In its final home and regular season game of the year, the varsity  boys basketball team found itself in a hole for most of the matchup. The team almost managed a comeback against Detroit-Loyola High School, but faltered in the final minutes, leading to a final score of 71-65.

After several failed offensive for both sides, captain Steven Levick broke out the scoring in the first quarter to give North a 2-0 lead. However, Loyola quickly came back with six unanswered points to take a lead that it would keep for the rest of the night.

“We were kind of playing scared in the beginning, like the first quarter,” senior Marvin Amerson said. “They got on a run, a 15-point run, and then we (were) fighting back the whole game, but it’s kind of hard to come back after that 15-point run.”

In the second quarter, junior Sheldon Cage scored eight points, helping the team edge Loyola by two. Levick did the same in the third, and North caught up by another point.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Loyola led 48-39. Senior Sam Cross started the quarter with an wide-open three pointer, although Loyola quickly answered with four points of its own. The teams continued exchanging points until Cross scored another two with 2:41 left, leaving the score at 60-52 Loyola.

At that point, head coach Ron Kochan called a timeout. Captain Dillon Webb made a three-pointer. After another timeout, Levick added on another three points, cutting Loyola’s lead to only two points.

However, that was as close as it would get, and fouls became North’s demise. In the last two minutes, Loyola scored 11 more points, nine coming from the free throw line. With the game already put away, Levick made one last three-pointer for a final score of 71-65 Loyola.

Levick led the offense with 24 points, followed by Webb with 16 and Cage with 14.

Amerson, who used to attend Loyola, said he had fun playing against his former classmates.

“I knew a lot of them,” Amerson said. “I just wish we would’ve beat them, because I’m about to hear about it now.”

The team ended its regular season with a 13-7 record (8-2 Macomb Area Conference, White Division). Its next game is the district semifinal, hosted at Lake Shore High School, on Wednesday, March 8 at 5:30 p.m. The team will play the winner of the East Detroit-Warren Woods Tower game from the first round.