Staff photo / Mason Cole Howland’s Vasili Gentis (13) is guarded by Niles’ Stefon Dorsey (4) on Friday night.

HOWLAND — The Howland Tigers ended their regular season with a bang as they defeated their rival, the Niles McKinley Red Dragons, 71-48 on Friday.

It was senior night for Howland and Tigers senior Brandon Null stepped up in a big way. Null hit two three-point shots, shot 10-for-16 overall from the field and led his team with 25 points. Null credited his teammates for getting him the ball when he needed it.

“Credit goes to my teammates,” Null said. “When I got the open shots, I hit them tonight. But it was all my teammates getting me the ball at the right times.”

Before the season, Howland head coach Dan Bubon was unsure if Null would even be a part of the team. But the senior has stepped up when needed and continues to help the Tigers find success.

“Brandon’s been a monster lately,” Bubon said. “He’s a kid who didn’t play basketball his freshman year, and up until September, was not planning on playing this year. His buddies kept working on him, I kept working on him, he came out and he’s had a really good year.”

It was a grudge match between the two teams in the first half. The Tigers and the Red Dragons exchanged baskets as well as possessions of tough defense. After some sloppy first half mistakes, Howland found itself with just an eight-point lead at halftime.

“I wasn’t really thrilled with our (first half) defense,” Bubon said. “We wanted to get up and pressure them, and once they entered the ball it was like we lost our minds. Once they entered the ball, we were supposed to back off a little bit, but we just let them throw the ball over our heads two or three times for layups. You really can’t do that. We pride ourselves on our defense, we don’t like giving up layups, and those layups got them going, gave them energy and kept the game tight.”

After leading 29-21 through two quarters, Howland hit a groove coming out of halftime. Null scored nine points while the Tigers as a team scored 25 in the third quarter while holding Niles to 14. In the blink of an eye, the Red Dragons were trailing 54-35.

“They got around us,” Niles head coach Doug Foster said. “Our guys were reaching, and they were driving and dishing the ball. Null is tough around the basket, and John Perry, they were both tough around the basket. When your opponents are tough and getting layups and hitting threes, it’s a tough time to win.”

Alongside Null, Perry added 12 points for Howland.

For Niles, senior Keyshon Talley led the team with 13 points while junior Anthony Budak added 10. But it was not enough to overcome Howland.

With the loss, the Red Dragons finish the regular season with a 10-12 overall record. Niles will put the loss behind them as they shift their focus to the OHSAA tournament, where they will travel to Ravenna for a sectional semifinal match on Feb. 22.

“We want to get healthier,” Foster said. “Regroup a little bit. We’ll take tomorrow off, Sunday we will watch film of Ravenna, and Monday and Tuesday we’ll focus on what we have to do to get them.”

With the victory, Howland finishes its regular season with an 11-11 overall record. The Tigers will now begin preparing for their sectional semifinal game against Cuyahoga Falls which Howland will host on Feb. 22. Their blowout win against Niles sends them into the postseason on the right foot.

“It’s huge for us,” Null said. “We stressed in the locker room before that game that we needed a big performance going into the playoffs so we could be playing the right kind of basketball right before we go into the game Wednesday. It was huge for us for sure.”