By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Poor shooting, missed free throws and being outrebounded caused the Niles varsity basketball team to fall to visiting Lakeshore Friday night, 56-43.
The Vikes made every attempt possible to comeback in the fourth quarter, coming within four points of a tie, 41-33 with five minutes left to play. But Lakeshore was able to hold on, and eventually pull ahead by more than 10 points, sealing the win at the free throw line in the final two minutes of the game.
"We're just not shooting as well as we can," Viking head coach Todd Pawielski said of his team, which falls to 1-3 on the season, 0-3 in the division. "We gave up way too many easy baskets and made some mistakes on some key offensive rebounds."
Niles shot just 7-of-16 at the line, while Lakeshore went 15-24.
The Vikes were in trouble early in the game as the Lancers posted a 15-9 lead after the first. At halftime, Niles' Danny Rodts nailed a half court shot at the buzzer to bring Niles within seven, 29-22. After the third, the Vikes trailed 39-29.
One highlight on the night was Niles' pressure and full court press, which Pawielski was pleased with.
"Overall we're getting better defensively. I liked our press tonight and we caused quite a few turnovers. We're just going to have to prove we can score if we're going to beat anybody," Pawielski said.
Lakeshore's Joe Welch led all scorers with 22 points on the night. Tim McNair added 17 for the Lancers, including three 3-pointers.
For the Vikes, Kurt Bourbonnais and Brandon Thomas each had 10 points, while Danny Rodts added nine points and three steals.
The Vikings travel to Portage Northern on Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
Junior Varsity
The Niles junior varsity basketball team won a thriller against Lakeshore, pulling out a 44-43 victory in the final seconds of the game.
Asaad Ali led the Vikes with 20 points, while Zach Payne added eight. For Lakeshore, Aaron Sanders had 12 points.
Niles … 43
Lakeshore … 56
NILES (43) – Jordan Parks 0 1-2 1, Damian Bryant 2 1-2 5, Joshue Moffitt 1 0-0 2, Seth Jordan 0 0-0 0, Andre Thompson 1 0-0 2, Danny Rodts 3 1 0-0 9, Taylor Williams 0 2-2 2, Demetrius Phillips 1 0-2 2, Brandon Thomas 3 1 1-3 10, Taylor Robson 0 0-0 0, Mat Peters 0 0-0 0, Kurt Bourbonnais 4 2-6 10. Totals 15 2 7-16 43
LAKESHORE (56) – Troy Peter 4 1-1 9, Tim McNair 2 3 4-6 17, Chris Mason 0 0-1 0, Marcus DeBoer 0 0-0 0, Peter Ward 0 0-0 0, Cam Moore 2 2-3 6, Sam Stockman 0 0-0 0, Steve Polaskey 0 0-0 0, Kyle McKey 0 0-0 0, Joe Welch 7 8-10 22, Marty Armstrong 0 0-0 0, Mike Rowan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 3 15-24 56.