By: Alex Northcut, Sports 731 Reporter
The upcoming basketball season rapidly approaches, and North Side fans are eager to see the Indians in action. Both teams enjoyed a “Midnight Madness” event over the weekend, gearing up for their season opener this Tuesday.
For the past several years, the girls program at North Side has struggled to win games. Three years ago, the school system decided to bring in veteran coach Ken Northcut to hopefully turn things around. During his time so far at North Side, the Lady Indians have seen a large increase in overall numbers, as well as a stronger competitive play during the summer months.
“This summer gave us some confidence, we were able to get some wins underneath our belts,” said Northcut. “This is now three years that some of my players have been with me. They are picking things up, are able to run more sets, able to have a higher basketball IQ, and have been able to build on what we’ve done the past two years.”
This season the Lady Indians will be utilizing their depth, as North Side will be presenting a mixture of youth and experience from an overall balanced attack. Nevaeh Bond and Nikhara Robinson will lead the way as senior leaders for Coach Northcut’s group, while sophomore Jamayla Harris and junior Anaiyah Bellamy are expected to handle most of the responsibilities in the post.
“We want to play at a faster pace than we have in the past two years, and that all starts with our defense,” said Northcut. “Hopefully our defense can be one of our better offenses when it comes to scoring in transition. Our four core principles this season are defense, rebounding, taking care of the ball, and finishing.”
The North Side boys will once again pose a serious threat in the local area, led by 3rd year head coach Aaron Woods. Now with the football players back, the Indians have their full roster ready to go, as they look to present a high energy, entertaining brand of basketball each time they hit the floor.
“One thing about North Side basketball, it’s going to be fun, exciting, it will be up and down basketball,” said Woods. “The guys will be playing hard-nosed defense, flying everywhere, so it should be fun to watch.”
The Indians will be returning several key players this year, drawing a good amount of talent from their junior and sophomore classes. Joseph Marshall, Lincoln Woods, and A.J. Currie are expected to step up in bigger roles this season for North Side, as well as Desmond Manley and Markaylun Kelly. Heading into this season, the game plan for the Indians will remain the same, as the day-to-day will consist of a focus of hard work and competition.
“Our goal every year is to go to state, that’s why we do this thing,” said Woods. “Our district and region is filled with teams with a lot of talent. Hopefully we can come out and win some games. We don’t need to get too high or get too low, we just need to stay level headed and just take one game at a time.”
North Side will begin their journey through the 2023-2024 season this Tuesday night on the road at Gibson County. The boys team will tip-off at 6:00 with the girls game following at 7:30.
