A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Hayden Tigers challenge the North Park Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. on Friday... Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
Last Friday, Hayden came up short against Vail Christian and fell 63-52.
| 01/31/25 vs Vail Christian | 5 |
| 12/20/24 vs South | 3 |
| 01/10/25 @ Rangely | 3 |
| 12/14/24 vs North Park | 3 |
| 01/17/25 vs North Park | 2 |
The losing side was boosted by Jace Bene, who went 6 of 15 on his way to 15 points along with seven boards and five assists. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in assists. Justin Preston was another key player, going 5 for 10 en route to 13 points.
Even though they lost, Hayden smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in ten consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, North Park played a tough game on Saturday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They came up short against Vail Mountain, falling 70-49. The Wildcats were down 52-31 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Hayden will need focus on slowing down Chris Reyes, one of several North Park players who made an impact when they last played. He posted 17 points and three steals. Reyes is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Gavin Pittington, who went 6 of 12 on his way to 17 points.
Hayden has traveled a rocky road recently having lost nine of their last ten contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-12 record this season. As for North Park, their record now sits at 7-6.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Hayden has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 31.2 boards per game. However, it's not like North Park struggles in that department as they've been averaging 23.1 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Hayden came up short against North Park in their previous meeting back in January, falling 47-41. Can Hayden avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
