Niles dominates late to defeat Chaney

After closing to within two points, the Cowboys went cold in the 62-51 loss.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NILES -- Senior Dave Soda dominated the inside and led the Niles McKinley High basketball team to its fourth straight victory Friday, defeating Chaney 62-51 at War Memorial Gymnasium.
Soda scored 22 points, while the Red Dragons' defense held the Cowboys without a field goal in the final eight minutes to remain unbeaten.
Chaney (3-2) lost its second straight.
"We really don't think about wins and losses right now," Niles coach Ron Price said. "We just take things one game at a time, but we felt that we had a pretty good squad coming back."
Soda was a force on the offensive boards, especially in the first half when he tallied 10 points, most of them off rebounds.
"Rebounding was the key tonight," Chaney coach Jim Stickel said. "They really hurt us on the offensive boards in the first half."
Getting some help: Soda was joined in double figures by senior Tom Simeone, who scored 11 points and connected on three 3-point goals. The Dragons hit on 25 of 60 shots from the field and were 8-of-24 from 3-point range.
Senior Roy Austin led Chaney with 17 points while Chris Childers added 13.
The Cowboys made just 19 of 57 shots from the field and were 5-of 13 from 3-point range.
"We have eight guys in there every game and any one of them is capable of stepping up and taking the lead," Price said.
"I thought we passed the ball exceptionally well tonight, especially in the second half, and we hit the boards aggressively," Price said.
Stickel said his team played hard and had the opportunities to win.
"We just couldn't make the shots when we needed them," Stickel said. "But it's early, we've only played five games. They are going to start falling for us soon."
Even without a field goal in the final quarter, the Cowboys were right in the game with less than four minutes remaining, trailing just 53-51.
But the Cowboys didn't score again the rest of the way as the Dragons reeled off nine unanswered points to wrap up the win, four of those from Soda.
Quick start: Niles jumped out to the early lead, pulling to a 15-5 advantage with 3:26 left in the opening period, but the Cowboys scored the next 12 points and took a 17-15 lead. Chaney led 19-16 at the end of the period.
The Cowboys continued to rule in the second quarter as Austin scored 10 of his points in the first half. Chaney held a 36-31 lead at intermission.
Simeone and Jason Shelton hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the third period as the Dragons closed to within one point, 38-37.
Soda hit a 3-pointer to put Niles in front for the first time since the first quarter, 42-41.
After Matt Lobaugh hit a 3-pointer to put Chaney back in the lead 44-42, the Red Dragons went on a 9-2 run to end the period with a 51-46 lead.
Austin made three of four free throws and Childers added another pair as the Cowboys pulled to within two, 53-51, but they never scored again as the Dragons had little trouble breaking the Cowboys' press to score four uncontested buckets down the stretch.