By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The Niles Vikings varsity basketball team edged visiting Kalamazoo Loy Norrix in their first home game of the season Friday night, 68-63.
The win brings Niles' record to 1-1 on the season.
Sophomore Brandon Thomas proved why he is going to be someone to look out for this season as he racked up 29 points and 13 rebounds for Niles.
On Tuesday, Thomas scored 21 points when the Vikes faced South Bend Washington.
Thomas scored most of his points in the third period when he went on a 14-0 run for Niles.
Prior to his shooting spree, the Vikes had been trailing the Knights by three points, 32-29, entering the second half. But by the end of the third, Niles had regained control of the game with a 49-44 lead heading into the fourth period.
The entire game stayed fairly close. The Vikes had the lead most of the game, but only by single digits.
After the first period the score was 17-10 in favor of the Vikes and at halftime Loy Norrix had the 30-29 lead.
During the second period, Thomas was able to break free for a dunk on an assist from Lavette' Walker at the 5:19 mark.
In the final period, the Knights were able to tie the game at 53 with just under five minutes to play, but an 8-0 run by the Vikes helped keep them on top for the rest of the period.
Loy Norrix came within two points of the lead, 65-63, with 18 seconds left, but Nate Parks went 3-for-4 on the line during the final 13 seconds to seal the win.
Parks also stated that Lavette' Walker, Ben Hansen and Tom Robson also had great nights for the Vikes on both ends of the court.
Hansen ended the night with 14 points, Walker had 11 and Robson added three.
Etzcorn, a senior and one of Niles' top rebounders, was absent from the game due to an illness and is expected to return next week.
Junior Varsity game
The Niles JV basketball team also grabbed a win Friday evening against Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, 68-54.
Top scorers for the Vikes were Zach Bloss with 21 points, Andre Thompson with 20 points ad Justin Williams with 10 points.
Damarcus Hughes was the top scorer for the Knights with 18 points.
The JV team will host Portage Central on Tuesday at 5:45 p.m.
Niles…68
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix…63
NILES
Jordan Parks 0 0-0 0, Tom Robson 1 1-3 3, Josh Moffitt 0 0-0 0, Ben Hansen 7 0-0 14, Dan Rodts 0 2-2 2, Nate Parks 0 5-10 5, Brandon Thomas 12 5-5 29, Pete Brandstatter 0 2-4 2, Lavette' Walker 4 3-5 11, Nate Orr 0 0-0 0, Paul Dreher 0 2-2 2, Mat Peters 0 0-0 0
LOY NORRIX
Byron Brown 2 1 0-0 7, Calvin Boyd 0 0-0 0, Mikel Lucas 2 1 0-0 7, Sid Brown 4 0-0 8, Ben Gonazales 1 2 2-2 10, Joe Stempkey 0 0-0 0, Niquay Evans 4 0-0 8, Raymond Hall 4 1 1-2 11, Rob Buchanan 2 0-0 4, Nick Johnson 1 0-0 2, Laquintas Edwards 1 0-0 2, Tommy Brooks 2 0-0 4