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Mitri Krishna

Senior Luke Blau (10) puts up a contested layup during his first varsity start of his career during senior night.

Starting his first-ever varsity game, senior Sam Stewart scored five points for the Huskies.

“I went in there and played three minutes in the first quarter, I got two buckets and it felt amazing, I was just smiling [the whole time],” Stewart said. 

Stewart also said how he has always looked up to the Northwest basketball program and head coach Ed Fritz, saying how playing on this team during his senior night felt amazing. 

“It was amazing, as a kid watching all the Northwest basketball it was just an honor to play for coach Fritz,” Stewart said. 

Additionally, according to senior Markell Hood, Stewart had a major play in the game. 

“I would say at the start of the game when Sam started with the two back to back first points,” Hood said. “I would say that was a really big part of the game.”  

Thanks to Stewart’s 5 points as well as the 17 more from his various teammates, the Huskies ended the first quarter with a 22-7 lead. 

Junior Alston Mason said the motivation to win the game and maintain an early lead was on account of the seniors. 

“We were just motivated and we wanted to play for our seniors and try to get them as many points as possible,” Mason said. 

Adding on, Hood said the team was able to maintain their lead due to their hard work. 

“We just had to keep our foot on our throat and just keep playing hard and just keep going and to not let them back in the game,” Hood said. 

At the end of the game, the Huskies sealed the deal with two free throws from senior Luke Blau, making the final score, 72-55. 

Head coach Ed Fritz said that he was proud of his three seniors, as all of them got to play and score during the game.

“Sam hit a three and got a layup, Luke did a great job and got to score at the end, [and] I thought Markell did a great job all night attacking the basket,” Fritz said. “So I thought it was a good senior night.”

In spite of the win, Fritz said the team must turn their attention to their substate games next week. 

“We are just going to try to get a little bit better. I wouldn’t say we played really good defense tonight so we really got to work on that,” Fritz said. 

As for the players’ plans going into substate, both Mason and Hood agree that they need to work hard in practice, come together as a team and play with energy during their next game. 

“[We just need to] keep working hard and for the next three days of practice we just [need to] stay together and get all the guys right and just get ready to go win state,” Hood said.