Northshore continues to struggle in basketball loss

Northshore lost to the Brother Martin Crusaders, 68-42, in a non-district basketball game Tuesday at NHS.

The Panthers are 0-3, while the Crusaders (1-2) picked up their first win.

NHS kept things close early. David Heumann began the game by hitting a 3-pointer. The Crusaders scored, but then Jervious Epherson, who had nine points, got hot. He had a steal and a layup to make it 5-2.

After a Crusaders’ basket, he hit a layup. Epherson was then fouled on a 3-point attempt. He knocked down one of the free throws, putting the Panthers ahead, 8-4.

Brother Martin’s Schane Rillieux split from the charity stripe, making it 8-5. NHS’ Archie Ambo, who scored a team-high 11 points, put his name in the scorebook by following his own miss with a bucket, making it 10-5.

But Brother Martin came back with a 13-2 run to end the period. Patrick Swilling started the spurt by hitting a three. After Ambo hit a bucket, Swilling made a pass to Rillieux for two and Rillieux hit, tying the game at 12-12 with another hoop. Rillieux continued his good play by completing a three-point play. Al Prieto made a layup with 12 seconds left in the first quarter, and the Crusaders led 17-12 after one.

In the second quarter, Prieto began the scoring by splitting free throws, making it 18-12.

But Northshore weathered the storm and made a run. Chris Ruiz, who tallied 10 points, drove in for a bank shot, trimming it to 18-14. After Jamon Gray made it 20-14, Northshore’s Ruiz hit from behind the arc, and the Crusaders led just 20-17, but a 4-0 spurt by Brother Martin moved its lead to 24-17.

NHS came right back as Lewis split from the line and Ambo hit a turnaround jump shot. The Panthers trailed just 24-20 with 4:04 left. But the Crusaders turned up the defense, and Northshore struggled. Brother Martin finished the half with a 12-3 run and led 36-23 at the break.

Brother Martin coach Scott Thompson said he likes to press to help pick up the intensity.

“It gets the game moving. We feel like a lot of times that defense is the best offense,” Thompson said.

Ambo tallied the first bucket of the second half on a layup, which trimmed the lead to 36-25, but Northshore got no closer.

The Panthers were down 51-33 after the third quarter. The Crusaders began the fourth period by making a basket and grabbing a 53-33 advantage and cruised to the victory.

Prieto, who tied Rillieux with a game-high 14 points, talked about the game.

“It was a team effort. Everybody had to play their part. Luckily I did my best, and my teammates found me with the ball,” Prieto said.

Northshore coach Charley Day said right now his team is not a cohesive unit.

Day added that his goal for the team is to get them to the point where ball movement in natural to them.