North Country runs wild

The North Country Mavericks and Lady Mavericks basketball teams were able to defeat their Porcupines and Rivals foes at the Penguin Palace in Whitewater on Friday, January 26.

The night served as Whitewater High School's senior night in which Maverick Trace Simonson and Lady Maverick Jordan Pewitt were honored.

After the ceremony, the Lady Mavericks handily defeated the Nashua-Opheim Rivals 70-18.

Jada Sudbrack had a game-leading 19 points, Kaitlyn McColly had 15 points, Mickayla Johnson had 12 points, Kia Wasson had 10 points, Sarah Boucher had 6 points, Sydney Zeller had four points, Casity Boucher had two points, and Kelsee Cummings had two points.

"The key to our win was that we played hard all four quarters and we gave it our all no matter what," Sudbrack said.

The Lady Mavericks only allowed one two-point field goal in the first quarter, while scoring 19. The Lady Mavericks continued their run into the second quarter, scoring 23 points and giving up eight. The halftime score was 42-10.

"I feel like we did really good tonight," Pewitt said. "We met our defensive goal, so it was pretty cool."

The Lady Mavericks put up another 23 points in the third quarter, while holding the Rivals to five. The Lady Mavericks would also outscore Nashua 5-3 in the fourth quarter.

The Rivals only had six players, which is a stark contrast to many teams that North Country has faced. They did not underestimate their opponent and stayed focused throughout the game.

"I think just playing tough defense all four quarters keeps us up and going," C. Boucher said. "It's hard to play teams like that but I think just playing great defense helps with it."

The Mavericks defeated the Nashua Porcupines 77-34, led by Simonson, who scored 32 points.

"We just pushed the ball pretty hard on them," Simonson said. "We kept our composure when they weren't agreeing with the refs tonight. Overall we played pretty well as a team and really stuck it to them in the second half."

Loden Idler scored 12 points, Jesse Lee scored eight points, John McColly had seven points, Austin Leatherberry had seven points and Ty Murphy had five points.

"Loden Idler has been playing well all year," Simonson said. "He is a freshman and he is either starting or one of the first ones off the bench. He is doing good running the point for us. John Taylor comes in off the bench and he usually puts in a couple shots a game. Jesse Lee always comes in, plays hard, gets rebounds, and gets some quick pickup buckets around the basket."

The Mavericks defense was suffocating in the first quarter, only allowing four points and at times keeping Nashua from crossing half-court. The Mavs scored 18, but it took time.

"We didn't jump out too fast right away, but we kept our composure and just finished in the second half," Mavericks senior forward Chris DePuydt said.

As North Country pulled away from their press, Nashua was able to score 16 points in the second quarter, while North Country put up 20 points. North Country outscored Nashua 24-3 in the fourth quarter.

Leatherberry had two late steals in open space, one of which he threw up to Simonson for a crowd-pleasing alley-oop layup.

"He works really hard for being a kid that big-boned," Simonson said. "He works hard and tries his best every night and during practice too. That's the reason he can go during games."

The team has won on senior night in Saco and in Whitewater. DePuydt, a senior at Saco High School wasn't honored on Friday night in Whitewater, but considers the win in Whitewater just as satisfying as their win in Saco earlier this season.

"Even though I don't go to school here, I still consider this a home-court," DePuydt said. "So it's real nice to finish out my last game on this court with a win."

The Mavericks and Lady Mavericks will host the Scobey Spartans in Hinsdale on Friday, February 2, with games scheduled to starter at 1:30 p.m.

"Scobey is a pretty tough team," Sudbrack said. "But we have the size and the ability, so if we just keep playing hard like we are, and shut them down on the outside, we should do pretty good."

North Country will travel to Dodson to take on the Coyotes and Lady Coyotes on Saturday, February 3. The JV Boys will have the first game at 4 p.m.