April 16, 2025
Sports

Boys Basketball: Grant Niego, Michael Niedermeyer have Lyons not missing a beat

Niego scores 23 points as Lions advance to Jack Tosh quarterfinals

By BOB NARANG

Lyons Township's Grant Niego drives around York's Nick Hesch during a game in Elmhurst on Dec. 6. (Jeff Krage)

ELMHURST – Lyons senior guard Grant Niego is focused on ending his final prep season in a memorable fashion.

So is teammate Michael Niedermeyer.

Niedermeyer and Niego have been at the forefront of the Lions not missing a beat in their quest for another winning season. Both seniors are basically the only two players on the Lions with significant varsity experience from last season.

For Niedermeyer, this season is taking on a different meaning than Niego. His current plans are not to play in college, while Niego will definitely follow in his two older brothers’ footsteps and lace it up in college.

“I love this sport, but I’ve been playing basketball and soccer for all these years, so I’m just looking to finish out my high school career out on a high note,” Niedermeyer said.

Despite heavy graduation losses, the Lions managed to win their second straight game at the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic on Friday. Niego paced the Lions with 23 points, six rebounds and four assists in a 83-51 blowout over St. Laurence. The Lions (5-4) play Schaumburg at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Josh Heath had 19 points and Ben Engels finished with nine points and 10 rebounds for the Lions

“We’re just starting to figure ourselves out and gel as a team, offensively and defensively” Niego said. “We have struggled at times offensively, but are starting to hit a groove and will try and build from this victory.”

The Lions attacked the basket and started off hot from the perimeter from the opening tip, when Niego scored the game’s first five points to lead the Lions to a 10-2 lead.

Niego added two floaters to increase the advantage to 15-4, while Michael Shay scored on a putback to put the lead at 28-7 with one minute left in the first quarter.

“We started the game playing strong on defense and hitting our shots,” Niedermeyer said. “That got us going on a nice run. Once we got the (big) lead, we made sure not to let up on the defensive end and shared the ball well.”

Heath buried a 3-pointer to raise the lead to 33-17, then Stefan Vasic, in his second game back from an injury, canned a 3-point from the wing for a 46-29 edge.

Niego put the game out of reach with a left-handed drive for a lay-in in traffic and beat two defenders for a layup to give the Lions a 66-42 lead.

Lyons coach Tom Sloan noted his players are slowly becoming more comfortable in new, expanded roles.

“Obviously we were senior heavy last year, with Grant and Michael leading a tough group of seniors this year,” Sloan said. “But we’ve been learning on the fly. They got to play summer basketball and play against varsity basketball but when you get to the season, it’s different."