In a midweek showdown, the 7th grade North Cougars hosted the Broncos from Heritage Middle School on Wednesday evening. As all teams are starting to wind down the season, both teams hoped to keep momentum rolling as they look ahead to the district tournament approaching quickly.

With the A teams taking the court, North was looking to extend their winning streak and to stay unbeaten in 2025. And it didn't take long for the Cougars to pressure the Broncos into enough turnovers to fill a bakery... and North quickly took control. Highlighted by many individual performances, North never looked back; including:

Mason Hotle- a season high 29 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals
Damian Triggs- 9 points, 11 rebounds, 9 BLOCKS... just missing out on a triple-double!
Liam Dow- 12 points, 4 steals, 3 assists
Eli Smith- 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Joseph Ortega- 5 points, 4 steals, 4 assists
And while the Broncos played an athletic contest and showed a lot of heart, the Cougars proved to be too much on this night as they cruised to a 62-48 win to extend their winning streak to 3 games... and now a matchup against their cross town rivals from West to end the regular season next week!

Jumping into action next, both B squads hoped to gain some traction and put their game plans into action. Unfortunately for North, another slow start left them without a bucket in the first quarter; putting them behind early. Led by 5 points from Andrew Wolfe and almost everyone else dropping in a bucket each, North played the remainder of the game fairly even with the Broncos. But having been behind early, that wasn't enough to make up the deficit, and the Cougars fell by a total of 23-18 to end their winning streak in this new year.

And so the C game became the rubber match... which school would win and control the series on this night? Well, if pressure makes diamonds, then the Cougar C team turned into world-renowned jewelers as their full court press was too much for the Broncos to handle. Smothering Heritage at every turn, North took advantage of the many turnovers to build a solid lead which continued to grow throughout the game. Several Cougars joined the effort with almost every player scoring on the night; led by Austin Shelby with 8 points and 4 steals, Andrew McBryde added 6 points and 3 rebounds, and Juan Murcia shared 3 assists. And the Cougars' success led to the Broncos' frustrations as North locked up the win by a score of 30-6 to extend their winning streak to 3 games as well!

Now all attention will turn to the last week of the regular season; especially as North prepares to match up with West in 3 bragging-rights games. District tournament seeding is also on the line, so come on out to cheer on the Cougars and end the season on a high note! #GoCougars!


UP NEXT:
*Away at WEST MS on Monday, 1/27. A team starts at 5:00.

Overall
A: 4-4
B: 2-3
C: 3-2