NILES — Senior point guard Alycia Patterson was unaware that she was going to top the 1,000-point plateau when Niles defeated Lakeshore on Jan. 24.

Part of the reason why she was unaware is that all she cares about is playing basketball and helping her team be successful, she said.

She became only the fifth Viking to score that many points, joining Timothea Clemmer, Nichole Sly, Brandi Radde and Sarah Dreher.

Patterson poured in a game-high 30 points Friday night as Niles knocked off Mattawan 58-43 in SMAC West Division action. Those 30 points moved her two spots closer to being the all-time leading scorer.

Patterson, a four-year starter for Niles, now has 1,087 points. She passed Clemmer (1991), who had 1,080 points, and Sly (2011), who had 1,086 points.

Next on the list is Raddi, who scored 1,164 points in her career, which concluded in 2005, as did all-time leader Dreher’s, who scored 1,205 points.

“[Winning] means a lot, especially in the years since my freshman season when we only won four games,” Patterson said. “Having a winning record means a lot. All I want to do is win. Having [the scoring honors] on top of winning is a plus.”

Niles coach Jessica Johnson was not surprised that her 5-foot-2 point guard was unaware of any personal record.

“Alycia just happens to be a great person who happens to play basketball,” Johnson said. “She’s a born leader. She loves her teammates — anything you can think of positive, that’s Alycia.”

Patterson got the Vikings off to a quick start against the Wildcats as she scored 12 points in a 13-0 run by Niles.

She would finish the night shooting 10-of-17 from the field. She added 11 points down the stretch to hold off a second-half comeback bid by Mattawan.

Niles (7-5, 4-2 SMAC West) led 36-18 at halftime, but the Wildcats came roaring back in the second half to make things interesting.

Trailing 45-26 heading into the final quarter, Mattawan ran off 12 consecutive points to cut the Niles lead to seven points.

Patterson took over from there and stopped the Wildcats’ comeback effort with a 3-pointer. She would connect on six free throws in the game’s waning moments to seal the victory.

Besides Patterson, Niles also got 10 points from Amara Palmer and eight points from Reese Davies.

Mattawan was led by Adelaide Douglass’ nine points.

Niles will host Battle Creek Central on Tuesday night.

Boys basketball

The Niles boys basketball team dropped a 39-37 SMAC West decision to visiting Mattawan Friday night.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half as the Vikings held a 16-15 halftime advantage.

The shooting only slightly improved in the second half, but the Wildcats made enough plays down the stretch to pull out the victory.

Mattawan outscored Niles 15-7 in the third quarter to open up a 30-23 lead that the Vikings were not able to overcome, despite outscoring the Wildcats 14-9 in the final eight minutes.

According to first-year coach Patrick Touhey, his team still needs to learn how to win basketball games.

“I put this all on me,” he said. “What this is all about is not knowing how to win. Having that presence about ourselves and that moxie about ourselves, that when we step out on the floor, that we are going to make some plays — that when we walk out of here, we gave ourselves every opportunity not to let ourselves down.”

Touhey said that it is not present in the program right now. And he was hired to teach the team how to be successful and to expect to win.

“I have not found a formula yet,” Touhey said. “It is not just about the execution, but a mindset. A behavior that this program has been living in for a long, long time. What people will not understand is that that is a much bigger challenge than the Xs and Os.”

Cerious Wilson led the Vikings with 13 points, while Mari Nichols added 11 points.

Jalen Jones had 12 points for the Wildcats.

Niles will travel to Battle Creek Central on Tuesday.