Shaun Dicken, in his first year as head coach of the Northville girls’ varsity basketball team, took over a program with a lot of turnover following a strong 2022-23 season. But Dicken quickly discovered that one of the few returning players was like having another coach on the floor – and that’s a valuable asset for any coach.

“Nikki is a very fundamentally sound player,” Dicken said. “I can't tell you how many times myself or another coach is trying to demonstrate an offensive move and we just simply say, ‘Nikki, show them.’ Her footwork around the rim demonstrates how much time she has put in the offseason developing her game. She has really worked hard to become a more physical player on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor, which is beginning to show up on game night.”

Nikki is Northville senior Nikki Grech, who is as impressive off the court as she is on it.

“Although Nikki is quiet, she leads by example at practice,” Dicken said. “She is competitive trying to win every drill and makes sure her teammates see that day in and day out. Nikki has aspirations to play college basketball and I truly believe she would be an asset to any college basketball program. I am very proud to be able to say I am Nikki's coach. She represents our program in a positive way in our school community and in the classroom.”

Grech is coming off a strong junior year, helping lead the Mustangs to a 17-6 record, including wins over every team in their league. But her focus now is on the present.

“We have a lot of new players and not a lot of varsity experience combined but every game we are improving and competing,” said Grech, who had some big games early in the season, including scoring 31 points in a game against Brighton. “Of course a goal of ours is to win games but more importantly, we want to get better each game and be the team who wants to win more than the other.

“Our primary goal is for everyone in the gym, no matter if we win or lose, to know we played tough and together. An individual goal of mine is to be a leader on and off the court.”

Nikki, 17, is the daughter of Rob and Donna Grech. She has a 3.9 GPA and is a member of National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society. She also plays field hockey and enjoys traveling and spending time with family and friends.

Grech first started playing basketball when she was in second grade.

“At the time I played multiple other sports, but after a while my favorite sport was basketball,” she said. “I liked it more than other sports because I found it to be more competitive and also, I was able to pick up basketball faster than any other sport I played.”

She hopes to keep playing at the next level.

“After high school, I want to go to college and study sports psychology,” she said. “I’m considering several schools and plan to make my decision shortly. My goal is to play basketball in college.”