Fourth quarter rally lifts Tigers to D2 district title over Vikings

Published 9:58 am Saturday, March 2, 2024

By Scott Novak

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EDWARDSBURG — A big fourth quarter by Benton Harbor kept Niles from defending its Division 2 Boys District Tournament championship Friday night.

The Vikings seemed to be in charge of the contest with an eight-point lead in the third quarter. But the top-seeded Tigers rallied, outscoring the Vikings 27-17 in the final eight minutes to pull out the 58-48 victory at Edwardsburg High School.

Niles (19-6) grabbed the early lead and did not trail Benton Harbor (23-1) until the fourth quarter.

The Tigers cut the Vikings 22-16 halftime deficit down throughout the third quarter, and finally caught Niles as the buzzer when Antwan Callahan, who carried the Tigers in the first half with 12 of Benton Harbor’s 16 points, connected on a long 3-point to tie the score at 31-31.

Benton Harbor leading scorer Josiah King, who was held to one basket throughout most of the opening three quarters, took over from there.

It took less than a minute into the fourth quarter for the Tigers to take their first lead of the contest.

Mustapha Muhammad, who had seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, completed a three-point play to give Benton Harbor the lead. A steal and score by Callahan extended the Tigers’ advantage to 36-31.

King would take over from there, scoring 12 of his 14 points in the final eight minutes as Benton Harbor slowly pulled away from the Vikings, who had troubles getting into its offensive sets due to the constant Tiger defensive pressure.

Mike Phillips Jr. led Niles with 19 points as he eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau in his final game for Niles.

Brayden Favors added 11 points.

Despite the disappoint loss, there were plenty of bright spots for the Vikings this season, including its first championship since joining the Wolverine Conference.

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