NILES — The Chaney Cowboys walked into the Niles gymnasium on Tuesday and completely overmatched the Red Dragons 63-23.

Sophomore Asuante Mickel took it strong to the hoop, and scored six of his game-high 18 points, as Chaney opened up a 24-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“We had a tough two-point loss to Akron Hoban to start out the new year,” said Mickel. “Tonight, we tried to start getting on a roll. We’re trying to get better every game we play. We got off to kind of a rough start, but we’re going to try not to lose anymore games this year.”

The Cowboys evened up their record at 4-4 on the season with the victory.

“We do the same thing every year,” Chaney coach Marlon McGaughy said. “We build up our schedule to get ready for the tournament. Our schedule is heavy. We have three games this week. It’s going to make us better. Our only goal is to always get better.”

The Cowboys kept getting better as the game went on. Junior Allen Hill (seven points) threw it down with a one-handed jam, and senior Bobby Johnson (eight points) connected on a reverse layup, as Chaney built a 43-10 halftime advantage.

“We’ve gotta lock in and stay focused,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to work together. With the way our schedule is, we’re prepared to play against anybody.”

The Cowboys forced a running-clock in the second half. Junior Dewayne Thompson (12 points) completed an and-one to give Chaney a 58-16 lead heading to the fourth quarter.

“This season hasn’t gone as good as we wanted it to,” Thompson said. “We can be better. We want to make it deep into the playoffs. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get there. We’re a family here, and we have really good coaches.”

Sophomore Jayden Mack had a big blocked-shot, and fellow sophomore Daylon Ferrell made a 3-pointer, as the Cowboys finished off the victory.

Freshman Cash Carey-Hardin nailed one from behind the arc in the first quarter for the Red Dragons. Junior Trey Davis led Niles with nine points as the Dragons fell to 4-5 on the season.

“The season has been tough,” Niles coach Jesse Hardin said. “I play four freshmen, two seniors and two juniors. I knew it was going to be an up and down season.

“Chaney plays hard. I played for coach McGaughy my freshman year, and he took us to a state championship game. I’ve known him since I was a kid. He’s a great role model. His team takes on the identity of their head coach.

“As a player, he got after it. When you have players that play hard on your team, those are the kind of results that you get like tonight.”