By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
NILES – A big fourth quarter helped Niles capture its second straight Holiday Classic championship Friday night.
The Vikings (3-4) trailed pesky Lake Michigan Catholic 46-44 heading into the final eight minutes of the title game.
Niles poured in 27 points to pull away from the Lakers, who were held to just seven points.
Vikings' coach Todd Pawielski said it was a switch of defenses that made the difference.
"We went to a 2-3 zone in the fourth quarter and the kids did a nice job of bottling up the middle," he said. "You know we gave up a lot a shots from three feet and a lot of teams make shots from three feet. We kept them outside the lane and I thought that was the whole difference."
Niles outscored Lake Michigan 22-2 to start the fourth quarter and turned a two-point deficit into a 62-48 lead.
The Lakers just wouldn't go away through the first three quarters.
Lake Michigan continued to come after the Vikings and was able to open up a 27-20 advantage with 3:16 to play in the opening half.
Niles' Jordan Parks then took over the game and scored 10 of his 20 first half points over the final two and a half minutes.
As a result, the Vikings took a 36-34 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
Lake Michigan held Niles to just eight points in the third quarter and took a 46-44 lead into the final stanza after outscoring the Vikings 12-8.
Parks ended the game with a career-high 29 points, while David Garner added 11 points. Michael Dodd, Demetrius Phillips and Paul Dreher all finished with six points.
Kenny Crowder led the Lakers with 15 points.
Michael Kurina and Nick Bovo contributed 14 and 10 points respectively.
"Offense is not our problem right now," Pawielski said. "Obviously we need to do a better job of containing the basketball and transition defense again was an Achilles' heel tonight."
In the consolation game, Brandywine rallied from a 35-29 halftime advantage to post a 91-68 victory over World Embassy Christian Academy of Benton Harbor.
The Bobcats, despite the loss of Caleb Frazier and Lance Prescott to first half ankle injuries, erupted for 62 second half points to pull away to the easy win.
Brandywine coach Nathan Knapp got on his team at halftime about playing selfish basketball.
The Bobcats came out in the second half and moved the ball well and played good pressure defense to turn the game around.
"The whole thing was we were playing a little selfish," Knapp said. "We were a little down, we had a little bit of a hangover from the night before. Niles took a lot out of us."
Knapp added that the team that played in the second half was the real Brandywine squad.
"That's them right there," he said. "They play hard and they work hard."
Josh Benjamin scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Bobcats, who also got 20 points from Billy Bussey and 14 points each from Doug Rockett and Jacob Frazier.
Darius Petterson led World Embassy with 18 points. Donshay Jones added 15.
Championship Game
LAKE MICHIGAN 53
Matt Foley 3 0-0 6; Michael Cottier 0 0-0 0; Michael Kurina 6 0-2 14; Nick Bovo 4 2-2 10; Travis Hamilton 0 0-1 0; T.J. Simmons 0 1-2 1; Kenny Crowder 6 3-7 15; Jon Kasun 0 0-0 0; Marcus Bledsoe 1 3-3 5; John Edwards 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 9-17 53
NILES 71
Jordan Parks 10 7-9 29; Michael Dodd 2 2-2 6; David Garner 5 1-2 11; Andrew Brawley 0 2-2 2; Andre Thompson 2 0-0 4; Demetrius Phillips 3 0-1 6; Paul Dreher 3 0-1 6; Terrell Farrow 0 0-0 0; Zach Pearson 1 0-2 2; Kyle williams 0 1-2 1; Zach Payne 1 0-0 2; Seth Jordan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 28 13-21 71
Lake Michigan 13 21 12 7 – 53
Niles 16 20 8 27 – 71
3-point baskets: Kurina (LMC) 2, Parks (N) 2. Total fouls: Lake Michigan 19, Niles 17. Fouled out: Kurina (LMC). Technical fouls: Dreher (N). Records: Niles 3-4
Consolation Game
WORLD EMBASSY 68
Tyrice Carter 2 0-2 4; Darius Petterson 8 0-0 18; Thaddeus Walker 3 0-0 6; Donshay Jones 6 2-2 15; Willie Gaddy 3 1-1 7; Dedtric Cook-Bey 1 0-0 2; Toeshy Wilingham 0 0-0 0; Darrell Hegler 0 3-4 3; Darrell Pargo 0 0-0 0; Lee Roberts 0 0-0 0. Totals: 32 6-9 68
BRANDYWINE 91
Dan Riedenbach 3 0-0 7; Danny Williams 1 2-2 4; Noah Udell 1 2-4 4; Lance Prescott 0 0-0 0; Shane Bankston 0 0-0 0; Doug Rockett 6 2-6 14; Caleb Frazier 1 0-0 2; Billy Bussey 9 0-1 20; Josh Benjamin 9 8-10 26; Greg Beaver 0 0-0 0; Jacob Frazier 7 0-1 14. Totals: 37 14-26 91
World Embassy 17 18 21 12 – 68
Brandywine 13 16 33 29 – 91
3-point baskets: Petterson (WE) 2, Jones (WE), Willingham (WE), Riedenbach (B), Bussey (B) 2. Total fouls: World Embassy 22, Brandywine 11. Fouled out: Gaddy (WE), J. Frazier (B). Record: Brandywine 4-3