico had no doubt that his diminutive spark plug would get the job done.

“She has the biggest heart on the team,” he said. “We challenge our girls in practice to be mentally tough. She was a little down during the timeout. She got herself together, stepped in, made the two shots. That is mental toughness. She is one of the toughest kids I have ever coached.”

After the first four-minute overtime, the Maroon Giants and Vikings were still tied, this time at 57-57.

But in the second extra session, Niles seemed to catch its second wind and were finally able to put Kalamazoo Central (10-2) away.

Elyse Zimmerman hit four free throws in the final overtime to seal the victory.

After falling behind 10-8 after one, the Vikings played one of its best quarters of the entire season.

Niles outscored Kalamazoo Central 19-9 to take a 27-19 lead at the half.

The Maroon Giants began whittling away the Vikings’ lead in the third quarter, cutting it to 40-37 heading into the fourth.

Once Kalamazoo Central erased the deficit, it appeared to have Niles on the ropes before a late surge helped the Vikings’ forced overtime.

Antonia Palmer, who led Niles with 17 points, scored with 7.7 remaining in the game to pull the Vikings within two, setting up Brookins’ steal and ensuing free throws.

Brookins finished with a double-double as she finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“It was a very big win,” Brookins said. “We really needed this one.”

Zimmerman added 13 points and  Emily Gaines 10.

Arjanae Morgan scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Maroon Giants.

Brookins has been working hard on her offense this season and is starting to see it pay off.

“Last year I was a little intimidated to shoot,” she said. “I didn’t really look to score. So I have been staying late in the gym shooting by myself and working with my coaches. I knew I had to shoot to win this game.”

D’Amico has noticed the extra work as well.

“She has been shooting the ball a lot better,” he said. “She has worked on her shot. She stays late after practice to work on her shot. She knows she has to give us some points. We need production out of that two-guard and that’s her. She has been stepping up the last couple of games. We needed them and she came through for us tonight.”