Norman North basketball: North boys focused on building confidence ahead of Crosstown Clash
Dec. 16—On Monday, Norman North head coach Kellen McCoy and his staff took time to sit down and talk about the situation the team is in right now.
The Timberwolves already have five losses on their record through the first six games of the season, but that hasn't told the entire story. Three of those losses have come by a combined eight points to No. 7 Southmoore, No. 12 Westmoore, a Douglass team that's ranked No. 4 in Class 5A and opened the season against the defending 6A state champions.
After playing four games in five days last week, the Timberwolves are nearing a two-and-a-half week break before games resume in January. But before then, the T-Wolves will host a Norman High team that'll be carrying a chip on its shoulder into the first edition of the Crosstown Clash on Friday at 7:30 p.m..
The message from McCoy and his staff has continued to focus on building the team's confidence despite a difficult early season stretch.
"I think it's very, very important as far as momentum goes," McCoy said. "And kind of the way our season has gone, you want to get a win going into the break. Just trying to get some momentum going into the second semester."
Norman North enters having won 20-straight meetings against their Crosstown rivals. That streak has perhaps never been in greater jeopardy than it is this week against the No. 9 Tigers.
The Tigers are long and can make scoring difficult in the post with a trio of starters that range 6-6 or taller. Norman North doesn't have the length that the Tigers do, but it has called on several players to guard bigger post players in the past.
Ben Moser and Maddox Hamilton have provided most of the post presence for the Timberwolves this season despite each being listed at 6-3.
"We're going to have to find ways to match their size," McCoy said. "Those are guys that have been here the last couple years and we know them well. They're very, very good players. Coach Cole's done a great job with them, so we're excited for the matchup."
The Timberwolves know that the historical records can be thrown out the window when the two teams face off on Friday. There's plenty of familiarity between the players on the two teams and the Timberwolves are expecting to be challenged by one of the top teams in the state.
"Our expectations are to go compete like we always want to do," McCoy said. "Be the team that plays the hardest, share the ball, play together and rebound. When we do that, we think our chances are good to win. So we're just focused on doing our jobs this year."
North girls enter Clash with momentum, No. 19 ranking
The Norman North girls were able to sneak in at No. 19 on the OSSAA coaches' poll after a 3-3 record and a third-place finish at the Joe Lawson Invitational.
After a slow start in the season-opener against state champion Edmond North, the Timberwolves have knocked off Westmoore (T-17th), Southmoore and Putnam City North (T-17th) while averaging 46.6 points per game. Still, it's going to be a difficult challenge to be matched up against a Norman High team riding a five-game winning streak.
The game will tip off at 6:00 p.m. at Norman North High School. After that, the Timberwolves will be back in action on Jan. 3rd in a road game against Yukon.
Tarik Masri is a sports reporter for The Transcript covering OU athletics and area sports. You can reach him by emailing tarik@normantranscript.com
