By AARON MUELLER
Niles Daily Star

PORTAGE – Nichole Sly blew by her defender, sliced through the lane and drew a hard foul with 8.7 second left in Niles’ district semifinal game against Kalamazoo Central.

The interesting thing about the play?

The game was all but over. Kalamazoo Central possessed a 72-65 lead with just a few ticks left on the clock, but Sly and the Vikings were still fighting.

The Maroon Giants (8-14) went on to upset Niles 73-66, but coach Patrick Touhey was impressed with his girls’ drive until the end. It was a characteristic of a young team that was a driving force in a strong 15-7 season.

“Nichole always plays hard,” Touhey said. “She’s had such a great season for us. She always gives it her all. She never quits. As a team we don’t quit. This team has a lot of heart.”

The Vikings got out to a 33-24 lead in the first half, thanks to four first half three-pointers from sophomore Maureen Craig.

K-Central star Vanessa Edwards sat on the bench through much of the half with foul trouble. But the scorching three-point shooting of Katelyn Gibbs, who had 16 first half points, kept the Giants within striking distance.

In the second half, it was the Vanessa Edwards show.

She scored 18 of her 24 points in the half, including late in the third quarter a spinning drive to the lane and kiss of the glass that drew a foul – a play that fired up the Kalamazoo faithful and turned the tide for the Giants. It also gave K-Central its first lead since the opening minutes of the game.

Touhey could only tip his hat to the hot shooting of Edwards and the Giants.

“There aren’t many teams that I have seen shoot the way they did tonight,” he said. “We tried to make some adjustments, because 5 (Gibbs) hurt us in the first half. I think we did a fairly good job of that in the second half, but then they have Edwards. The bottom line is they were unconscious shooting the basketball.”

On the night, the Giants drained 10-of-15 three-pointers and shot a blistering 46 percent from the field.

The K-Central lead was only one early in the fourth quarter, but an 11-3 run in the middle part of the period sunk the Vikings.

The Vikings struggled on the boards at critical moments in the game and was outrebounded 36-27 on the night.

Niles was led by Sly, who nearly posted a triple-double with 18 points, 12 rebounds and six feeds. Maureen Craig had 12 points on four first half triples for the Vikings. Jenna Grannell and Alex McIntee both chipped in 13.

K-Central was led by Gibbs’ seven 3-pointers and 27 points.
Touhey was pleased with the Vikings’ season overall and said the future looks bright for the young squad.

“We’re a young team, and I’m extremely proud of what we accomplished this year,” he said. “We lost nine seniors from last year’s team so we were looking at a whole new basketball team. Coming into next year we have a lot of kids coming back that have played some wonderful basketball.”

KALAMAZOO CENTRAL 73
Kandice Johnson 4 0-0 9; Vanessa Edwards 7 7-10 24; Katie Gibbs 9 3-4 27; Indian Hoskins 1 0-0 2; Tyra Carver 0 2-6 2; Ashley Moorehead 1 0-0 2; Haley Gleeson 1 2-4 4; Madison Pitts 1 0-0 2; Perianna Burnett 0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 24 15-25 73
NILES 66
Savannah Wolnik 1 1-2 3; Alex McIntee 5 2-4 13; Brittany Buti 0 0-0 0; Gabby Ezell 3 1-1 7; Maureen Craig 4 0-0 12; Nicole Sly 3 10-12 18; Jenna Grannell 2 9-12 13. TOTALS: 18 23-31 66

K. Central 12 24 52 73
Niles 20 33 48 66
3-point baskets: Central 10 (Gibbs 6, Edwards 3, Johnson), Niles 7 (McIntee, Craig 4, Sly 2). Total fouls (fouled out): Niles 20 (Wolnik), Central 20 (Pitts). Varsity records: Niles 15-7, Kalamazoo Central 8-14