On Monday night, North's 7th grade boys basketball teams returned to action following the holiday break; hosting their crosstown rivals from Middle School East. As these rivalry games always go, both the Cougars and Broncos looked to make a statement on the night.

In the first game, the Broncos immediately put pressure on the ball and saw North begin to scramble. Using turnovers as rocket fuel, the East squad jumped out to a decisive lead throughout the first quarter. As the Cougars found their footing a bit, they made some small runs to try and regain momentum, but the comeback just wasn't on the menu. North was led by Kash Hickman with 6 points and Shrihan Vankamanidi added 5 steals while Cristian Varela added 5 points and 4 rebounds off the bench to provide a little energy. However, the final score was a disappointing 61-22 loss to start the night.

In the middle contest, the Cougar B team jumped out to an early lead and was able to turn the tables around on East a bit. In the second half, the Broncos were able to edge ahead though and North found themselves in need of a comeback too. Led by Johnathan Anderson's 13 rebounds and Grant Hubble's 8 points, the game literally came down to the last second. Trailing by 3 points with less than 1 second, Grant Hubble stepped to the free throw line attempting to pull of a miracle. After making the first free throw to close the gap to 2 points, Hubble was able to throw the second shot off the rim, catch the rebound, and get a potential game tying shot off before the buzzer.... which took a bounce off the rim and fell to the side; leaving North on the short side of a 27-25 loss. Despite the loss, the Cougars definitely can be proud of the effort to fight back and play tough all the way until the end.

To close out the evening, the Cougars C team looked to get a victory and avoid the sweep to their East rivals. Both teams played an even first quarter, trying to find a way against each other to gain an advantage. As the game progressed, the Broncos seemed to find some magic and saw shot after shot find its way through the rim. Feeding off this energy, East took control and stretched out their lead heading into the second half. The player of the game for North was Siddhant Rawat who scored 4 points, collected 4 rebounds, and added 2 steals in his first game action of the season. His efforts weren't enough though to overcome the Broncos, and North fell in defeat with a final score of 38-11.

Finding themselves at the midpoint of the season, North will look to rebound from these losses and build back their momentum to wrap up this final month. Come on out and support the Cougars if you get the chance!

Up Next: At Cross Timbers Middle School on Tuesday, 1/16... A team starts at 5:00

Overall
Total: 6-3
A: 2-1
B: 2-1
C: 2-1
#GoCougars