As the holiday weekend rolled around, the North 7th grade Cougars headed to the West Invitational basketball tournament hosted by Coppell West. In all, both the A and B teams participated in 3 games each in this tournament to gain some extra action and experience.
The B team started with a tug-of-war battle with the hosting Wranglers, but ended up falling 26-19. The Cougars’ Player of the Game went to Caden Mechsner with his solid overall performance of 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. In the second game, the Cougars took on Grapevine Middle School. While many players contributed to the 31-23 victory, Satvik Kolathaya led the way with 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 steals. Heading into the final game, the B squad had a chance to pull off the tournament championship, and started off very strong against Prestonwood Christian Academy’s roster. However, PCA made a run of their own in the second half. And despite a great effort from Rylan Sneed (7 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals), the Cougars couldn’t quite stay on top and ended up taking the loss, 30-26.
The Cougars A team seemed to have read the same script as their counterparts. In the first game against CMS West, the North boys were led by a suburb effort by Charlie Sauer who dropped in a game high 20 points. But in the end, the Cougars needed just a bit more as they fell short with a 36-33 final. Next, the A team didn’t leave much to chance against Grapevine and ran away quickly to put away the victory. Charlie Sauer again led the team with 18 points, but Suhoon Cho did the dirty work down low by hauling in a team best 9 rebounds to help seal the 43-24 win. And to round out the tournament action, A team also faced off with the team from PCA. Despite a team leading 8 points from Zane Nimalaratne, the Cougars were outmatched from the start before finishing with a lopsided loss. But all in all, the extra game experience with this weekend tournament should help the Cougars be better prepared for the remainder of their regular season and upcoming district tournament next month.
#GoCougars
UP NEXT: Home vs. CMS West on Wednesday, 1/19
Overall on the season:
A team: 4-5
B team: 3-6
C team: 1-5
