Basketball: Rivalry

“We really want to go into their house and make sure we make it feel that we are a different team than last year.”

Our Basketball team this year is 11-8 as of now. This gives us a 57.90% win rate. We are 2-3 in the East Valley League leaving us fourth in the league. Grant is in first place, Verdugo Hills is second, and Arleta is third. We are going against our rival school Polytechnic High School on Friday, January 13, 2023 at 6:00 PM. Last year we were fourth in the East Valley League while Poly was second. When we went against Poly last year we lost 47-78, and in our second game against them we lost 60-68.

Last year our star players stats were according to MaxPreps, 

Alexander Espinoza had 9.4 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game, 207 points, and 124 total rebounds. 

Abraham Metzger had a 42 field goal percentage. 

Nikon Spasov had 1.7 assists per game, 0.5 blocks per game, 69 free throw percentage, 38 assists, and 11 blocks. 

Ronnie Gipson had 1.2 steals per game, and 22 steals. 

Brenden Simson had a 34 3pt field goal percentage. 

This year our star players stats according to MaxPreps, 

Alexander Espinoza has 10.8 points per game, and 195 total points as of now. 

Jayson Cooper has a 51 field goal percentage. 

Abraham Metzger has 5.8 rebounds per game, and 98 total rebounds as of now. 

Ian Marte gets 1.9 steals per game, and has 35 total steals as of now. 

Nikon Spasov has 2.1 assists per game, 0.6 blocks per game, a 72 free throw percentage, 36 total assists and 11 total blocks as of now. 

Brenden Simson has a 42 3pt field goal percentage. 

Thus, our stats are better than last year, and now we have Freshmen player Caymen Smith who has been putting himself out there and has proven that he is a varsity basketball player. I know that the seniors in the basketball team are committed to playing their hearts out since this is their last basketball season as a North Hollywood husky. They want to make their last year memorable. 

Therefore, Head coach Donovan Womack (who is a basketball player himself) has been putting the North Hollywood husky basketball team through some rigorous practice. He has knowledge of basketball, and how to make our players better by perfecting the skills they need to have practiced as an individual and as a team. 

Poly High school is fifth in the East Valley League. They are 2-3 in the league as of now. They are 8-12 right now. This gives them a 40.00% win rate. Therefore, our huskies are performing better compared to the Poly parrots. 

Polys star players stats according to MaxPreps, 

Gabriel Rivera has 11.1 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game, and 3.3 assists per game. 

Nathan Bravo has a 39 field goal percentage, and 109 total rebounds. 

Beau Garcia gets 1.6 blocks per game, and 29 total blocks. 

Jao Libunao has 2.8 steals per game, 49 total assists and 50 total steals. 

Christopher Reyes has an 83 free throw percentage. 

Aaron Summerville has a 30 3pt field goal percentage. 

Kevin Lara has 185 total points. 

Although most of their stats are better than ours we have the upper hand when it comes to going against the same schools. 

For example, Poly went against Crescenta Valley and lost 36-87. North Hollywood went against Crescenta Valley and lost 49-87. 

Poly went against Chatsworth and lost 44-86. North Hollywood went against Chatsworth and won 79-73. 

Poly went against Vaughn and won 82-52. North Hollywood went against Vaughn and won 70-54. 

Poly went against Sherman Oaks CES and lost 49-54. North Hollywood went against Sherman Oaks CES and won 68-51. 

Poly went against Verdugo Hills and lost 56-64. North Hollywood went against Verdugo Hills and lost 49-56. 

Poly went against Grant and lost 45-88. North Hollywood went against Grant and lost 46-105. 

Poly went against Chavez and won 64-31. North Hollywood went against Chavez and won 67-30. 

Poly went against Monroe and won 57-54. North Hollywood went against Monroe and won 63-50. 

Poly went against Arleta and lost 56-62. North Hollywood went against Arleta and lost 55-58. 

Therefore, North Hollywood has a 5-3 lead when it comes to going against the same schools. However, the three points that Poly has against us is a tie since we also won against that school as well. Thus, this gives us the upper hand against Poly High school. 

According to the Los Angeles City Section North Hollywood is ranked as the 24th best school while Poly is ranked as the 59th best school. In state division North Hollywood is ranked at 158 while Poly is ranked at 168. Section Division ranks tells us that North Hollywood is 5th while Poly is 18th. Therefore, according to rankings North Hollywood has the upper hand. 

Number 15, Victor Garcia shared his thoughts on the game against Poly by stating that, “I feel like we will have a shot at it, and I feel like if we stay focused and consistent on our goal we should win this game.

Number 2, Brenden Simson shares his opinion by stating that, “We played two really tough games against them last year, as they were the number one seed in Division 1 last season. This year, they lost some seniors but we know they are gonna play rough, especially when considering the rivalry between schools. We really want to go into their house and make sure we make it feel that we are a different team than last year. Personally, I love playing Poly due to the high intensity, as well as they were the first team I played against in High School. So I’m feeling confident to go in and put on a show in front of a rowdy crowd during a physical game.” 

Number 14, Abraham Metzger adds on by stating, “For poly tomorrow we know we can win we just have to work better as a team. We have had a rough week but if we just play poised and stay within our system we will come out with the win.”