Girls basketball coach Michael Bailey wasn’t sure how to feel when the buzzer sounded.

Why would he? In his two-plus seasons as the head girls basketball coach, he had never experienced what he did last night…victory.

North snapped a 68-game losing streak by using a furious fourth quarter rally, to defeat West 45-44. North trailed by 12 after three quarters and outscored the Pioneers 24-11 in the final quarter.

“I answered a lot of congratulatory texts,” Bailey said of what he did after the win. “After eating dinner, I laid in bed and tried to calm down from the excitement. It took a while.” 

For a majority of the game, however, it looked as if the final score would end up with another loss.

After scoring just two points in the third quarter and trailing by 12, Bailey decided to try something to generate a spark.

“Our full court press turned up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter,” Bailey said. In turn, that led to easy basket and trips to the free throw line.

Sophomore AmUnique Cavett went 8-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter alone and finished tied for a team high 13 points with

senior Cadi Mills. Mills scored 10 of her 13 in the fourth quarter.

“When we started pressing, we started moving faster and played with more energy,” Cavett said. “It’s really exciting to see my teammates happy and feeling good about themselves. It means a lot.”

“A lot of relief,” Mills said on what it was like to win.  “It’s difficult being the seen as the worst team in the league. We work really hard. The hard work finally paid off.”

For Bailey, the win reaffirms that what he is trying to build at North is working.

“This win means a lot for the girls basketball program,” Bailey said. “We now understand what it takes win and the team’s confidence level has risen immensely.”