By By ERIKA PICKLES and AUTUMN GRAYSON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – The Niles's boy's basketball team put on a show for the fans with the return of some key players Thursday night at the championship game of the Niles Holiday Classic
The Vikes were finally able to grab the title, taking a 59-42 victory over the Coloma Comets.
"It feels great," Niles coach Todd Pawielski said about the win. "I think the kids really deserve this. They've worked hard and they've really made some great strides towards becoming a team and being the team that we want to be."
Niles had a 13 point advantage at halftime, but Coloma rallied to come within six points of the Vikes in the third quarter. After a timeout, Niles attempted to make their comeback.
"We just talked about running an offense on our end of the floor and making sure that Coloma didn't get some of the easy baskets. We really felt like they were not earning their points, and that we were giving them to them," Pawielski said.
Coloma only scored nine points to Niles' 20 in the fourth quarter to end the game.
Junior Brandon Thomas, who did not play Wednesday night, came off the bench and electrified the gym with three dunks, two of them consecutive, to help put Niles back in control. Thomas ended the night with 19 points.
Niles senior Danny Rodts had a game high 26 points on the night, twice as many as he scored in Wednesday's game. Rodts also added five 3-pointers.
"I just came out and it was a more relaxing night for me," Rodts said after the game. "I didn't stretch tonight. I just took it easy compared to the first night.
Rodts also talked about winning the Tournament for the first time.
"It feels pretty good," Rodts said. "We didn't win last year, so it was nice to come out and win as a senior."
Pawielski noted that senior Damien Bryant, who also did not play Wednesday, did an excellent job in the guard position.
Bryant had five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Niles … 59
Coloma … 42
At Niles
COLOMA (42) – Joe Richardson 2 1-1 5, Mike Foran 0 0-0 0, Tremayne Williams 0 0-0 0, Corey Brownfield 1 0-0 2, Jeff Gargano 5 2-2 14, Spencer Paulsen 0 0-0 0, Josh Greco 0 0-0 0, Gabe Guidry 2 0-0 4, Derrick Lucas 1 0-1 2, Brian Saltzman 3 1-5 7, Joe Stonebraker 3 0-0 8. TOTALS: 17 4-9 42.
NILES (59) – Jordan Parks 0 0-0 0, Damian Bryant 2 0-1 4, Joshua Moffitt 0 1-2 1, Seth Jordan 0 1-2 1, Andre Thompson 1 2-2 4, Danny Rodts 10 1-2 26, Taylor Williams 1 1-2 3, Demetrius Phillips 0 0-0 0, Brandon Thomas 7 4-6 19, Taylor Robson 0 1-2 1, Mat Peters 0 0-0 0, Kurt Bourbonnais 0 0-0 0. Totals – 21 11-19 59.
Coloma 8 19 33 42
Niles 22 32 39 59
3-point goals – Coloma 4 (Gargano 2, Stonebraker 2), Niles 6 (Rodts 5, Thomas). Total fouls (fouled out) – Coloma 13 (none), Niles 14 (none).