NILES — It was a tough night at home for  the Niles varsity basketball teams on Friday.

Both the boys and girls suffered losses to SMAC West Division opponent Portage Central.

The evening kicked off with the Lady Vikings (1-3, 1-1 West) coming up just short to the Mustangs (3-1, 2-0 BCS).

Niles kept the game close for the majority of the second half, losing 32-25.

In the second game, the Viking boys team (2-1, 1-1 West) was down by more than 15 points on three occasions. Each time, they were able to cut the Mustang’s lead down to single digits, but ultimately lost 63-52.

Girls basketball

In the first game, sophomore point guard Alycia Patterson led the way for the Viking, scoring 12 points. Senior Lajan Mitchell and sophomore Reese Davis both scored four points.

The game was close early on, with both teams getting into the lane and hitting a few mid-range jumpers.

However, with Niles ahead 12-10 in early in the second quarter, the Mustangs went on a 9-0 run, holding Niles scoreless for the last seven minutes of the first half.

The Vikings did not give up. Thanks to Patterson’s seven unanswered points late in the third quarter, the team fought their way back and went into the fourth quarter tied 21-21.

“They came out and decided they wanted to play hard and got the team going,” said Jessica Johnson, the second-year head coach of the Lady Vikings. “When I called timeouts, the team already knew what they wanted to run.”

Niles took the lead on an early fourth quarter free throw by Mitchell to make it 22-21, but Portage Central went on a run of its own to take a 28-23 lead with four minutes left in the game.

With both teams pressing, the game got physical, and neither team was able to score until 1:32 remained, when the Portage Central coaching staff was charged with a technical foul.

Patterson hit both free throws but, unfortunately for the Vikings, they would not score again.

Abby Long led Portage Central with nine points, while Kayla Mathieu, Maizie Brown and Kaitlyn Brannstrom all finished with six points.

“We started to not run our plays. We weren’t executing,” Johnson said. “We were coming down and just passing the ball around. I thought in the first half they executed really well. I thought when they came out in the third quarter, they executed well, and then just got lackadaisical with [the ball].”

Boys basketball

In second game of the doubleheader, the Mustangs (1-1, 1-0 West) jumped out to an early 22-9 lead, and never let the game get within six points after that.

They pressed early and often, forcing the Vikings into some sloppy turnovers.

However, Niles showed toughness, and was able to weather the storm, going into halftime down 34-26.

In the second half, the Mustangs came out strong, and, by midway through the third quarter, led 48-28.

From there, the game was a rollercoaster ride, with both teams going on large runs. Twice in the second half, Niles brought the game within six points, only to go down by double digits again.

The Vikings used full-court pressure to create some turnovers, and were in the bonus with 7:25 left in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately, the Vikings were unable to capitalize at the free throw line, going 13-for-29.

“There were times where we were kind of feeble with the ball,” said Niles coach Todd Pawielski. “We need to be a little stronger with it. Give Portage Central a lot of credit for just being a very tough basketball team. I’m disappointed with our lack of toughness early.”

Senior Robert Brown Jr. had 15 points and 10 rebound for the Vikings, while sophomore Nathan Goins chipped in with 13 points off of the bench.

The leading scorers for Portage Central were Justin Mih, with 15  points, and Griffin Baker, with 11.

“We were slow starting tonight,” Pawielski said. “We were fast out of the gate in the first two games, but tonight we were just a little sluggish early, and that cost us dearly.”

Both Niles teams will play Kalamazoo Loy Norrix in makeup games Thursday, with the girls at home and the boys on the road.