On Monday evening, following the eventful winter weather break last week, the North 7th Boys basketball team was eager to host Cross Timbers Middle School for the final regular season slate of games. Looking ahed to the district tournament, this game would prove impactful on seeding and preparing for a successful tourney run this weekend!
Kicking things off, the A teams for both North and Cross Timbers looked to set the tone. And they proved to do just that. After a quick start for the Wolves, North faced an early deficit. But they found a way to bounce back quickly; holding Cross Timbers nearly scoreless the rest of the first quarter while they worked to tie up the game at 9 apiece. And from there, the game stayed tight throughout. Coming out of the half, North held a one point lead which they slightly stretched to 3 points heading to the fourth quarter. And as North found a way to pull away down the stretch, it really was a total team effort, including:
Nathan Campbell: 8 points, 12 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists, and 3 blocks
Viaan Desai: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 assists
Crosby Grizzle: 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals
Matthew Miller: 9 points
As mentioned, it was the Cougars who found the edge in the fourth and were able to stretch their lead heading to the buzzer; taking a 49-37 hard fought win to finish their regular season!
In the B game, a very similar pattern emerged from the jump. Despite a ton of hustle and pressure, North found that their rim had the proverbial LID on top and couldn't get anything to fall. This allowed the Wolves to jump out to an early 11-0 lead, but North kept grinding and didn't allow an 11-3 hole at the first break keep them down. Storming back and knocking the lid off the top, North was able to turn things around and led 22-17 at the half. Led by 20 points from Andrew Espinoza, along with 8 each from Benjamin Cook and Gavin Fischer, the Cougars didn't look back. Stretching the lead to double digits throughout the second half, North sealed the deal with a 43-24 final; ending their regular season with a 4-1 record (with their only loss being by a single point)!
And as always, the honor of wrapping things up came down to the C squad. And North was looking for their first sweep since the first week along with hoping to bounce back from a last second loss to their rivals from CMS West last week. Could they do it all? Just like the first two games, this one also got off to a slow start... however it was North who held the 2-0 lead after the first quarter. The Cougars were able to add to that and led by 7 at the half and by 9 heading to the final frame. Ashmit Adhikari and Gage Burton led the team with 8 points each with Burton adding 7 rebounds also as the Cougars pressed to the end. And despite a small run from the Wolves to cut the lead down a bit, North was able to finish off the game with a score of 24-20 and complete the 3 game sweep to wrap up their regular season too!
The Cougars want to thank all of their supporters for cheering them on this season! But don't let up now- come cheer on the A team as they hunt for a district title in this weekend's season-ending tournament.
UP NEXT:
A TEAM at the District Tourney; Friday 2/6/26 & Saturday 2/7/26.
OVERALL (11-6)
A: 4-3
B: 4-1
C: 3-2
#GoCougars!
