Northland Christian basketball has always brought good talent and heart to the court. In the past 3 years, the Cougars have made playoffs. The 2016-2017 season was the second time that NCS has gone to state in basketball. The following year, Northland had great talent, and made it to the quarterfinals in the state playoffs.

This year the Cougars did not know what to expect going into the season. Losing three starting players to graduation is always hard for a team, especially when those players were part of the great success to the team. One thing that the team did know was they had to have heart, and be close as a team.

Northland basketball is making there final run through, arguably, one of the hardest districts in the state. With the defending state champions, in Woodlands Christian, and an extremely athletic Lutheran North, the Cougars have had to show heart and fight.

Junior forward, Justin Gilliland, says, “We have a lot of heart. We might be undersized and outnumbered sometimes, but we play together. We’re really close as a team, and that shows through hustle and connection on the court.” Gilliland said that Northland basketball has been building a solid program, and that there are always going to be bumps in the road.

This is just one of those times that the program has to fight through. NCS has a game against Lutheran North this Friday, and Justin Gilliland says that they are ready to play. “They might have more size or athleticism than us, but we definitely have more heart.” It will be interesting to see how the Cougars’ heart and connection will help them finish out their season.

With the regular season coming to a close, Northland is looking to finish out their last run through district on a good note. No team wants their season to come to an end, especially a team that has bonded together. The Cougars are looking to play the rest of this season with more heart and hustle than ever before, and that will probably show for the results on the court. Each team’s season has a story, and the Cougars are looking to make that story a good one.

Source: Justin Gilliland

https://www.northlandchristian.org/news/spring-break-trip-china-basketball-team

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