NILES — Niles head coach Patrick Touhey was not sure he would be at his team’s game against Kalamazoo Central on Tuesday night.

After hearing news of his father-in-law passing away, Touhey traveled to Iowa. He got up early Tuesday morning and drove the nine hours back to Niles to make the game.

On what Touhey described as a hard night for him, he was not disappointed in the effort of his team. In the Vikings’ 41-72 loss over the Maroon Giants, some good was still able to shine through.

“The perspective tonight put on for me is to continue doing what we are doing,” Touhey said. “There’s a lot of important things that we are trying to do as mentors. The team showed sportsmanship in a game that got out of hand. They showed character and kept their composure.”

The night also showed the combined efforts of the coaching staff and the confidence the tight-knit group has in each other. With Touhey’s absence at several practices, he knew the team was in good hands. Assistant coaches Denny Parks, Myles Busby and Matthew McLaughlin led the team in its preparation to verse the Giants.   

“Coach Busby did all the game prep,” Touhey said. “I could see, based on what he put on the board, he was very diligent. I am so lucky to have these coaches, I really am.”

Touhey said the coaches are an essential part of helping in his efforts to turn the program around.

“They love these kids so much, and they work so hard with these kids,” he said. “They have a lot of pride in Niles. They want to turn this thing around, and they put all that work, energy and effort into it with that mind. I am very fortunate to have these guys.”

Kalamazoo Central showed up with high energy right off the bat, as Scott Hughes scored 11 points in the first quarter, giving the Giants a 19-12 lead over the Vikings.

Kalamazoo Central continued to pull away from Niles the remainder of the game, as the Giants consistently made 3-point shots despite the Vikings pressure.

“What I didn’t expect was the way they shot the basketball,” Touhey said.  “They came out and rained threes on us with people in their face. There’s not much you can do about that.”

Headed into the locker room, Kalamazoo led 42-22 after Travion Farris scored eight points.

In the third quarter, the Niles offense struggled to make shots, only scoring seven points against the Giants. Junior guard Adrian Thomas had four points, and Senior Cerious Wilson added a 3-pointer in the quarter.

Wilson was the high-scorer on the night for Niles with 13 points, followed by senior guard Demarien Nichols, who added eight and consistently rebounded for the Vikings during the whole game.

With 30 seconds remaining in the final quarter, junior Zach Stokes had every Vikings fan on their feet with a breakaway dunk.

“I was proud of our kids,” Touhey said. “They didn’t quit. They kept playing through the whole game.”

Touhey said there might be a lot of people who look at Niles’ win-loss record (2-8) and say it has not been a great year.

“Anybody who knows anything about basketball and sees how this team is performing, there are so many games we’ve been in battles where we are right there,” he said. “At state tournament time, we will be battle-tested based on the kind of completion we play.”

Niles will retake the court on Friday against Mattawan in SMAC West Division action with a 7 p.m. scheduled tipoff.

“We will get in line to give ourselves some opportunity to succeed on Friday night,” Touhey said.