The Varsity boys basketball team rallied against the Niles North Vikings, but their comeback fell apart and they lost in a high-scoring affair: 76-66 on Saturday, Dec. 7.

The Wolves showed sound execution early on as they were scoring with ease and shutting down the Vikings offense. They played focused basketball in the first quarter with tight defense, a nice mid-range game and a 20-15 lead when the buzzer sounded.

After the first session ended, the Wolves just didn’t get the same chances to capitalize on that they had in the first quarter and looked a bit stagnant. Niles North scored 21 points in the second quarter alone to the Wolves 9. The Vikings were easily scoring, but the Wolves only made four baskets. In the third period of action, the Vikings took off, scoring 23 points while the Wolves had 11. The Wolves seemed like they couldn’t get shots up in the third, while North again was scoring without much of a problem. Heading into the fourth, North was leading 59-47.

“I think that it was definitely a game that kept you on the edge of your seat,” junior Cassie Bergman said. “There were moments in the game where it was a one point game, but unfortunately the gap grew larger.”

Throughout the contest, Sophomore guard Jojo Rios was one of the few scoring options the Wolves had, adding 21 points to the effort. Rios looked like he could pull up from anywhere and get shots to go.

The fourth period was the first try the Wolves had at a comeback. Senior forward Romeo Magloire scored 17 points in the contest and was a major force inside the paint to help trim the lead. Magloire was not alone as senior guard and captain Ahmad Gibson scored 18 in the game and helped dwindle down the lead down to 5, 59-54. With a little over five minutes left, it seemed as if the Wolves could really win. After a little bit of hope, the Vikings made back-to-back threes and sealed the victory.

“It’s rough because it’s my last year and I’ve never lost to them, but I’m over it now. We start conference Tuesday so that’s my focus now. It was never a big goal of mine to beat them. I’m focused on winning conference and regionals, and North is not in our conference or region so I have no reason to be concerned about that game anymore,” Gibson said.

Coach Bob Williams was disappointed in his squad’s defense, specifically in the third quarter.

“Well, the biggest concern we had was our lack of defense,” he said. “Starting in the third quarter I think we had seven or eight possessions in a row where offensively we were doing okay, but defensively we didn’t take care of business.”