VIDEO: Vikings Win, Advance to Sectional Final

New Trier Sectional Semifinal

Final Score: (4) 74  

                       (1) Notre Dame 60

Records: Niles North (23-6)  Notre Dame (23-7)

Key Players: Niles North senior Abdel Nader scored all 22 of his points in the final 10 minutes of the game to lead the Vikings to the win.  Sophomore Malachi Nix also scored 15 for Niles North.  Seniors Earl Washington and Andre Shaw scored 12 and 11 respectively.  Notre Dame senior Quinton Chievous led all scorers with 25 points, 16 of them coming in the second half.  With 11 points, Senior Rodney Pryor was the only other Notre Dame player to score in double figures.  Senior Ryan Tompkins scored eight points and sophomore Donte Stephenson scored seven.

Key Stats:  Chievous hit a three pointer to cap a 12-2 Notre Dame run with 2:11 left in the third quarter.  That gave the Dons a 37-32 lead.  In the next 4:41, Nader would score 16 straight points to give the Vikings a 48-47 lead.  With 3:00 left in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame still only trailed by two.  But Andre Shaw hit back-to-back three pointers for Niles North to extend the lead to eight points with 2:22 left to play.  The Dons would not be able to pull any closer than within six points.

Quote of the night: Nader on a great battle with long-time friend Quenton Chievous - "Quenton is a good friend of mine and an outstanding basketball player.  He played outstanding tonight and I just felt like I had to match it or do better.  And I guess as a team we ended up doing better.  It's a great feeling now because I get bragging rights.  He won at Christmas and took all the bragging rights from me so now I get them back."

What's Next: Niles North moves on to the sectional championship on Friday night.  They will play the winner of Schaumburg and Niles West, who play Wednesday night at 7:30 pm at New Trier High School.

Highlights: Click on the video link above for complete highlights and post game reaction from both teams.

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