On Monday evening, the North Cougars 7th Boys basketball squad was itching to get back into action following the recent holiday break as they travelled to Heritage Middle School. It had been almost a month since they last took the court and everyone was ready to tip off this new year!

In the A game to start, both teams looked to take advantage of some pressure and find some easy buckets. As much as the Cougars tried, it was the Hawks zone defense that gave Heritage the early advantage. Heritage continued to stretch out their lead off of North's turnovers; leading 26-11 at the half. In the third period, North did find some traction and were able to make up a lot of ground behind strong play from Crosby Grizzle's 11 points and Nathan Campbell's 9 rebounds and 5 steals. But in the end, the Hawks able to push back once again in the 4th period to cruise home to a 49-29 win on their home court to start the evening.

For the next act, the Cougars B team was ready to accept the challenge and turn things around for North. .. and boy did they ever! Behind some relentless pressure, North took control from the start. Jackson Greene was instrumental in leading this charge as he finished with a team high 8 steals on the night. Other Cougars also packed the stat sheet, including: Andrew Espinoza with 12 points and 9 boards, Benjamin Cook with 8 points and 5 rebounds, and Gavin Fischer with 11 points. All in all, the Hawks had no answers and fell to North in a blowout 34-4.

And as if it hadn't been a wild enough night already, the C game was ready to add to the zaniness as the cherry on top. The Cougars were once again able to get the early momentum and pull ahead. But with both teams struggling to make shots, the game stayed fairly close throughout. North was led by Diego Mata Bruzal with 8 points in a breakout performance. In the final minutes, the Hawks made a push to close a 6 point deficit; tying the game up shortly before the end of regulation... which led to OVERTIME! As both teams tried their best through the extra period, the score remained tied once again... DOUBLE OVERTIME (Sudden Death style!). Thankfully, the Cougars found a way with a put back hoop by Gage Lawrence to seal the W by a final of 20-18; giving North 2 out of 3 wins on the night.

Maybe all of the excitement is just setting the stage for the rest of this season as North will now face off with both crosstown rivals- West and East- in the coming weeks. Be sure to come on out and cheer the Cougars to victory!

UP NEXT:
Home vs. CMS West on Wednesday 1/21/26; A team starts at 5:00 PM

OVERALL
A: 2-3
B: 2-1
C: 2-1

#GoCougars!